Articles | Volume 19, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2699-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2699-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
01 Jun 2022
Research article |
| 01 Jun 2022
| 01 Jun 2022
Estimating dry biomass and plant nitrogen concentration in pre-Alpine grasslands with low-cost UAS-borne multispectral data – a comparison of sensors, algorithms, and predictor sets
Anne Schucknecht
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),
82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Bumsuk Seo
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),
82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Alexander Krämer
WWL Umweltplanung und Geoinformatik GbR, 79189 Bad Krozingen, Germany
Sarah Asam
German Remote Sensing Data Center, German Aerospace Center,
82234 Wessling, Germany
Clement Atzberger
Institute of Geomatics, University of Natural Resources and Life
Sciences (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria
Ralf Kiese
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),
82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
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Biogeosciences, 22, 1529–1542, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1529-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1529-2025, 2025
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The increase in atmospheric concentrations of several greenhouse gases (GHGs) since 1750 is attributed to human activity. However, natural ecosystems, such as tropical forests, also contribute to GHG budgets. The Congo Basin hosts the second largest tropical forest and is understudied. In this study, measurements of soil GHG exchange were carried out during 16 months in a tropical forest in the Congo Basin. Overall, the soil acted as a major source of CO2 and N2O and a minor sink of CH4.
Fawad Khan, Samuel Franco Luesma, Frederik Hartmann, Michael Dannenmann, Rainer Gasche, Clemens Scheer, Andreas Gattinger, Wiebke Niether, Elizabeth Gachibu Wangari, Ricky Mwangada Mwanake, Ralf Kiese, and Benjamin Wolf
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-292, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-292, 2025
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Crop rotations with legumes and use of organic and mineral fertilizers show potential to reduce agricultural N losses. This study examined N losses, including direct N2 flux, on two adjacent sites with different management history: organic farming (OF) with legume cultivation and integrated farming (IF) using synthetic and organic N inputs. IF increased soil organic carbon and nitrogen content, 15N recovery and showed a balanced N budget, i.e., more efficient N cycling compared to OF.
Sophie Reinermann, Carolin Boos, Andrea Kaim, Anne Schucknecht, Sarah Asam, Ursula Gessner, Sylvia H. Annuth, Thomas M. Schmitt, Thomas Koellner, and Ralf Kiese
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4087, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4087, 2025
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Grasslands shape the landscape in many parts of the world and serve as the main source of fodder for livestock. There is a lack of comprehensive data on grassland yield, though highly valuable for authorities and research. By applying three approaches to estimate grassland yields, namely a satellite data model, a biogeochemical model and a field measurements approach, we provide annual grassland yield maps for the Ammer region in 2019 and highlight potentials and limitations of the approaches.
Carolin Boos, Sophie Reinermann, Raul Wood, Ralf Ludwig, Anne Schucknecht, David Kraus, and Ralf Kiese
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2864, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2864, 2024
Preprint archived
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We applied a biogeochemical model on grasslands in the pre-Alpine Ammer region in Germany and analyzed the influence of soil and climate on annual yields. In drought affected years, total yields were decreased by 4 %. Overall, yields decrease with rising elevation, but less so in drier and hotter years, whereas soil organic carbon has a positive impact on yields, especially in drier years. Our findings imply, that adapted management in the region allows to mitigate yield losses from drought.
Lammert Kooistra, Katja Berger, Benjamin Brede, Lukas Valentin Graf, Helge Aasen, Jean-Louis Roujean, Miriam Machwitz, Martin Schlerf, Clement Atzberger, Egor Prikaziuk, Dessislava Ganeva, Enrico Tomelleri, Holly Croft, Pablo Reyes Muñoz, Virginia Garcia Millan, Roshanak Darvishzadeh, Gerbrand Koren, Ittai Herrmann, Offer Rozenstein, Santiago Belda, Miina Rautiainen, Stein Rune Karlsen, Cláudio Figueira Silva, Sofia Cerasoli, Jon Pierre, Emine Tanır Kayıkçı, Andrej Halabuk, Esra Tunc Gormus, Frank Fluit, Zhanzhang Cai, Marlena Kycko, Thomas Udelhoven, and Jochem Verrelst
Biogeosciences, 21, 473–511, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-473-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-473-2024, 2024
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We reviewed optical remote sensing time series (TS) studies for monitoring vegetation productivity across ecosystems. Methods were categorized into trend analysis, land surface phenology, and assimilation into statistical or dynamic vegetation models. Due to progress in machine learning, TS processing methods will diversify, while modelling strategies will advance towards holistic processing. We propose integrating methods into a digital twin to improve the understanding of vegetation dynamics.
Elizabeth Gachibu Wangari, Ricky Mwangada Mwanake, Tobias Houska, David Kraus, Gretchen Maria Gettel, Ralf Kiese, Lutz Breuer, and Klaus Butterbach-Bahl
Biogeosciences, 20, 5029–5067, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5029-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5029-2023, 2023
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Agricultural landscapes act as sinks or sources of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) CO2, CH4, or N2O. Various physicochemical and biological processes control the fluxes of these GHGs between ecosystems and the atmosphere. Therefore, fluxes depend on environmental conditions such as soil moisture, soil temperature, or soil parameters, which result in large spatial and temporal variations of GHG fluxes. Here, we describe an example of how this variation may be studied and analyzed.
