Articles | Volume 22, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1475-2025
© Author(s) 2025. 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-22-1475-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
18 Mar 2025
Research article |
| 18 Mar 2025
| 18 Mar 2025
Nitrogen concentrations in boreal and temperate tree tissues vary with tree age/size, growth rate, and climate
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), KIT-Campus Alpin, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Kailiang Yu
High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Stefano Manzoni
Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm, Sweden
Anatoly Prokushkin
V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Melanie A. Thurner
Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), KIT-Campus Alpin, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Zhiqiang Wang
Sichuan Zoige Alpine Wetland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China
Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China
Thomas Hickler
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Institute of Physical Geography, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Related authors
Naixin Fan, Sujan Koirala, Markus Reichstein, Martin Thurner, Valerio Avitabile, Maurizio Santoro, Bernhard Ahrens, Ulrich Weber, and Nuno Carvalhais
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2517–2536, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2517-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2517-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The turnover time of terrestrial carbon (τ) controls the global carbon cycle–climate feedback. In this study, we provide a new, updated ensemble of diagnostic terrestrial carbon turnover times and associated uncertainties on a global scale. Despite the large variation in both magnitude and spatial patterns of τ, we identified robust features in the spatial patterns of τ which could contribute to uncertainty reductions in future projections of the carbon cycle–climate feedback.
Stefano Manzoni, Petr Čapek, Philipp Porada, Martin Thurner, Mattias Winterdahl, Christian Beer, Volker Brüchert, Jan Frouz, Anke M. Herrmann, Björn D. Lindahl, Steve W. Lyon, Hana Šantrůčková, Giulia Vico, and Danielle Way
Biogeosciences, 15, 5929–5949, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5929-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5929-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Carbon fixed by plants and phytoplankton through photosynthesis is ultimately stored in soils and sediments or released to the atmosphere during decomposition of dead biomass. Carbon-use efficiency is a useful metric to quantify the fate of carbon – higher efficiency means higher storage and lower release to the atmosphere. Here we summarize many definitions of carbon-use efficiency and study how this metric changes from organisms to ecosystems and from terrestrial to aquatic environments.
Wei Li, Philippe Ciais, Shushi Peng, Chao Yue, Yilong Wang, Martin Thurner, Sassan S. Saatchi, Almut Arneth, Valerio Avitabile, Nuno Carvalhais, Anna B. Harper, Etsushi Kato, Charles Koven, Yi Y. Liu, Julia E.M.S. Nabel, Yude Pan, Julia Pongratz, Benjamin Poulter, Thomas A. M. Pugh, Maurizio Santoro, Stephen Sitch, Benjamin D. Stocker, Nicolas Viovy, Andy Wiltshire, Rasoul Yousefpour, and Sönke Zaehle
Biogeosciences, 14, 5053–5067, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5053-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5053-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We used several observation-based biomass datasets to constrain the historical land-use change carbon emissions simulated by models. Compared to the range of the original modeled emissions (from 94 to 273 Pg C), the observationally constrained global cumulative emission estimate is 155 ± 50 Pg C (1σ Gaussian error) from 1901 to 2012. Our approach can also be applied to evaluate the LULCC impact of land-based climate mitigation policies.
M. Forkel, N. Carvalhais, S. Schaphoff, W. v. Bloh, M. Migliavacca, M. Thurner, and K. Thonicke
Biogeosciences, 11, 7025–7050, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7025-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7025-2014, 2014
Daniela Guasconi, Sara A. O. Cousins, Stefano Manzoni, Nina Roth, and Gustaf Hugelius
SOIL, 11, 233–246, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-233-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-233-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study assesses the effects of experimental drought and soil amendment on soil and vegetation carbon pools at different soil depths. Drought consistently reduced soil moisture and aboveground biomass, while compost increased total soil carbon content and aboveground biomass, and effects were more pronounced in the topsoil. Root biomass was not significantly affected by the treatments. The contrasting response of roots and shoots improves our understanding of ecosystem carbon dynamics.
Ryan Vella, Matthew Forrest, Andrea Pozzer, Alexandra P. Tsimpidi, Thomas Hickler, Jos Lelieveld, and Holger Tost
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 243–262, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-243-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-243-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study examines how land cover changes influence biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions and atmospheric states. Using a coupled chemistry–climate–vegetation model, we compare present-day land cover (deforested for crops and grazing) with natural vegetation and an extreme reforestation scenario. We find that vegetation changes significantly impact global BVOC emissions and organic aerosols but have a relatively small effect on total aerosols, clouds, and radiative effects.
