Primary data of: Spring phenology rather than climate dominates the trends in peak of growing season in the Northern Hemisphere

<p><span>Shifts in plant phenology regulate ecosystem structure and function, which feeds back to the climate system. </span><span>However, </span><span>drivers for the peak of growing season (POS) in seasonal dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems </span><span>remain unclear</span><span>. Here, spatial-temporal patterns of POS dynamics were analyzed by </span><span>solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence </span><span>(SIF) and vegetation index in the Northern Hemisphere over the past two decades from 2001 to 2020. Overall, a slow advanced POS was observed in the Northern Hemisphere, while a delayed POS was distributed mainly in northeastern North America. Trends of POS </span><span>were driven by </span><span>the start of growing season (</span><span>SOS) rather than pre-POS climate, both at hemisphere and biome scale. The effect of SOS on the trends in POS was the strongest in shrublands while the weakest in evergreen broad-leaved forests.</span> <span>These findings highlight the crucial role of</span> <span>biological rhythms rather than climatic</span><span> factors </span><span>in exploring</span><span> seasonal carbon dynamics and global carbon balance. </span></p>