Ricky Mwangada Mwanake, Gretchen Maria Gettel, Elizabeth Gachibu Wangari, Clarissa Glaser, Tobias Houska, Lutz Breuer, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, and Ralf Kiese
Biogeosciences, 20, 3395–3422, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3395-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3395-2023, 2023
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Despite occupying <1 %; of the globe, streams are significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, we determined anthropogenic effects on GHG emissions from streams. We found that anthropogenic-influenced streams had up to 20 times more annual GHG emissions than natural ones and were also responsible for seasonal peaks. Anthropogenic influences also altered declining GHG flux trends with stream size, with potential impacts on stream-size-based spatial upscaling techniques.
Joseph Okello, Marijn Bauters, Hans Verbeeck, Samuel Bodé, John Kasenene, Astrid Françoys, Till Engelhardt, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Ralf Kiese, and Pascal Boeckx
Biogeosciences, 20, 719–735, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-719-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-719-2023, 2023
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The increase in global and regional temperatures has the potential to drive accelerated soil organic carbon losses in tropical forests. We simulated climate warming by translocating intact soil cores from higher to lower elevations. The results revealed increasing temperature sensitivity and decreasing losses of soil organic carbon with increasing elevation. Our results suggest that climate warming may trigger enhanced losses of soil organic carbon from tropical montane forests.
Friedrich Boeing, Oldrich Rakovec, Rohini Kumar, Luis Samaniego, Martin Schrön, Anke Hildebrandt, Corinna Rebmann, Stephan Thober, Sebastian Müller, Steffen Zacharias, Heye Bogena, Katrin Schneider, Ralf Kiese, Sabine Attinger, and Andreas Marx
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5137–5161, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5137-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5137-2022, 2022
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In this paper, we deliver an evaluation of the second generation operational German drought monitor (https://www.ufz.de/duerremonitor) with a state-of-the-art compilation of observed soil moisture data from 40 locations and four different measurement methods in Germany. We show that the expressed stakeholder needs for higher resolution drought information at the one-kilometer scale can be met and that the agreement of simulated and observed soil moisture dynamics can be moderately improved.
Dong-Gill Kim, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Youngryel Ryu, Bumsuk Seo, and Dario Papale
Biogeosciences, 19, 1435–1450, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1435-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1435-2022, 2022
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As carbon (C) and greenhouse gas (GHG) research has adopted appropriate technology and approach (AT&A), low-cost instruments, open-source software, and participatory research and their results were well accepted by scientific communities. In terms of cost, feasibility, and performance, the integration of low-cost and low-technology, participatory and networking-based research approaches can be AT&A for enhancing C and GHG research in developing countries.
Matthias Mauder, Andreas Ibrom, Luise Wanner, Frederik De Roo, Peter Brugger, Ralf Kiese, and Kim Pilegaard
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7835–7850, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7835-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7835-2021, 2021
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Turbulent flux measurements suffer from a general systematic underestimation. One reason for this bias is non-local transport by large-scale circulations. A recently developed model for this additional transport of sensible and latent energy is evaluated for three different test sites. Different options on how to apply this correction are presented, and the results are evaluated against independent measurements.
Dong-Gill Kim, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Youngryel Ryu, Bumsuk Seo, and Dario Papale
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2021-85, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2021-85, 2021
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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While greenhouse gas (GHG) research has adopted highly advanced technology some have adopted appropriate technology and approach (AT&A) such as low-cost instrument, open source software and participatory research and their results were well accepted by scientific communities. In terms of cost, feasibility and performance, integration of low-cost and low-technology, participatory and networking based research approaches can be AT&A for enhancing GHG research in developing countries.