Boris Ťupek, Aleksi Lehtonen, Stefano Manzoni, Elisa Bruni, Petr Baldrian, Etienne Richy, Bartosz Adamczyk, Bertrand Guenet, and Raisa Mäkipää
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3813, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3813, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We explored soil microbial respiration (Rh) kinetics of low-dose and long-term N fertilization in N-limited boreal forest in connection to CH₄, and N₂O fluxes, soil, and tree C sinks. The insights show that N fertilization effects C retention in boreal forest soils through modifying Rh sensitivities to soil temperature and moisture. The key findings reveal that N-enriched soils exhibited reduced sensitivity of Rh to moisture, which on annual level contributes to enhanced soil C sequestration.
Matthew Forrest, Jessica Hetzer, Maik Billing, Simon P. K. Bowring, Eric Kosczor, Luke Oberhagemann, Oliver Perkins, Dan Warren, Fátima Arrogante-Funes, Kirsten Thonicke, and Thomas Hickler
Biogeosciences, 21, 5539–5560, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5539-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5539-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change is causing an increase in extreme wildfires in Europe, but drivers of fire are not well understood, especially across different land cover types. We used statistical models with satellite data, climate data, and socioeconomic data to determine what affects burning in cropland and non-cropland areas of Europe. We found different drivers of burning in cropland burning vs. non-cropland to the point that some variables, e.g. population density, had the complete opposite effects.
Mateus Dantas de Paula, Tatiana Reichert, Laynara Lugli, Erica McGale, Kerstin Pierick, João Paulo Darela-Filho, Liam Langan, Jürgen Homeier, Anja Rammig, and Thomas Hickler
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3259, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3259, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores how plant roots, with different forms and functions, rely on fungal partnerships for nutrient uptake. This relationship was integrated into a vegetation model and was tested in a tropical forest in Ecuador. The model accurately predicted root traits and showed that without fungi, biomass decreased by up to 80 %. The findings highlight the critical role of fungi in ecosystem processes and suggest that root-fungal interactions should be considered in vegetation models.
Blessing Kavhu, Matthew Forrest, and Thomas Hickler
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3595, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3595, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a model to predict global wildfire patterns by examining weather, vegetation, and human activities. This tool helps forecast seasonal fire risks across diverse regions and focuses on seasonal changes, unlike existing models. Its simplicity makes it valuable for climate and fire management planning, as well as for use in global climate studies, helping communities better prepare for and adapt to rising wildfire threats.
Xiankun Li, Marleen Pallandt, Dilip Naidu, Johannes Rousk, Gustaf Hugelius, and Stefano Manzoni
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3324, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3324, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
While laboratory studies have identified many drivers and their effects on the carbon emission pulse after rewetting of dry soils, a validation with field data is still missing. Here, we show that the carbon emission pulse in the laboratory and in the field increases with soil organic carbon and temperature, but their trends with pre-rewetting dryness and moisture increment at rewetting differ. We conclude that the laboratory findings can be partially validated.
Daniel Escobar, Stefano Manzoni, Jeimar Tapasco, and Salim Belyazid
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2754, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2754, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We studied carbon dynamics in afforested, drained peatlands using the ForSAFE-Peat model over two forest rotations. Our simulations showed that while trees store carbon, significant soil carbon losses occur, particularly early on, indicating that forest growth may not fully offset these losses once carbon time dynamics are considered. This emphasizes the need to consider both soil and harvested wood products when evaluating the climate impact of such systems.
Stefano Manzoni and M. Francesca Cotrufo
Biogeosciences, 21, 4077–4098, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4077-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4077-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Organic carbon and nitrogen are stabilized in soils via microbial assimilation and stabilization of necromass (in vivo pathway) or via adsorption of the products of extracellular decomposition (ex vivo pathway). Here we use a diagnostic model to quantify which stabilization pathway is prevalent using data on residue-derived carbon and nitrogen incorporation in mineral-associated organic matter. We find that the in vivo pathway is dominant in fine-textured soils with low organic matter content.
