Article Hao Hua , Jing Guo , Xu Huang , Xin Zhang , Yuchuan Yang , Danying Wang , Xiali Guo , Rui Zhang , Nicholas G. Smith , Sergio Rossi , Josep Peñuelas , Philippe Ciais , Chaoyang Wu & Lei Chen Nature Climate Change (2025) Cite this article Metrics Abstract Under climate warming, earlier spring phenology has heightened the risk of late spring frost (LSF) damage. However, the intricate interplay among LSF, spring phenology and photosynthetic carbon uptake remains poorly understood. Using 286,000 ground phenological records involving 870 tree species and remote-sensing data across the Northern Hemisphere, we show that LSF occurrence in a given year reduces photosynthetic productivity by 13.6%, resulting in a delay in spring phenology by ~7.0 days in the subsequent year. Our experimental evidence, along with simulations using modified process-based phenology models, further supports this finding. This frost-induced delay in spring phenology subsequently leads to a decrease in photosynthetic productivity during the next year following an LSF event. Therefore, it is essential to integrate this frost-induced delay in spring phenology into current Earth system models to ensure accurate predictions of the impacts of climate extremes on terrestrial carbon cycling under future climate change. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access options Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $29.99 / 30 days cancel any time Learn more Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $209.00 per year only $17.42 per issue Learn more Buy this article Purchase on SpringerLink Instant access to full article PDF Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Additional access options: Log in Learn about institutional subscriptions Read our FAQs Contact customer support Data availability All ground-based and […]