Benjamin Fersch, Till Francke, Maik Heistermann, Martin Schrön, Veronika Döpper, Jannis Jakobi, Gabriele Baroni, Theresa Blume, Heye Bogena, Christian Budach, Tobias Gränzig, Michael Förster, Andreas Güntner, Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen, Mandy Kasner, Markus Köhli, Birgit Kleinschmit, Harald Kunstmann, Amol Patil, Daniel Rasche, Lena Scheiffele, Ulrich Schmidt, Sandra Szulc-Seyfried, Jannis Weimar, Steffen Zacharias, Marek Zreda, Bernd Heber, Ralf Kiese, Vladimir Mares, Hannes Mollenhauer, Ingo Völksch, and Sascha Oswald
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2289–2309, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2289-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2289-2020, 2020
Chris R. Flechard, Andreas Ibrom, Ute M. Skiba, Wim de Vries, Marcel van Oijen, David R. Cameron, Nancy B. Dise, Janne F. J. Korhonen, Nina Buchmann, Arnaud Legout, David Simpson, Maria J. Sanz, Marc Aubinet, Denis Loustau, Leonardo Montagnani, Johan Neirynck, Ivan A. Janssens, Mari Pihlatie, Ralf Kiese, Jan Siemens, André-Jean Francez, Jürgen Augustin, Andrej Varlagin, Janusz Olejnik, Radosław Juszczak, Mika Aurela, Daniel Berveiller, Bogdan H. Chojnicki, Ulrich Dämmgen, Nicolas Delpierre, Vesna Djuricic, Julia Drewer, Eric Dufrêne, Werner Eugster, Yannick Fauvel, David Fowler, Arnoud Frumau, André Granier, Patrick Gross, Yannick Hamon, Carole Helfter, Arjan Hensen, László Horváth, Barbara Kitzler, Bart Kruijt, Werner L. Kutsch, Raquel Lobo-do-Vale, Annalea Lohila, Bernard Longdoz, Michal V. Marek, Giorgio Matteucci, Marta Mitosinkova, Virginie Moreaux, Albrecht Neftel, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Kim Pilegaard, Gabriel Pita, Francisco Sanz, Jan K. Schjoerring, Maria-Teresa Sebastià, Y. Sim Tang, Hilde Uggerud, Marek Urbaniak, Netty van Dijk, Timo Vesala, Sonja Vidic, Caroline Vincke, Tamás Weidinger, Sophie Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Eiko Nemitz, and Mark A. Sutton
Biogeosciences, 17, 1583–1620, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1583-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1583-2020, 2020
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Experimental evidence from a network of 40 monitoring sites in Europe suggests that atmospheric nitrogen deposition to forests and other semi-natural vegetation impacts the carbon sequestration rates in ecosystems, as well as the net greenhouse gas balance including other greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and methane. Excess nitrogen deposition in polluted areas also leads to other environmental impacts such as nitrogen leaching to groundwater and other pollutant gaseous emissions.
Calum Brown, Bumsuk Seo, and Mark Rounsevell
Earth Syst. Dynam., 10, 809–845, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-809-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-10-809-2019, 2019
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Concerns are growing that human activity will lead to social and environmental breakdown, but it is hard to anticipate when and where such breakdowns might occur. We developed a new model of land management decisions in Europe to explore possible future changes and found that decision-making that takes into account social and environmental conditions can produce unexpected outcomes that include societal breakdown in challenging conditions.
Erkan Ibraim, Benjamin Wolf, Eliza Harris, Rainer Gasche, Jing Wei, Longfei Yu, Ralf Kiese, Sarah Eggleston, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Matthias Zeeman, Béla Tuzson, Lukas Emmenegger, Johan Six, Stephan Henne, and Joachim Mohn
Biogeosciences, 16, 3247–3266, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3247-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3247-2019, 2019
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Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas and the major stratospheric ozone-depleting substance; therefore, mitigation of anthropogenic N2O emissions is needed. To trace N2O-emitting source processes, in this study, we observed N2O isotopocules above an intensively managed grassland research site with a recently developed laser spectroscopy method. Our results indicate that the domain of denitrification or nitrifier denitrification was the major N2O source.
Friederike Gerschlauer, Gustavo Saiz, David Schellenberger Costa, Michael Kleyer, Michael Dannenmann, and Ralf Kiese
Biogeosciences, 16, 409–424, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-409-2019, 2019
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Mount Kilimanjaro is an iconic environmental asset under serious threat due to increasing human pressures and climate change constraints. We studied variations in the stable isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen in plant, litter, and soil material sampled along a strong land-use and altitudinal gradient. Our results show that, besides management, increasing temperatures in a changing climate may promote carbon and nitrogen losses, thus altering the stability of Kilimanjaro ecosystems.
Tobias Houska, David Kraus, Ralf Kiese, and Lutz Breuer
Biogeosciences, 14, 3487–3508, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3487-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3487-2017, 2017
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CO2 and N2O are two prominent GHGs contributing to global warming. We combined measurement and modelling to quantify GHG emissions from adjacent arable, forest and grassland sites in Germany. Measured emissions reveal seasonal patterns and management effects like fertilizer application, tillage, harvest and grazing. Modelling helps to estimate the magnitude and uncertainty of not measurable C and N fluxes and indicates missing input source, e.g. nitrate uptake from groundwater.
Stephanie K. Jones, Carole Helfter, Margaret Anderson, Mhairi Coyle, Claire Campbell, Daniela Famulari, Chiara Di Marco, Netty van Dijk, Y. Sim Tang, Cairistiona F. E. Topp, Ralf Kiese, Reimo Kindler, Jan Siemens, Marion Schrumpf, Klaus Kaiser, Eiko Nemitz, Peter E. Levy, Robert M. Rees, Mark A. Sutton, and Ute M. Skiba
Biogeosciences, 14, 2069–2088, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2069-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2069-2017, 2017
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We assessed the nitrogen (N), carbon (C) and greenhouse gas (GHG) budget from an intensively managed grassland in southern Scotland using flux budget calculations as well as changes in soil N and C pools over time. Estimates from flux budget calculations indicated that N and C were sequestered, whereas soil stock measurements indicated a smaller N storage and a loss of C from the ecosystem. The GHG sink strength of the net CO2 ecosystem exchange was strongly affected by CH4 and N2O emissions.
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Understanding what determines the establishment of dune-building vegetation could help to better predict coastal dune initiation and development. We monitored the establishment of dune-building grasses and dune initiation in a large field experiment. Our results show that dune initiation takes place during peaks in dune-building grass establishment, which depend on favorable environmental conditions. Our findings can potentially be integrated into beach restoration and management strategies.