Mateus Dantas de Paula, Matthew Forrest, David Warlind, João Paulo Darela Filho, Katrin Fleischer, Anja Rammig, and Thomas Hickler
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2592, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2592, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our study maps global nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability and how they’ve changed from 1901 to 2018. We found that tropical regions are mostly P-limited, while temperate and boreal areas face N limitations. Over time, P limitation has increased, especially in the tropics, while N limitation has decreased. These shifts are key to understanding global plant growth and carbon storage, highlighting the importance of including P dynamics in ecosystem models.
Friedrich J. Bohn, Ana Bastos, Romina Martin, Anja Rammig, Niak Sian Koh, Giles B. Sioen, Bram Buscher, Louise Carver, Fabrice DeClerck, Moritz Drupp, Robert Fletcher, Matthew Forrest, Alexandros Gasparatos, Alex Godoy-Faúndez, Gregor Hagedorn, Martin Hänsel, Jessica Hetzer, Thomas Hickler, Cornelia B. Krug, Stasja Koot, Xiuzhen Li, Amy Luers, Shelby Matevich, H. Damon Matthews, Ina C. Meier, Awaz Mohamed, Sungmin O, David Obura, Ben Orlove, Rene Orth, Laura Pereira, Markus Reichstein, Lerato Thakholi, Peter Verburg, and Yuki Yoshida
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2551, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2551, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
An interdisciplinary collaboration of 35 international researchers from 34 institutions highlighting nine recent findings in biosphere research. Within these themes, they discuss issues arising from climate change and other anthropogenic stressors, and highlight the co-benefits of nature-based solutions and ecosystem services. They discuss recent findings in the context of global trade and international policy frameworks, and highlight lessons for local implementation of nature-based solutions.
Erik Schwarz, Samia Ghersheen, Salim Belyazid, and Stefano Manzoni
Biogeosciences, 21, 3441–3461, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3441-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3441-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The occurrence of unstable equilibrium points (EPs) could impede the applicability of microbial-explicit soil organic carbon models. For archetypal model versions we identify when instability can occur and describe mathematical conditions to avoid such unstable EPs. We discuss implications for further model development, highlighting the important role of considering basic ecological principles to ensure biologically meaningful models.
Boris Ťupek, Aleksi Lehtonen, Alla Yurova, Rose Abramoff, Bertrand Guenet, Elisa Bruni, Samuli Launiainen, Mikko Peltoniemi, Shoji Hashimoto, Xianglin Tian, Juha Heikkinen, Kari Minkkinen, and Raisa Mäkipää
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 5349–5367, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5349-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5349-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Updating the Yasso07 soil C model's dependency on decomposition with a hump-shaped Ricker moisture function improved modelled soil organic C (SOC) stocks in a catena of mineral and organic soils in boreal forest. The Ricker function, set to peak at a rate of 1 and calibrated against SOC and CO2 data using a Bayesian approach, showed a maximum in well-drained soils. Using SOC and CO2 data together with the moisture only from the topsoil humus was crucial for accurate model estimates.
Dana A. Lapides, W. Jesse Hahm, Matthew Forrest, Daniella M. Rempe, Thomas Hickler, and David N. Dralle
Biogeosciences, 21, 1801–1826, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1801-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1801-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Water stored in weathered bedrock is rarely incorporated into vegetation and Earth system models despite increasing recognition of its importance. Here, we add a weathered bedrock component to a widely used vegetation model. Using a case study of two sites in California and model runs across the United States, we show that more accurately representing subsurface water storage and hydrology increases summer plant water use so that it better matches patterns in distributed data products.
Melanie A. Thurner, Silvia Caldararu, Jan Engel, Anja Rammig, and Sönke Zaehle
Biogeosciences, 21, 1391–1410, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1391-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1391-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Due to their crucial role in terrestrial ecosystems, we implemented mycorrhizal fungi into the QUINCY terrestrial biosphere model. Fungi interact with mineral and organic soil to support plant N uptake and, thus, plant growth. Our results suggest that the effect of mycorrhizal interactions on simulated ecosystem dynamics is minor under constant environmental conditions but necessary to reproduce and understand observed patterns under changing conditions, such as rising atmospheric CO2.
