Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41663367›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Latitudinal divergence in runoff responses to global forestation due to forest-atmosphere feedbacks.

Fei Kan, Xu Lian, Hao Xu, Shuchang Tang, Jiangpeng Cui, Chris Huntingford, Mingze Sun, Xichen Li, Shilong Piao

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Fei KanInstitute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Xu LianInstitute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China. xulian@pku.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1428-3529
Hao XuInstitute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3725-9505
Shuchang TangInstitute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9979-9358
Jiangpeng CuiState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System and Resources Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4587-541X
Chris HuntingfordUK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5941-7770
Mingze SunInstitute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Xichen LiInstitute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6325-6626
Shilong PiaoInstitute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China. slpiao@pku.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8057-2292

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Forestation is a pivotal nature-based solution for mitigating global warming, yet its unintended hydrological outcomes and associated geospatial patterns remain understudied. Here, we combine land-atmosphere coupled models with the Budyko framework to show that forest-atmosphere feedbacks dominate a latitudinal divergence in runoff responses induced by global potential forestation, with increases in tropical regions but declines in boreal regions. In tropical regions, substantial precipitation gains due to intensified upward moisture transport overwhelm the negative effects of forest-driven evapotranspiration (ET) enhancement. Conversely, in boreal regions, limited precipitation gains are insufficient to offset enhanced evaporative loss, driven by increased atmospheric demand due to elevated surface net radiation. The negative effects of direct forest expansion vary along the dryness gradient, with peak impacts in energy-water transitional regions. Our study highlights the necessity to incorporate hydrological considerations into carbon- or temperature-focused afforestation planning, and caution afforestation at high-latitudes where new forests may exacerbate water scarcity.

Identifiers

PMID41663367
PMCPMC12996598

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.