Frost matters: incorporating late-spring frost into a dynamic vegetation model regulates regional productivity dynamics in European beech forests

Meyer, Benjamin F.; Buras, Allan; Gregor, Konstantin; Layritz, Lucia S.; Principe, Adriana; Kreyling, Jürgen; Rammig, Anja; Zang, Christian S.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1355-2024

Articles | Volume 21, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1355-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1355-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 21, issue 5

Research article

|

18 Mar 2024

Research article |

| 18 Mar 2024

Frost matters: incorporating late-spring frost into a dynamic vegetation model regulates regional productivity dynamics in European beech forests

Benjamin F. Meyer, Allan Buras, Konstantin Gregor, Lucia S. Layritz, Adriana Principe, Jürgen Kreyling, Anja Rammig, and Christian S. Zang

Data sets

Data to reproduce analysis from "Frost matters: Incorporating late-spring frost in a dynamic vegetation model regulates regional productivity dynamics in European beech forests" B. F. Meyer https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10562679

Model code and software

LPJ-GUESS Release v4.0.1 model code M. Lindeskog, A. Arneth, P. Miller, J. Nord, M. Mischurov, S. Olin, G. Schurgers, B. Smith, D. Wårlind, and past LPJ-GUESS contributors https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8070582

LPJ-GUESS Model code for "Frost matters: Incorporating late-spring frost in a dynamic vegetation model regulates regional productivity dynamics in European beech forests" B. F. Meyer https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10562598

Reproducible analysis pipeline for "Frost matters: Incorporating late-spring frost in a dynamic vegetation model regulates regional productivity dynamics in European beech forests" B. F. Meyer https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10564747

Short summary

Late-spring frost (LSF), critically low temperatures when trees have already flushed their leaves, results in freezing damage leaving trees with reduced ability to perform photosynthesis. Forests with a high proportion of susceptible species like European beech are particularly vulnerable. However, this process is rarely included in dynamic vegetation models (DVMs). We show that the effect on simulated productivity and biomass is substantial, warranting more widespread inclusion of LSF in DVMs.