Katja Frieler, Jan Volkholz, Stefan Lange, Jacob Schewe, Matthias Mengel, María del Rocío Rivas López, Christian Otto, Christopher P. O. Reyer, Dirk Nikolaus Karger, Johanna T. Malle, Simon Treu, Christoph Menz, Julia L. Blanchard, Cheryl S. Harrison, Colleen M. Petrik, Tyler D. Eddy, Kelly Ortega-Cisneros, Camilla Novaglio, Yannick Rousseau, Reg A. Watson, Charles Stock, Xiao Liu, Ryan Heneghan, Derek Tittensor, Olivier Maury, Matthias Büchner, Thomas Vogt, Tingting Wang, Fubao Sun, Inga J. Sauer, Johannes Koch, Inne Vanderkelen, Jonas Jägermeyr, Christoph Müller, Sam Rabin, Jochen Klar, Iliusi D. Vega del Valle, Gitta Lasslop, Sarah Chadburn, Eleanor Burke, Angela Gallego-Sala, Noah Smith, Jinfeng Chang, Stijn Hantson, Chantelle Burton, Anne Gädeke, Fang Li, Simon N. Gosling, Hannes Müller Schmied, Fred Hattermann, Jida Wang, Fangfang Yao, Thomas Hickler, Rafael Marcé, Don Pierson, Wim Thiery, Daniel Mercado-Bettín, Robert Ladwig, Ana Isabel Ayala-Zamora, Matthew Forrest, and Michel Bechtold
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1–51, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our paper provides an overview of all observational climate-related and socioeconomic forcing data used as input for the impact model evaluation and impact attribution experiments within the third round of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project. The experiments are designed to test our understanding of observed changes in natural and human systems and to quantify to what degree these changes have already been induced by climate change.
Ryan Vella, Andrea Pozzer, Matthew Forrest, Jos Lelieveld, Thomas Hickler, and Holger Tost
Biogeosciences, 20, 4391–4412, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4391-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4391-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the effect of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions from plants. ENSO events can cause a significant increase in these emissions, which have a long-term impact on the Earth's atmosphere. Persistent ENSO conditions can cause long-term changes in vegetation, resulting in even higher BVOC emissions. We link ENSO-induced emission anomalies with driving atmospheric and vegetational variables.
Kailiang Yu, Johan van den Hoogen, Zhiqiang Wang, Colin Averill, Devin Routh, Gabriel Reuben Smith, Rebecca E. Drenovsky, Kate M. Scow, Fei Mo, Mark P. Waldrop, Yuanhe Yang, Weize Tang, Franciska T. De Vries, Richard D. Bardgett, Peter Manning, Felipe Bastida, Sara G. Baer, Elizabeth M. Bach, Carlos García, Qingkui Wang, Linna Ma, Baodong Chen, Xianjing He, Sven Teurlincx, Amber Heijboer, James A. Bradley, and Thomas W. Crowther
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4339–4350, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4339-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4339-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We used a global-scale dataset for the surface topsoil (>3000 distinct observations of abundance of soil fungi versus bacteria) to generate the first quantitative map of soil fungal proportion across terrestrial ecosystems. We reveal striking latitudinal trends. Fungi dominated in regions with low mean annual temperature (MAT) and net primary productivity (NPP) and bacteria dominated in regions with high MAT and NPP.
Stefano Manzoni, Simone Fatichi, Xue Feng, Gabriel G. Katul, Danielle Way, and Giulia Vico
Biogeosciences, 19, 4387–4414, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4387-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4387-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) causes leaves to close their stomata (through which water evaporates) but also promotes leaf growth. Even if individual leaves save water, how much will be consumed by a whole plant with possibly more leaves? Using different mathematical models, we show that plant stands that are not very dense and can grow more leaves will benefit from higher CO2 by photosynthesizing more while adjusting their stomata to consume similar amounts of water.
Angelica Feurdean, Roxana Grindean, Gabriela Florescu, Ioan Tanţău, Eva M. Niedermeyer, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Simon M. Hutchinson, Anne Brigitte Nielsen, Tiberiu Sava, Andrei Panait, Mihaly Braun, and Thomas Hickler
Biogeosciences, 18, 1081–1103, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1081-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1081-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Here we used multi-proxy analyses from Lake Oltina (Romania) and quantitatively examine the past 6000 years of the forest steppe in the lower Danube Plain, one of the oldest areas of human occupation in southeastern Europe. We found the greatest tree cover between 6000 and 2500 cal yr BP. Forest loss was under way by 2500 yr BP, falling to ~20 % tree cover linked to clearance for agriculture. The weak signs of forest recovery over the past 2500 years highlight recurring anthropogenic pressure.