Pierre-Alexis Herrault, Albin Ullmann, and Damien Ertlen
Biogeosciences, 22, 705–724, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-705-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-705-2025, 2025
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Mountain grasslands are impacted by climate change and need to adapt. Low-mountain grasslands are poorly understood compared to high-mountain massifs. Thanks to satellite archives, we found that grasslands occurring in the Vosges Mountains (France) exhibited stable productivity or tended to decrease in specific regions of the massif, with a reverse signal observed in high-mountain massifs. We also noted a high responsiveness in their growth strategy to soil moisture, snow regime, and topography.
Sofie Van Winckel, Jonas Simons, Stef Lhermitte, and Bart Muys
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4094, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4094, 2025
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Insights on management's impact on forest carbon stocks are crucial for sustainable forest management practices. However, accurately monitoring carbon stocks remains a technological challenge. This study estimates above-ground carbon stock in managed and unmanaged forests using passive optical, SAR, and LiDAR remote sensing data. Results show promising potential in using multiple remote sensing predictors and publicly available high-resolution data for mapping forest carbon stocks.
Lilian Vallet, Charbel Abdallah, Thomas Lauvaux, Lilian Joly, Michel Ramonet, Philippe Ciais, Morgan Lopez, Irène Xueref-Remy, and Florent Mouillot
Biogeosciences, 22, 213–242, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-213-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-213-2025, 2025
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The 2022 fire season had a huge impact on European temperate forest, with several large fires exhibiting prolonged soil combustion reported. We analyzed CO and CO2 concentration recorded at nearby atmospheric towers, revealing intense smoldering combustion. We refined a fire emission model to incorporate this process. We estimated 7.95 Mteq CO2 fire emission, twice the global estimate. Fires contributed to 1.97 % of France's annual carbon footprint, reducing forest carbon sink by 30 % this year.
Arsène Druel, Julien Ruffault, Hendrik Davi, André Chanzy, Olivier Marloie, Miquel De Cáceres, Albert Olioso, Florent Mouillot, Christophe François, Kamel Soudani, and Nicolas K. Martin-StPaul
Biogeosciences, 22, 1–18, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1-2025, 2025
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Accurate radiation data are essential for understanding ecosystem functions and dynamics. Traditional large-scale data lack the precision needed for complex terrain. This study introduces a new model, which accounts for sub-daily direct and diffuse radiation effects caused by terrain features, to enhance the radiation data resolution using elevation maps. Tested on a mountainous area, this method significantly improved radiation estimates, benefiting predictions of forest functions.
Gab Abramowitz, Anna Ukkola, Sanaa Hobeichi, Jon Cranko Page, Mathew Lipson, Martin G. De Kauwe, Samuel Green, Claire Brenner, Jonathan Frame, Grey Nearing, Martyn Clark, Martin Best, Peter Anthoni, Gabriele Arduini, Souhail Boussetta, Silvia Caldararu, Kyeungwoo Cho, Matthias Cuntz, David Fairbairn, Craig R. Ferguson, Hyungjun Kim, Yeonjoo Kim, Jürgen Knauer, David Lawrence, Xiangzhong Luo, Sergey Malyshev, Tomoko Nitta, Jerome Ogee, Keith Oleson, Catherine Ottlé, Phillipe Peylin, Patricia de Rosnay, Heather Rumbold, Bob Su, Nicolas Vuichard, Anthony P. Walker, Xiaoni Wang-Faivre, Yunfei Wang, and Yijian Zeng
Biogeosciences, 21, 5517–5538, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5517-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5517-2024, 2024
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This paper evaluates land models – computer-based models that simulate ecosystem dynamics; land carbon, water, and energy cycles; and the role of land in the climate system. It uses machine learning and AI approaches to show that, despite the complexity of land models, they do not perform nearly as well as they could given the amount of information they are provided with about the prediction problem.
Simon Scheiter, Sophie Wolf, and Teja Kattenborn
Biogeosciences, 21, 4909–4926, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4909-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4909-2024, 2024
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Biomes are widely used to map vegetation patterns at large spatial scales and to assess impacts of climate change, yet there is no consensus on a generally valid biome classification scheme. We used crowd-sourced species distribution data and trait data to assess whether trait information is suitable for delimiting biomes. Although the trait data were heterogeneous and had large gaps with respect to the spatial distribution, we found that a global trait-based biome classification was possible.
Cheng-Hsien Lin, Colleen Zumpf, Chunhwa Jang, Thomas Voigt, Guanglong Tian, Olawale Oladeji, Albert Cox, Rehnuma Mehzabin, and DoKyoung Lee
Biogeosciences, 21, 4765–4784, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4765-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4765-2024, 2024
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Riparian areas are subject to environmental issues (nutrient leaching) associated with low productivity. Perennial grasses can improve ecosystem services from riparian zones while producing forage/bioenergy feedstock biomass as potential income for farmers. The forage-type buffer can be an ideal short-term candidate due to its great efficiency of nutrient scavenging; the bioenergy-type buffer showed better sustainability than the forage buffer and a continuous yield supply potential.
