An assessment of geographical distribution of different plant functional types over North America simulated using the CLASS–CTEM modelling framework
The performance of the competition module of the CLASS–CTEM (Canadian Land Surface Scheme and Canadian Terrestrial Ecosystem Model) modelling framework is assessed at 1° spatial resolution over North America by comparing the simulated geographical distribution of its plant functional types (PFTs) wi...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4733-2017 https://www.biogeosciences.net/14/4733/2017/ |
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:bg57208 2023-05-15T15:01:56+02:00 An assessment of geographical distribution of different plant functional types over North America simulated using the CLASS–CTEM modelling framework Shrestha, Rudra K. Arora, Vivek K. Melton, Joe R. Sushama, Laxmi 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4733-2017 https://www.biogeosciences.net/14/4733/2017/ eng eng doi:10.5194/bg-14-4733-2017 https://www.biogeosciences.net/14/4733/2017/ eISSN: 1726-4189 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4733-2017 2019-12-24T09:50:55Z The performance of the competition module of the CLASS–CTEM (Canadian Land Surface Scheme and Canadian Terrestrial Ecosystem Model) modelling framework is assessed at 1° spatial resolution over North America by comparing the simulated geographical distribution of its plant functional types (PFTs) with two observation-based estimates. The model successfully reproduces the broad geographical distribution of trees, grasses and bare ground although limitations remain. In particular, compared to the two observation-based estimates, the simulated fractional vegetation coverage is lower in the arid southwest North American region and higher in the Arctic region. The lower-than-observed simulated vegetation coverage in the southwest region is attributed to lack of representation of shrubs in the model and plausible errors in the observation-based data sets. The observation-based data indicate vegetation fractional coverage of more than 60 % in this arid region, despite only 200–300 mm of precipitation that the region receives annually, and observation-based leaf area index (LAI) values in the region are lower than one. The higher-than-observed vegetation fractional coverage in the Arctic is likely due to the lack of representation of moss and lichen PFTs and also likely because of inadequate representation of permafrost in the model as a result of which the C 3 grass PFT performs overly well in the region. The model generally reproduces the broad spatial distribution and the total area covered by the two primary tree PFTs (needleleaf evergreen trees, NDL-EVG; and broadleaf cold deciduous trees, BDL-DCD-CLD) reasonably well. The simulated fractional coverage of tree PFTs increases after the 1960s in response to the CO 2 fertilization effect and climate warming. Differences between observed and simulated PFT coverages highlight model limitations and suggest that the inclusion of shrubs, and moss and lichen PFTs, and an adequate representation of permafrost will help improve model performance. Text Arctic permafrost Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Arctic Biogeosciences 14 20 4733 4753 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
The performance of the competition module of the CLASS–CTEM (Canadian Land Surface Scheme and Canadian Terrestrial Ecosystem Model) modelling framework is assessed at 1° spatial resolution over North America by comparing the simulated geographical distribution of its plant functional types (PFTs) with two observation-based estimates. The model successfully reproduces the broad geographical distribution of trees, grasses and bare ground although limitations remain. In particular, compared to the two observation-based estimates, the simulated fractional vegetation coverage is lower in the arid southwest North American region and higher in the Arctic region. The lower-than-observed simulated vegetation coverage in the southwest region is attributed to lack of representation of shrubs in the model and plausible errors in the observation-based data sets. The observation-based data indicate vegetation fractional coverage of more than 60 % in this arid region, despite only 200–300 mm of precipitation that the region receives annually, and observation-based leaf area index (LAI) values in the region are lower than one. The higher-than-observed vegetation fractional coverage in the Arctic is likely due to the lack of representation of moss and lichen PFTs and also likely because of inadequate representation of permafrost in the model as a result of which the C 3 grass PFT performs overly well in the region. The model generally reproduces the broad spatial distribution and the total area covered by the two primary tree PFTs (needleleaf evergreen trees, NDL-EVG; and broadleaf cold deciduous trees, BDL-DCD-CLD) reasonably well. The simulated fractional coverage of tree PFTs increases after the 1960s in response to the CO 2 fertilization effect and climate warming. Differences between observed and simulated PFT coverages highlight model limitations and suggest that the inclusion of shrubs, and moss and lichen PFTs, and an adequate representation of permafrost will help improve model performance. |
format |
Text |
author |
Shrestha, Rudra K. Arora, Vivek K. Melton, Joe R. Sushama, Laxmi |
spellingShingle |
Shrestha, Rudra K. Arora, Vivek K. Melton, Joe R. Sushama, Laxmi An assessment of geographical distribution of different plant functional types over North America simulated using the CLASS–CTEM modelling framework |
author_facet |
Shrestha, Rudra K. Arora, Vivek K. Melton, Joe R. Sushama, Laxmi |
author_sort |
Shrestha, Rudra K. |
title |
An assessment of geographical distribution of different plant functional types over North America simulated using the CLASS–CTEM modelling framework |
title_short |
An assessment of geographical distribution of different plant functional types over North America simulated using the CLASS–CTEM modelling framework |
title_full |
An assessment of geographical distribution of different plant functional types over North America simulated using the CLASS–CTEM modelling framework |
title_fullStr |
An assessment of geographical distribution of different plant functional types over North America simulated using the CLASS–CTEM modelling framework |
title_full_unstemmed |
An assessment of geographical distribution of different plant functional types over North America simulated using the CLASS–CTEM modelling framework |
title_sort |
assessment of geographical distribution of different plant functional types over north america simulated using the class–ctem modelling framework |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4733-2017 https://www.biogeosciences.net/14/4733/2017/ |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic permafrost |
genre_facet |
Arctic permafrost |
op_source |
eISSN: 1726-4189 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/bg-14-4733-2017 https://www.biogeosciences.net/14/4733/2017/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-4733-2017 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
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14 |
container_issue |
20 |
container_start_page |
4733 |
op_container_end_page |
4753 |
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1766333946590658560 |