Naixin Fan, Sujan Koirala, Markus Reichstein, Martin Thurner, Valerio Avitabile, Maurizio Santoro, Bernhard Ahrens, Ulrich Weber, and Nuno Carvalhais
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2517–2536, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2517-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2517-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The turnover time of terrestrial carbon (τ) controls the global carbon cycle–climate feedback. In this study, we provide a new, updated ensemble of diagnostic terrestrial carbon turnover times and associated uncertainties on a global scale. Despite the large variation in both magnitude and spatial patterns of τ, we identified robust features in the spatial patterns of τ which could contribute to uncertainty reductions in future projections of the carbon cycle–climate feedback.
Benjamin M. C. Fischer, Laura Morillas, Johanna Rojas Conejo, Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo, Andrea Suárez Serrano, Jay Frentress, Chih-Hsin Cheng, Monica Garcia, Stefano Manzoni, Mark S. Johnson, and Steve W. Lyon
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2020-404, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2020-404, 2020
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated in an upland rice experiment in Costa Rica whether mixing biochar (a charcoal) in soils could increase the resilience of rainfed agriculture to climate variability. We found that rice plants with biochar had access to larger stores of water more consistently and thus could withstand seven extra dry days relative to rice grown in non-treated soils. However, biochar can complement, but not necessarily replace, other water management strategies.
Stefano Manzoni, Arjun Chakrawal, Thomas Fischer, Joshua P. Schimel, Amilcare Porporato, and Giulia Vico
Biogeosciences, 17, 4007–4023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4007-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4007-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Carbon dioxide is produced by soil microbes through respiration, which is particularly fast when soils are moistened by rain. Will respiration increase with future more intense rains and longer dry spells? With a mathematical model, we show that wetter conditions increase respiration. In contrast, if rainfall totals stay the same, but rain comes all at once after long dry spells, the average respiration will not change, but the contribution of the respiration bursts after rain will increase.
Thomas A. M. Pugh, Tim Rademacher, Sarah L. Shafer, Jörg Steinkamp, Jonathan Barichivich, Brian Beckage, Vanessa Haverd, Anna Harper, Jens Heinke, Kazuya Nishina, Anja Rammig, Hisashi Sato, Almut Arneth, Stijn Hantson, Thomas Hickler, Markus Kautz, Benjamin Quesada, Benjamin Smith, and Kirsten Thonicke
Biogeosciences, 17, 3961–3989, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3961-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3961-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The length of time that carbon remains in forest biomass is one of the largest uncertainties in the global carbon cycle. Estimates from six contemporary models found this time to range from 12.2 to 23.5 years for the global mean for 1985–2014. Future projections do not give consistent results, but 13 model-based hypotheses are identified, along with recommendations for pragmatic steps to test them using existing and novel observations, which would help to reduce large current uncertainty.
Stijn Hantson, Douglas I. Kelley, Almut Arneth, Sandy P. Harrison, Sally Archibald, Dominique Bachelet, Matthew Forrest, Thomas Hickler, Gitta Lasslop, Fang Li, Stephane Mangeon, Joe R. Melton, Lars Nieradzik, Sam S. Rabin, I. Colin Prentice, Tim Sheehan, Stephen Sitch, Lina Teckentrup, Apostolos Voulgarakis, and Chao Yue
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 3299–3318, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3299-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-3299-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Global fire–vegetation models are widely used, but there has been limited evaluation of how well they represent various aspects of fire regimes. Here we perform a systematic evaluation of simulations made by nine FireMIP models in order to quantify their ability to reproduce a range of fire and vegetation benchmarks. While some FireMIP models are better at representing certain aspects of the fire regime, no model clearly outperforms all other models across the full range of variables assessed.
Stefano Manzoni, Giorgos Maneas, Anna Scaini, Basil E. Psiloglou, Georgia Destouni, and Steve W. Lyon
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 3557–3571, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-3557-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-3557-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
A modeling tool is developed to assess the vulnerability of coastal wetlands to climatic and water management changes. Applied to the case study of the Gialova lagoon (Greece), this tool highlights the reliance of the lagoon functionality on scarce freshwater sources already under high demand from agriculture. Climatic changes will likely increase lagoon salinity, despite efforts to improve water management.
