Integrating Arctic Plant Functional Types in a Land Surface Model Using Above‐ and Belowground Field Observations
Abstract Accurate simulations of high‐latitude ecosystems are critical for confident Earth system model (ESM) projections of carbon cycle feedbacks to global climate change. Land surface model components of ESMs, including the E3SM Land Model (ELM), simulate vegetation growth and ecosystem responses...
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2021
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ff819ef2c630405089c30f22eac0c143 2023-05-15T14:43:17+02:00 Integrating Arctic Plant Functional Types in a Land Surface Model Using Above‐ and Belowground Field Observations Benjamin N. Sulman Verity G. Salmon Colleen M. Iversen Amy L. Breen Fengming Yuan Peter E. Thornton 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002396 https://doaj.org/article/ff819ef2c630405089c30f22eac0c143 EN eng American Geophysical Union (AGU) https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002396 https://doaj.org/toc/1942-2466 1942-2466 doi:10.1029/2020MS002396 https://doaj.org/article/ff819ef2c630405089c30f22eac0c143 Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol 13, Iss 4, Pp n/a-n/a (2021) Arctic biomass modeling plant functional types vegetation Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002396 2022-12-31T06:35:19Z Abstract Accurate simulations of high‐latitude ecosystems are critical for confident Earth system model (ESM) projections of carbon cycle feedbacks to global climate change. Land surface model components of ESMs, including the E3SM Land Model (ELM), simulate vegetation growth and ecosystem responses to changing climate and atmospheric CO2 concentrations by grouping heterogeneous vegetation into like sets of plant functional types (PFTs). Many such models represent high‐latitude vegetation using only two PFTs (shrub and grass), thereby missing the diversity of vegetation growth forms and functional traits in the Arctic. Here, we use field observations of biomass and leaf traits across a gradient of plant communities on the Seward Peninsula in northwest Alaska to replace the original ELM configuration for the first time with nine Arctic‐specific PFTs. The newly developed PFTs include: (1) nonvascular mosses and lichens, (2) deciduous and evergreen shrubs of various height classes, including an alder PFT, (3) graminoids, and (4) forbs. Improvements relative to the original model configuration included greater belowground biomass allocation, persistent fine roots and rhizomes of nonwoody plants, and better representation of variability in total plant biomass across sites with varying plant communities and depth to bedrock. Simulations through 2100 using the RCP8.5 climate scenario and constant PFT fractional areas showed alder‐dominated plant communities gaining more biomass and lichen‐dominated communities gaining less biomass compared to default PFTs. Our results highlight how representing the diversity of arctic vegetation and confronting models with measurements from varied plant communities improves the representation of arctic vegetation in terrestrial ecosystem models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Seward Peninsula Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 13 4 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic biomass modeling plant functional types vegetation Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic biomass modeling plant functional types vegetation Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 Benjamin N. Sulman Verity G. Salmon Colleen M. Iversen Amy L. Breen Fengming Yuan Peter E. Thornton Integrating Arctic Plant Functional Types in a Land Surface Model Using Above‐ and Belowground Field Observations |
topic_facet |
Arctic biomass modeling plant functional types vegetation Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
Abstract Accurate simulations of high‐latitude ecosystems are critical for confident Earth system model (ESM) projections of carbon cycle feedbacks to global climate change. Land surface model components of ESMs, including the E3SM Land Model (ELM), simulate vegetation growth and ecosystem responses to changing climate and atmospheric CO2 concentrations by grouping heterogeneous vegetation into like sets of plant functional types (PFTs). Many such models represent high‐latitude vegetation using only two PFTs (shrub and grass), thereby missing the diversity of vegetation growth forms and functional traits in the Arctic. Here, we use field observations of biomass and leaf traits across a gradient of plant communities on the Seward Peninsula in northwest Alaska to replace the original ELM configuration for the first time with nine Arctic‐specific PFTs. The newly developed PFTs include: (1) nonvascular mosses and lichens, (2) deciduous and evergreen shrubs of various height classes, including an alder PFT, (3) graminoids, and (4) forbs. Improvements relative to the original model configuration included greater belowground biomass allocation, persistent fine roots and rhizomes of nonwoody plants, and better representation of variability in total plant biomass across sites with varying plant communities and depth to bedrock. Simulations through 2100 using the RCP8.5 climate scenario and constant PFT fractional areas showed alder‐dominated plant communities gaining more biomass and lichen‐dominated communities gaining less biomass compared to default PFTs. Our results highlight how representing the diversity of arctic vegetation and confronting models with measurements from varied plant communities improves the representation of arctic vegetation in terrestrial ecosystem models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Benjamin N. Sulman Verity G. Salmon Colleen M. Iversen Amy L. Breen Fengming Yuan Peter E. Thornton |
author_facet |
Benjamin N. Sulman Verity G. Salmon Colleen M. Iversen Amy L. Breen Fengming Yuan Peter E. Thornton |
author_sort |
Benjamin N. Sulman |
title |
Integrating Arctic Plant Functional Types in a Land Surface Model Using Above‐ and Belowground Field Observations |
title_short |
Integrating Arctic Plant Functional Types in a Land Surface Model Using Above‐ and Belowground Field Observations |
title_full |
Integrating Arctic Plant Functional Types in a Land Surface Model Using Above‐ and Belowground Field Observations |
title_fullStr |
Integrating Arctic Plant Functional Types in a Land Surface Model Using Above‐ and Belowground Field Observations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Integrating Arctic Plant Functional Types in a Land Surface Model Using Above‐ and Belowground Field Observations |
title_sort |
integrating arctic plant functional types in a land surface model using above‐ and belowground field observations |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002396 https://doaj.org/article/ff819ef2c630405089c30f22eac0c143 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Seward Peninsula Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Seward Peninsula Alaska |
op_source |
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol 13, Iss 4, Pp n/a-n/a (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002396 https://doaj.org/toc/1942-2466 1942-2466 doi:10.1029/2020MS002396 https://doaj.org/article/ff819ef2c630405089c30f22eac0c143 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020MS002396 |
container_title |
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
4 |
_version_ |
1766314972774662144 |