Stephen Sitch

85.0k total citations · 32 hit papers
263 papers, 30.5k citations indexed

About

Stephen Sitch is a scholar working on Global and Planetary Change, Atmospheric Science and Plant Science. According to data from OpenAlex, Stephen Sitch has authored 263 papers receiving a total of 30.5k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 233 papers in Global and Planetary Change, 87 papers in Atmospheric Science and 44 papers in Plant Science. Recurrent topics in Stephen Sitch's work include Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics (125 papers), Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics (119 papers) and Climate variability and models (106 papers). Stephen Sitch is often cited by papers focused on Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics (125 papers), Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics (119 papers) and Climate variability and models (106 papers). Stephen Sitch collaborates with scholars based in United Kingdom, United States and Germany. Stephen Sitch's co-authors include Philippe Ciais, Pierre Friedlingstein, Chris Huntingford, Peter M. Cox, I. Colin Prentice, Wolfgang Crämer, Shilong Piao, W. J. Collins, Benjamin Smith and Wolfgang Lucht and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In The Last Decade

Stephen Sitch

254 papers receiving 29.6k citations

Hit Papers

A dynamic global vegetati... 2001 2026 2009 2017 2005 2001 2009 2011 2015 500 1000 1.5k
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. A dynamic global vegetation model for studies of the coupled atmosphere‐biosphere system
    2005 1.6k citations Gerhard Krinner, Nicolas Viovy et al. Global Biogeochemical Cycles profile →
  2. Global response of terrestrial ecosystem structure and function to CO2 and climate change: results from six dynamic global vegetation models
    2001 1.5k citations I. Colin Prentice, Victor Brovkin et al. Global Change Biology profile →
  3. The carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in China
    2009 1.4k citations Shilong Piao, Philippe Ciais et al. profile →
  4. Development and evaluation of an Earth-System model – HadGEM2
    2011 1.2k citations W. J. Collins, Nicola Gedney et al. profile →
  5. The dominant role of semi-arid ecosystems in the trend and variability of the land CO 2 sink
    2015 1.1k citations Anders Ahlström, Michael Raupach et al. Science profile →
  6. Contribution of semi-arid ecosystems to interannual variability of the global carbon cycle
    2014 1.1k citations Benjamin Poulter, Philippe Ciais et al. profile →
  7. The Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES), model description – Part 1: Energy and water fluxes
    2011 1.0k citations Nicola Gedney, Lina M. Mercado et al. profile →
  8. Evaluation of the terrestrial carbon cycle, future plant geography and climate‐carbon cycle feedbacks using five Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs)
    2008 958 citations Stephen Sitch, Chris Huntingford et al. Global Change Biology profile →
  9. Responses of spring phenology to climate change
    2004 771 citations Stephen Sitch et al. profile →
  10. The Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES), model description – Part 2: Carbon fluxes and vegetation dynamics
    2011 759 citations Lina M. Mercado, Stephen Sitch et al. profile →
  11. Indirect radiative forcing of climate change through ozone effects on the land-carbon sink
    2007 722 citations Stephen Sitch, Peter M. Cox et al. profile →
  12. Terrestrial vegetation and water balance—hydrological evaluation of a dynamic global vegetation model
    2003 680 citations Stephen Sitch et al. profile →
  13. Carbon balance of the terrestrial biosphere in the Twentieth Century: Analyses of CO2, climate and land use effects with four process‐based ecosystem models
    2001 632 citations Stephen Sitch, Fortunat Joos et al. Global Biogeochemical Cycles profile →
  14. Global and Regional Trends and Drivers of Fire Under Climate Change
    2022 621 citations Gitta Lasslop, Stephen Sitch et al. Reviews of Geophysics profile →
  15. Exploring the likelihood and mechanism of a climate-change-induced dieback of the Amazon rainforest
    2009 618 citations Chris Huntingford, Stephen Sitch et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences profile →
  16. The Effects of Tropospheric Ozone on Net Primary Productivity and Implications for Climate Change
    2012 615 citations Stephen Sitch, W. J. Collins et al. profile →
  17. Climatic Control of the High-Latitude Vegetation Greening Trend and Pinatubo Effect
    2002 607 citations I. Colin Prentice, Ranga B. Myneni et al. Science profile →
  18. Spatiotemporal patterns of terrestrial gross primary production: A review
    2015 523 citations Pierre Friedlingstein, Philippe Ciais et al. Reviews of Geophysics profile →
  19. The role of fire disturbance for global vegetation dynamics: coupling fire into a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model
    2001 515 citations Sergey Venevsky, Stephen Sitch et al. profile →
  20. Sensitivity of atmospheric CO2 growth rate to observed changes in terrestrial water storage
    2018 368 citations Philippe Ciais, Stephen Sitch et al. profile →
  21. A roadmap for improving the representation of photosynthesis in Earth system models
    2016 364 citations Lina M. Mercado, I. Colin Prentice et al. profile →
  22. Global warming feedbacks on terrestrial carbon uptake under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Emission Scenarios
    2001 339 citations Fortunat Joos, I. Colin Prentice et al. Global Biogeochemical Cycles profile →
  23. Widespread seasonal compensation effects of spring warming on northern plant productivity
    2018 313 citations Michael O’Sullivan, Stephen Sitch et al. profile →
  24. Increasing impact of warm droughts on northern ecosystem productivity over recent decades
    2021 301 citations Markus Reichstein, Michael O’Sullivan et al. profile →
  25. Interannual variation of terrestrial carbon cycle: Issues and perspectives
    2019 278 citations Shilong Piao, Ana Bastos et al. Global Change Biology profile →
  26. Forest expansion dominates China’s land carbon sink since 1980
    2022 223 citations Philippe Ciais, Shilong Piao et al. Nature Communications profile →
  27. Carbon loss from forest degradation exceeds that from deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
    2021 222 citations Jean‐Pierre Wigneron, Philippe Ciais et al. profile →
  28. Large carbon sink potential of secondary forests in the Brazilian Amazon to mitigate climate change
    2021 173 citations Viola Heinrich, Stephen Sitch et al. Nature Communications profile →
  29. Evidence and attribution of the enhanced land carbon sink
    2023 134 citations Trevor F. Keenan, C. A. Williams et al. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment profile →
  30. Global variations in critical drought thresholds that impact vegetation
    2023 107 citations Shilong Piao, Chris Huntingford et al. National Science Review profile →
  31. The carbon sink of secondary and degraded humid tropical forests
    2023 90 citations Viola Heinrich, Stephen Sitch et al. profile →
  32. Maximizing carbon sequestration potential in Chinese forests through optimal management
    2024 56 citations Shilong Piao, Hanqin Tian et al. Nature Communications profile →

