On the need to consider wood formation processes in global vegetation models and a suggested approach
Accepted version
Peer-reviewed
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Repository DOI
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Authors
Friend, Andrew David
Eckes-Shephard, Annemarie
Fonti, Patrick
Rademacher, Tim Tito
Rathgeber, Cyrille
Abstract
Dynamic global vegetation models are key tools for interpreting and forecasting the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to climatic variation and other drivers. They estimate plant growth as the outcome of the supply of carbon through photosynthesis. However, growth is itself under direct control, and not simply controlled by the amount of available carbon. Therefore predictions by current photosynthesis driven models of large increases in future vegetation biomass due to increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2 may be significant over-estimations. We describe how current understanding of wood formation can be used to reformulate global vegetation models, with potentially major implications for their behaviour.
Description
Keywords
Dynamic global vegetation model, Xylogenesis, Carbon, Source, Sink
Journal Title
Annals of Forest Science
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
1297-966X
1297-966X
1297-966X
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Verlag
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All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Natural Environment Research Council (NE/P011462/1)