Gabriela Sophia, Silvia Caldararu, Benjamin David Stocker, and Sönke Zaehle
Biogeosciences, 21, 4169–4193, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4169-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4169-2024, 2024
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Through an extensive global dataset of leaf nutrient resorption and a multifactorial analysis, we show that the majority of spatial variation in nutrient resorption may be driven by leaf habit and type, with thicker, longer-lived leaves having lower resorption efficiencies. Climate, soil fertility and soil-related factors emerge as strong drivers with an additional effect on its role. These results are essential for comprehending plant nutrient status, plant productivity and nutrient cycling.
Cecilia M. Prada, Katherine D. Heineman, Maria J. Pardo, Camille Piponiot, and James W. Dalling
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2738, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2738, 2024
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The influence of elevation and soil nutrient availability on carbon stocks has not been evaluated for ectomycorrhizal forests in the tropics. In western Panama we calculated C pools in ten plots in an elevational gradient varying in relative abundance of EM-trees. We found exceptionally high aboveground soil C in high elevation EM-forest, in contrast to arbuscular mycorrhizal-dominated Andean forests.
Tiago Silva, Brandon Samuel Whitley, Elisabeth Machteld Biersma, Jakob Abermann, Katrine Raundrup, Natasha de Vere, Toke Thomas Høye, and Wolfgang Schöner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2571, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2571, 2024
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Ecosystems in Greenland have experienced significant changes over recent decades. Here, we show the consistency of a high-resolution polar-adapted reanalysis product to represent bio-climatic factors influencing ecological processes. Our results describe the interaction between snowmelt and soil water availability before the growing season onset, infer how changes in the growing season relate to changes in spectral greenness and identify regions of ongoing changes in vegetation distribution.
Madeleine-Zoé Corbeil-Robitaille, Éliane Duchesne, Daniel Fortier, Christophe Kinnard, and Joël Bêty
Biogeosciences, 21, 3401–3423, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3401-2024, 2024
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In the Arctic tundra, climate change is transforming the landscape, and this may impact wildlife. We focus on three nesting bird species and the islets they select as refuges from their main predator, the Arctic fox. A geomorphological process, ice-wedge polygon degradation, was found to play a key role in creating these refuges. This process is likely to affect predator–prey dynamics in the Arctic tundra, highlighting the connections between nature's physical and ecological systems.
Samuel M. Fischer, Xugao Wang, and Andreas Huth
Biogeosciences, 21, 3305–3319, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3305-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3305-2024, 2024
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Understanding the drivers of forest productivity is key for accurately assessing forests’ role in the global carbon cycle. Yet, despite significant research effort, it is not fully understood how the productivity of a forest can be deduced from its stand structure. We suggest tackling this problem by identifying the share and structure of immature trees within forests and show that this approach could significantly improve estimates of forests’ net productivity and carbon uptake.
Mery Ingrid Guimarães de Alencar, Rafael D. Guariento, Bertrand Guenet, Luciana S. Carneiro, Eduardo L. Voigt, and Adriano Caliman
Biogeosciences, 21, 3165–3182, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3165-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3165-2024, 2024
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Flowers are ephemeral organs for reproduction, and their litter is functionally different from leaf litter. Flowers can affect decomposition and interact with leaf litter, influencing decomposition non-additively. We show that mixing flower and leaf litter from the Tabebuia aurea tree creates reciprocal synergistic effects on decomposition in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. We highlight that flower litter input can generate biogeochemical hotspots in terrestrial ecosystems.
Gaïa Michel, Julien Crétat, Olivier Mathieu, Mathieu Thévenot, Andrey Dara, Robert Granat, Zhendong Wu, Clément Bonnefoy-Claudet, Julianne Capelle, Jean Cacot, and John S. Kimball
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1758, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1758, 2024
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This study questions the usefulness of state-ot-the-art models to characterize the temporal variability of atmosphere-ecosystem CO2 exchanges in western European forests. Their mean annual cycle and annual budget are better captured by statistical than physical models, while their interannual variability and long-term trend are better captured by models forced by climate variability. Accounting for both forest stands and climate variability is thus key for properly assessing CO2 fluxes.
Salim Soltani, Olga Ferlian, Nico Eisenhauer, Hannes Feilhauer, and Teja Kattenborn
Biogeosciences, 21, 2909–2935, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2909-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2909-2024, 2024
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In this research, we developed a novel method using citizen science data as alternative training data for computer vision models to map plant species in unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) images. We use citizen science plant photographs to train models and apply them to UAV images. We tested our approach on UAV images of a test site with 10 different tree species, yielding accurate results. This research shows the potential of citizen science data to advance our ability to monitor plant species.
Xue Feng, Ruzhen Wang, Tianpeng Li, Jiangping Cai, Heyong Liu, Hui Li, and Yong Jiang
Biogeosciences, 21, 2641–2653, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2641-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2641-2024, 2024
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Plant functional traits have been considered as reflecting adaptations to environmental variations, indirectly affecting ecosystem productivity. How soil acidification affects above- and belowground biomass by altering leaf and root traits remains poorly understood. We found divergent trait responses driven by soil environmental conditions in two dominant species, resulting in a decrease in aboveground biomass and an increase in belowground biomass.
