Variation of ecosystems over East Asia in association with seasonal, interannual and decadal monsoon climate variability

Nearly half of the global low latitudes are characterized by a monsoon climate. This paper first analyzes the global spatial distribution of the rate of climate variation based on precipitation data. Results show that the monsoon regions in Asia and West Africa, and to a lesser extent in Australia, have the highest rate of climate variation on all time scales. These variations are manifested as seasonal jumps, high interannual and interdecadal variabilities, and abrupt changes between climate regimes. The monsoon regions are covered by various types of ecosystems which account for a large portion of the global biomass. Further analyses of the variations of ecosystems in the Asian region and their relationships with the monsoon climate have shown that the spatial and temporal variabilities of ecosystems are characterized by their strong response to variations in monsoon rainfall, one of the major energy flows in terrestrial ecosystems. The high rate of variation in monsoon climate strongly influences variation in Asian ecosystems. Changes in Asian ecosystems seem to be mainly driven by variations in monsoon climate over various time scales. This observation has led to the proposal of 'monsoon-driven ecosystems' in Asia.