exhibits ~31% higher sensitivity to surface soil moisture compared to sites with thinner active layer thickness. As active layer thickness deepens, the influence of soil moisture dynamics in the middle and lower active layers, associated with permafrost degradation, may gradually weaken in regulating start of the growing season. Our findings identify freeze-thaw soil moisture dynamics as an important, previously underappreciated control on start of the growing season and spring carbon uptake on the warming Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Zhao et al. (Thu,) studied this question.