Minhua Zhang, Xiaoqing Hu, and Fangliang He
Biogeosciences, 21, 2133–2142, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2133-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2133-2024, 2024
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Plant sexual systems are important to understanding the evolution and maintenance of plant diversity. We quantified region effects on their proportions while incorporating local climate factors and evolutionary history. We found regional processes and climate effects both play important roles in shaping the geographic distribution of sexual systems, providing a baseline for predicting future changes in forest communities in the context of global change.
Christian H. Mohr, Michael Dietze, Violeta Tolorza, Erwin Gonzalez, Benjamin Sotomayor, Andres Iroume, Sten Gilfert, and Frieder Tautz
Biogeosciences, 21, 1583–1599, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1583-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1583-2024, 2024
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Coastal temperate rainforests, among Earth’s carbon richest biomes, are systematically underrepresented in the global network of critical zone observatories (CZOs). Introducing here a first CZO in the heart of the Patagonian rainforest, Chile, we investigate carbon sink functioning, biota-driven landscape evolution, fluxes of matter and energy, and disturbance regimes. We invite the community to join us in cross-disciplinary collaboration to advance science in this particular environment.
Jorge F. Perez-Quezada, David Trejo, Javier Lopatin, David Aguilera, Bruce Osborne, Mauricio Galleguillos, Luca Zattera, Juan L. Celis-Diez, and Juan J. Armesto
Biogeosciences, 21, 1371–1389, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1371-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1371-2024, 2024
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For 8 years we sampled a temperate rainforest and a peatland in Chile to estimate their efficiency to capture carbon per unit of water lost. The efficiency is more related to the water lost than to the carbon captured and is mainly driven by evaporation instead of transpiration. This is the first report from southern South America and highlights that ecosystems might behave differently in this area, likely explained by the high annual precipitation (~ 2100 mm) and light-limited conditions.
Fredrik Lagergren, Robert G. Björk, Camilla Andersson, Danijel Belušić, Mats P. Björkman, Erik Kjellström, Petter Lind, David Lindstedt, Tinja Olenius, Håkan Pleijel, Gunhild Rosqvist, and Paul A. Miller
Biogeosciences, 21, 1093–1116, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1093-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1093-2024, 2024
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The Fennoscandian boreal and mountain regions harbour a wide range of ecosystems sensitive to climate change. A new, highly resolved high-emission climate scenario enabled modelling of the vegetation development in this region at high resolution for the 21st century. The results show dramatic south to north and low- to high-altitude shifts of vegetation zones, especially for the open tundra environments, which will have large implications for nature conservation, reindeer husbandry and forestry.
Florian Zellweger, Eric Sulmoni, Johanna T. Malle, Andri Baltensweiler, Tobias Jonas, Niklaus E. Zimmermann, Christian Ginzler, Dirk Nikolaus Karger, Pieter De Frenne, David Frey, and Clare Webster
Biogeosciences, 21, 605–623, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-605-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-605-2024, 2024
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The microclimatic conditions experienced by organisms living close to the ground are not well represented in currently used climate datasets derived from weather stations. Therefore, we measured and mapped ground microclimate temperatures at 10 m spatial resolution across Switzerland using a novel radiation model. Our results reveal a high variability in microclimates across different habitats and will help to better understand climate and land use impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems.
Andrew Kulmatiski, Martin C. Holdrege, Cristina Chirvasă, and Karen H. Beard
Biogeosciences, 21, 131–143, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-131-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-131-2024, 2024
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Warmer air and larger precipitation events are changing the way water moves through the soil and into plants. Here we show that detailed descriptions of root distributions can predict plant growth responses to changing precipitation patterns. Shrubs and forbs increased growth, while grasses showed no response to increased precipitation intensity, and these responses were predicted by plant rooting distributions.
Bonaventure Ntirugulirwa, Etienne Zibera, Nkuba Epaphrodite, Aloysie Manishimwe, Donat Nsabimana, Johan Uddling, and Göran Wallin
Biogeosciences, 20, 5125–5149, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5125-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-5125-2023, 2023
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Twenty tropical tree species native to Africa were planted along an elevation gradient (1100 m, 5.4 °C difference). We found that early-successional (ES) species, especially from lower elevations, grew faster at warmer sites, while several of the late-successional (LS) species, especially from higher elevations, did not respond or grew slower. Moreover, a warmer climate increased tree mortality in LS species, but not much in ES species.
Philippe Choler
Biogeosciences, 20, 4259–4272, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4259-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4259-2023, 2023
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The year 2022 was unique in that the summer heat wave and drought led to a widespread reduction in vegetation growth at high elevation in the European Alps. This impact was unprecedented in the southwestern, warm, and dry part of the Alps. Over the last 2 decades, water has become a co-dominant control of vegetation activity in areas that were, so far, primarily controlled by temperature, and the growth of mountain grasslands has become increasingly sensitive to moisture availability.
