English
 
Privacy Policy Disclaimer
  Advanced SearchBrowse

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT
Add to Basket
  Local TagsRelease HistoryDetailsSummary

Released
Journal Article

Variable tree rooting strategies are key for modelling the distribution, productivity and evapotranspiration of tropical evergreen forests

Authors
/persons/resource/Boris.Sakschewski

Sakschewski,  Boris
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Werner.von.Bloh

von Bloh,  Werner
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/markus.drueke

Drüke,  Markus
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Sörensson,  Anna Amelia
External Organizations;

Ruscica,  Romina
External Organizations;

Langerwisch,  Fanny
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/maik.billing

Billing,  Maik
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

Bereswill,  Sarah
External Organizations;

Hirota,  Marina
External Organizations;

Oliveira,  Rafael S.
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/Jens.Heinke

Heinke,  Jens
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

/persons/resource/Kirsten.Thonicke

Thonicke,  Kirsten
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research;

External Ressource
No external resources are shared
Fulltext (public)

25097oa.pdf
(Publisher version), 11MB

Supplementary Material (public)
There is no public supplementary material available
Citation

Sakschewski, B., von Bloh, W., Drüke, M., Sörensson, A. A., Ruscica, R., Langerwisch, F., Billing, M., Bereswill, S., Hirota, M., Oliveira, R. S., Heinke, J., Thonicke, K. (2021): Variable tree rooting strategies are key for modelling the distribution, productivity and evapotranspiration of tropical evergreen forests. - Biogeosciences, 18, 13, 4091-4116.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4091-2021


Cite as: https://publications.pik-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_25097
Abstract
A variety of modelling studies have suggested tree rooting depth as a key variable to explain evapotranspiration rates, productivity and the geographical distribution of evergreen forests in tropical South America. However, none of those studies have acknowledged resource investment, timing and physical constraints of tree rooting depth within a competitive environment, undermining the ecological realism of their results. Here, we present an approach of implementing variable rooting strategies and dynamic root growth into the LPJmL4.0 (Lund-Potsdam-Jena managed Land) dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM) and apply it to tropical and sub-tropical South America under contemporary climate conditions. We show how competing rooting strategies which underlie the trade-off between above- and below-ground carbon investment lead to more realistic simulation of intra-annual productivity and evapotranspiration and consequently of forest cover and spatial biomass distribution. We find that climate and soil depth determine a spatially heterogeneous pattern of mean rooting depth and below-ground biomass across the study region. Our findings support the hypothesis that the ability of evergreen trees to adjust their rooting systems to seasonally dry climates is crucial to explaining the current dominance, productivity and evapotranspiration of evergreen forests in tropical South America.