Author Peers

Peers are selected by citation overlap in the author's most active subfields. citations · hero ref

Author Last Decade Papers Cites
Stephen Sitch 23.3k 10.0k 7.0k 4.6k 4.4k 263 30.5k
Michael L. Goulden 15.0k 0.6× 5.7k 0.6× 6.3k 0.9× 3.7k 0.8× 3.6k 0.8× 183 20.2k
David D. Breshears 20.9k 0.9× 9.8k 1.0× 7.1k 1.0× 11.0k 2.4× 5.0k 1.1× 180 28.6k
Gordon B. Bonan 27.6k 1.2× 14.1k 1.4× 9.7k 1.4× 5.6k 1.2× 4.5k 1.0× 177 41.0k
Peter M. Cox 18.5k 0.8× 10.5k 1.1× 4.1k 0.6× 2.6k 0.6× 3.3k 0.7× 197 25.7k
Richard Betts 15.6k 0.7× 7.2k 0.7× 4.0k 0.6× 2.7k 0.6× 2.5k 0.6× 165 23.9k
I. Colin Prentice 18.8k 0.8× 11.4k 1.1× 9.2k 1.3× 7.1k 1.5× 3.6k 0.8× 99 33.8k
Almut Arneth 15.2k 0.7× 7.3k 0.7× 5.1k 0.7× 2.7k 0.6× 4.6k 1.0× 272 22.4k
Benjamin Smith 13.2k 0.6× 5.7k 0.6× 5.5k 0.8× 5.3k 1.1× 2.6k 0.6× 203 20.6k
Nate G. McDowell 22.7k 1.0× 11.6k 1.2× 5.3k 0.8× 11.1k 2.4× 7.6k 1.7× 211 28.6k
Todd E. Dawson 15.2k 0.7× 8.6k 0.9× 5.2k 0.7× 6.3k 1.4× 8.1k 1.8× 277 26.4k

Countries citing papers authored by Stephen Sitch

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Stephen Sitch's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Stephen Sitch with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Stephen Sitch more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Stephen Sitch

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Stephen Sitch. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Stephen Sitch. The network helps show where Stephen Sitch may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Stephen Sitch