Adriana Simonetti, Raquel Fernandes Araujo, Carlos Henrique Souza Celes, Flávia Ranara da Silva e Silva, Joaquim dos Santos, Niro Higuchi, Susan Trumbore, and Daniel Magnabosco Marra
Biogeosciences, 20, 3651–3666, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3651-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3651-2023, 2023
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We combined 2 years of monthly drone-acquired RGB (red–green–blue) imagery with field surveys in a central Amazon forest. Our results indicate that small gaps associated with branch fall were the most frequent. Biomass losses were partially controlled by gap area, with branch fall and snapping contributing the least and greatest relative values, respectively. Our study highlights the potential of drone images for monitoring canopy dynamics in dense tropical forests.
Silvia Caldararu, Victor Rolo, Benjamin D. Stocker, Teresa E. Gimeno, and Richard Nair
Biogeosciences, 20, 3637–3649, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3637-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3637-2023, 2023
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Ecosystem manipulative experiments are large experiments in real ecosystems. They include processes such as species interactions and weather that would be omitted in more controlled settings. They offer a high level of realism but are underused in combination with vegetation models used to predict the response of ecosystems to global change. We propose a workflow using models and ecosystem experiments together, taking advantage of the benefits of both tools for Earth system understanding.
Katharina Ramskogler, Bettina Knoflach, Bernhard Elsner, Brigitta Erschbamer, Florian Haas, Tobias Heckmann, Florentin Hofmeister, Livia Piermattei, Camillo Ressl, Svenja Trautmann, Michael H. Wimmer, Clemens Geitner, Johann Stötter, and Erich Tasser
Biogeosciences, 20, 2919–2939, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2919-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2919-2023, 2023
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Primary succession in proglacial areas depends on complex driving forces. To concretise the complex effects and interaction processes, 39 known explanatory variables assigned to seven spheres were analysed via principal component analysis and generalised additive models. Key results show that in addition to time- and elevation-dependent factors, also disturbances alter vegetation development. The results are useful for debates on vegetation development in a warming climate.
Zijing Li, Zhiyong Li, Xuze Tong, Lei Dong, Ying Zheng, Jinghui Zhang, Bailing Miao, Lixin Wang, Liqing Zhao, Lu Wen, Guodong Han, Frank Yonghong Li, and Cunzhu Liang
Biogeosciences, 20, 2869–2882, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2869-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2869-2023, 2023
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We used random forest models and structural equation models to assess the relative importance of the present climate and paleoclimate as determinants of diversity and aboveground biomass. Results showed that paleoclimate changes and modern climate jointly determined contemporary biodiversity patterns, while community biomass was mainly affected by modern climate. These findings suggest that contemporary biodiversity patterns may be affected by processes at divergent temporal scales.
William Rupert Moore Flynn, Harry Jon Foord Owen, Stuart William David Grieve, and Emily Rebecca Lines
Biogeosciences, 20, 2769–2784, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2769-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2769-2023, 2023
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Quantifying vegetation indices is crucial for ecosystem monitoring and modelling. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has potential to accurately measure vegetation indices, but multiple methods exist, with little consensus on best practice. We compare three methods and extract wood-to-plant ratio, a metric used to correct for wood in leaf indices. We show corrective metrics vary with tree structure and variation among methods, highlighting the value of TLS data and importance of rigorous testing.
Haiyang Shi, Geping Luo, Olaf Hellwich, Alishir Kurban, Philippe De Maeyer, and Tim Van de Voorde
Biogeosciences, 20, 2727–2741, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2727-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2727-2023, 2023
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In studies on the relationship between ecosystem functions and climate and plant traits, previously used data-driven methods such as multiple regression and random forest may be inadequate for representing causality due to limitations such as covariance between variables. Based on FLUXNET site data, we used a causal graphical model to revisit the control of climate and vegetation traits over ecosystem functions.
Josué Delgado-Balbuena, Henry W. Loescher, Carlos A. Aguirre-Gutiérrez, Teresa Alfaro-Reyna, Luis F. Pineda-Martínez, Rodrigo Vargas, and Tulio Arredondo
Biogeosciences, 20, 2369–2385, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2369-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2369-2023, 2023
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In the semiarid grassland, an increase in soil moisture at shallow depths instantly enhances carbon release through respiration. In contrast, deeper soil water controls plant carbon uptake but with a delay of several days. Previous soil conditions, biological activity, and the size and timing of precipitation are factors that determine the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. Thus, future changes in precipitation patterns could convert ecosystems from carbon sinks to carbon sources.
German Vargas Gutiérrez, Daniel Pérez-Aviles, Nanette Raczka, Damaris Pereira-Arias, Julián Tijerín-Triviño, L. David Pereira-Arias, David Medvigy, Bonnie G. Waring, Ember Morrisey, Edward Brzostek, and Jennifer S. Powers
Biogeosciences, 20, 2143–2160, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2143-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2143-2023, 2023
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To study whether nutrient availability controls tropical dry forest responses to reductions in soil moisture, we established the first troughfall exclusion experiment in a tropical dry forest plantation system crossed with a fertilization scheme. We found that the effects of fertilization on net primary productivity are larger than the effects of a ~15 % reduction in soil moisture, although in many cases we observed an interaction between drought and nutrient additions, suggesting colimitation.
Alina Lucia Ludat and Simon Kübler
Biogeosciences, 20, 1991–2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1991-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1991-2023, 2023
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Satellite-based analysis illustrates the impact of geological processes for the stability of the ecosystem in the Mara River basin (Kenya/Tanzania). Newly detected fault activity influences the course of river networks and modifies erosion–deposition patterns. Tectonic surface features and variations in rock chemistry lead to localized enhancement of clay and soil moisture values and seasonally stabilised vegetation growth patterns in this climatically vulnerable region.
Erica Jaakkola, Antje Gärtner, Anna Maria Jönsson, Karl Ljung, Per-Ola Olsson, and Thomas Holst
Biogeosciences, 20, 803–826, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-803-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-803-2023, 2023
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Increased spruce bark beetle outbreaks were recently seen in Sweden. When Norway spruce trees are attacked, they increase their production of VOCs, attempting to kill the beetles. We provide new insights into how the Norway spruce act when infested and found the emitted volatiles to increase up to 700 times and saw a change in compound blend. We estimate that the 2020 bark beetle outbreak in Sweden could have increased the total monoterpene emissions from the forest by more than 10 %.
Georg Wohlfahrt, Albin Hammerle, Felix M. Spielmann, Florian Kitz, and Chuixiang Yi
Biogeosciences, 20, 589–596, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-589-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-589-2023, 2023
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The trace gas carbonyl sulfide (COS), which is taken up by plant leaves in a process very similar to photosynthesis, is thought to be a promising proxy for the gross uptake of carbon dioxide by plants. Here we propose a new framework for estimating a key metric to that end, the so-called leaf relative uptake rate. The values we deduce by applying principles of plant optimality are considerably lower than published values and may help reduce the uncertainty of the global COS budget.
François Jonard, Andrew F. Feldman, Daniel J. Short Gianotti, and Dara Entekhabi
Biogeosciences, 19, 5575–5590, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5575-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5575-2022, 2022
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We investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of light and water limitation in plant function at the ecosystem scale. Using satellite observations, we characterize the nonlinear relationships between sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) and water and light availability. This study highlights that soil moisture limitations on SIF are found primarily in drier environments, while light limitations are found in intermediately wet regions.
Nikolai Knapp, Sabine Attinger, and Andreas Huth
Biogeosciences, 19, 4929–4944, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4929-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4929-2022, 2022
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The biomass of forests is determined by forest growth and mortality. These quantities can be estimated with different methods such as inventories, remote sensing and modeling. These methods are usually being applied at different spatial scales. The scales influence the obtained frequency distributions of biomass, growth and mortality. This study suggests how to transfer between scales, when using forest models of different complexity for a tropical forest.
Kai Chen, Kevin S. Burgess, Fangliang He, Xiang-Yun Yang, Lian-Ming Gao, and De-Zhu Li
Biogeosciences, 19, 4801–4810, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4801-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4801-2022, 2022
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Why does plants' distributional range size vary enormously? This study provides evidence that seed mass, intraspecific seed mass variation, seed dispersal mode and phylogeny contribute to explaining species distribution variation on a geographic scale. Our study clearly shows the importance of including seed life-history traits in modeling and predicting the impact of climate change on species distribution of seed plants.
Ying Ying Chen, Huan Yang, Gen Sheng Bao, Xiao Pan Pang, and Zheng Gang Guo
Biogeosciences, 19, 4521–4532, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4521-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4521-2022, 2022
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Investigating the effect of the presence of plateau pikas on ecosystem services of alpine meadows is helpful to understand the role of the presence of small mammalian herbivores in grasslands. The results of this study showed that the presence of plateau pikas led to higher biodiversity conservation, soil nitrogen and phosphorus maintenance, and carbon sequestration of alpine meadows, whereas it led to lower forage available to livestock and water conservation of alpine meadows.
Clement Jean Frédéric Delcourt and Sander Veraverbeke
Biogeosciences, 19, 4499–4520, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4499-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4499-2022, 2022
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This study provides new equations that can be used to estimate aboveground tree biomass in larch-dominated forests of northeast Siberia. Applying these equations to 53 forest stands in the Republic of Sakha (Russia) resulted in significantly larger biomass stocks than when using existing equations. The data presented in this work can help refine biomass estimates in Siberian boreal forests. This is essential to assess changes in boreal vegetation and carbon dynamics.
Iris Johanna Aalto, Eduardo Eiji Maeda, Janne Heiskanen, Eljas Kullervo Aalto, and Petri Kauko Emil Pellikka
Biogeosciences, 19, 4227–4247, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4227-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4227-2022, 2022
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Tree canopies are strong moderators of understory climatic conditions. In tropical areas, trees cool down the microclimates. Using remote sensing and field measurements we show how even intermediate canopy cover and agroforestry trees contributed to buffering the hottest temperatures in Kenya. The cooling effect was the greatest during hot days and in lowland areas, where the ambient temperatures were high. Adopting agroforestry practices in the area could assist in mitigating climate change.
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Short summary
Actual maps of grassland traits could improve local farm management and support environmental assessments. We developed, assessed, and applied models to estimate dry biomass and plant nitrogen (N) concentration in pre-Alpine grasslands with drone-based multispectral data and canopy height information. Our results indicate that machine learning algorithms are able to estimate both parameters but reach a better level of performance for biomass.
Actual maps of grassland traits could improve local farm management and support environmental...
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