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Stephen Sitch. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Stephen Sitch based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Stephen Sitch. Stephen Sitch is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Obermeier, Wolfgang A., Clemens Schwingshackl, Raphael Ganzenmüller, et al.. (2025). Differences and uncertainties in land-use CO2 flux estimates. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. 6(11). 747–766.
2.
Ke, Piyu, Philippe Ciais, Stephen Sitch, et al.. (2024). Low latency carbon budget analysis reveals a large decline of the land carbon sink in 2023. National Science Review. 11(12). nwae367–nwae367. 20 indexed citations
3.
Bittencourt, Paulo, Lucy Rowland, Stephen Sitch, et al.. (2023). Bridging Scales: An Approach to Evaluate the Temporal Patterns of Global Transpiration Products Using Tree‐Scale Sap Flow Data. Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences. 128(3). 11 indexed citations
4.
Keenan, Trevor F., C. A. Williams, Yu Zhou, et al.. (2023). Evidence and attribution of the enhanced land carbon sink. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. 4(8). 518–534. 134 indexed citations breakdown →
5.
Wang, Yuan, Junjie Liu, P. O. Wennberg, et al.. (2023). Elucidating climatic drivers of photosynthesis by tropical forests. Global Change Biology. 29(17). 4811–4825. 10 indexed citations
6.
Kou‐Giesbrecht, Sian, Vivek K. Arora, Christian Seiler, et al.. (2023). Evaluating nitrogen cycling in terrestrial biosphere models: a disconnect between the carbon and nitrogen cycles. Earth System Dynamics. 14(4). 767–795. 20 indexed citations
7.
Fan, Lei, Philippe Ciais, Rasmus Fensholt, et al.. (2023). First assessment of optical and microwave remotely sensed vegetation proxies in monitoring aboveground carbon in tropical Asia. Remote Sensing of Environment. 293. 113619–113619. 16 indexed citations
8.
Crisp, David, A. J. Dolman, Toste Tanhua, et al.. (2022). How Well Do We Understand the Land‐Ocean‐Atmosphere Carbon Cycle?. Reviews of Geophysics. 60(2). 54 indexed citations
9.
Cunliffe, Andrew M., Robert Clement, Stephen Sitch, et al.. (2022). Strong Correspondence in Evapotranspiration and Carbon Dioxide Fluxes Between Different Eddy Covariance Systems Enables Quantification of Landscape Heterogeneity in Dryland Fluxes. Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences. 127(8). 16 indexed citations
10.
Bastos, Ana, René Orth, Markus Reichstein, et al.. (2021). Vulnerability of European ecosystems to two compound dry and hot summers in 2018 and 2019. Earth System Dynamics. 12(4). 1015–1035. 75 indexed citations
11.
Wu, Chao, Sergey Venevsky, Stephen Sitch, et al.. (2021). Historical and future global burned area with changing climate and human demography. One Earth. 4(4). 517–530. 59 indexed citations
12.
Chini, Louise, G. C. Hurtt, Ritvik Sahajpal, et al.. (2021). Land-use harmonization datasets for annual global carbon budgets. Earth system science data. 13(8). 4175–4189. 58 indexed citations
13.
Winkler, Alexander J., Ranga B. Myneni, Alexis Hannart, et al.. (2021). Slowdown of the greening trend in natural vegetation with further rise in atmospheric CO 2. Biogeosciences. 18(17). 4985–5010. 78 indexed citations
14.
Song, Xiang, Fang Li, Sandy P. Harrison, et al.. (2020). Vegetation biomass change in China in the 20th century: an assessment based on a combination of multi-model simulations and field observations. Environmental Research Letters. 15(9). 94026–94026. 7 indexed citations
15.
Collalti, Alessio, Andreas Ibrom, Anders Stockmarr, et al.. (2020). Forest production efficiency increases with growth temperature. Nature Communications. 11(1). 5322–5322. 72 indexed citations
16.
Comyn‐Platt, Edward, Garry Hayman, Chris Huntingford, et al.. (2018). Carbon budgets for 1.5 and 2 °C targets lowered by natural wetland and permafrost feedbacks. Nature Geoscience. 11(8). 568–573. 86 indexed citations
17.
Ahlström, Anders, Michael Raupach, Guy Schurgers, et al.. (2015). The dominant role of semi-arid ecosystems in the trend and variability of the land CO 2 sink. Science. 348(6237). 895–899. 1109 indexed citations breakdown →
18.
Wang, Weile, Philippe Ciais, Ramakrishna Nemani, et al.. (2013). Correction for Pasari et al., Several scales of biodiversity affect ecosystem multifunctionality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110(37). 15163–15163. 2 indexed citations
19.
Pan, Yude, Richard A. Birdsey, Jingyun Fang, et al.. (2011). A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World’s Forests. Science. 333(6045). 988–993. 8 indexed citations
20.
Krinner, Gerhard, Nicolas Viovy, Nathalie de Noblet‐Ducoudré, et al.. (2005). A dynamic global vegetation model for studies of the coupled atmosphere‐biosphere system. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 19(1). 1603 indexed citations breakdown →

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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