Arjun Chakrawal, Anke M. Herrmann, John Koestel, Jerker Jarsjö, Naoise Nunan, Thomas Kätterer, and Stefano Manzoni
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 1399–1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1399-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1399-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soils are heterogeneous, which results in a nonuniform spatial distribution of substrates and the microorganisms feeding on them. Our results show that the variability in the spatial distribution of substrates and microorganisms at the pore scale is crucial because it affects how fast substrates are used by microorganisms and thus the decomposition rate observed at the soil core scale. This work provides a methodology to include microscale heterogeneity in soil carbon cycling models.
Matthew Forrest, Holger Tost, Jos Lelieveld, and Thomas Hickler
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 1285–1309, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1285-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1285-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We have integrated the LPJ-GUESS dynamic global vegetation model into the EMAC atmospheric chemistry-enabled GCM (general circulation model). This combined framework will enable the investigation of many land–atmosphere interactions and feedbacks with state-of-the-art simulation models. Initial results show that using the climate produced by EMAC together with LPJ-GUESS produces an acceptable representation of the global vegetation.
Angelica Feurdean, Boris Vannière, Walter Finsinger, Dan Warren, Simon C. Connor, Matthew Forrest, Johan Liakka, Andrei Panait, Christian Werner, Maja Andrič, Premysl Bobek, Vachel A. Carter, Basil Davis, Andrei-Cosmin Diaconu, Elisabeth Dietze, Ingo Feeser, Gabriela Florescu, Mariusz Gałka, Thomas Giesecke, Susanne Jahns, Eva Jamrichová, Katarzyna Kajukało, Jed Kaplan, Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, Piotr Kołaczek, Petr Kuneš, Dimitry Kupriyanov, Mariusz Lamentowicz, Carsten Lemmen, Enikö K. Magyari, Katarzyna Marcisz, Elena Marinova, Aidin Niamir, Elena Novenko, Milena Obremska, Anna Pędziszewska, Mirjam Pfeiffer, Anneli Poska, Manfred Rösch, Michal Słowiński, Miglė Stančikaitė, Marta Szal, Joanna Święta-Musznicka, Ioan Tanţău, Martin Theuerkauf, Spassimir Tonkov, Orsolya Valkó, Jüri Vassiljev, Siim Veski, Ildiko Vincze, Agnieszka Wacnik, Julian Wiethold, and Thomas Hickler
Biogeosciences, 17, 1213–1230, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1213-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-1213-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Our study covers the full Holocene (the past 11 500 years) climate variability and vegetation composition and provides a test on how vegetation and climate interact to determine fire hazard. An important implication of this test is that percentage of tree cover can be used as a predictor of the probability of fire occurrence. Biomass burned is highest at ~ 45 % tree cover in temperate forests and at ~ 60–65 % tree cover in needleleaf-dominated forests.
Tea Thum, Silvia Caldararu, Jan Engel, Melanie Kern, Marleen Pallandt, Reiner Schnur, Lin Yu, and Sönke Zaehle
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 4781–4802, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4781-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-4781-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
To predict the response of the vegetation to climate change, we need global models that describe the relevant processes taking place in the vegetation. Recently, we have obtained more in-depth understanding of vegetation processes and the role of nutrients in the biogeochemical cycles. We have developed a new global vegetation model that includes carbon, water, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles. We show that the model is successful in evaluation against a wide range of observations.
Fang Li, Maria Val Martin, Meinrat O. Andreae, Almut Arneth, Stijn Hantson, Johannes W. Kaiser, Gitta Lasslop, Chao Yue, Dominique Bachelet, Matthew Forrest, Erik Kluzek, Xiaohong Liu, Stephane Mangeon, Joe R. Melton, Daniel S. Ward, Anton Darmenov, Thomas Hickler, Charles Ichoku, Brian I. Magi, Stephen Sitch, Guido R. van der Werf, Christine Wiedinmyer, and Sam S. Rabin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 12545–12567, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12545-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12545-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Fire emissions are critical for atmospheric composition, climate, carbon cycle, and air quality. We provide the first global multi-model fire emission reconstructions for 1700–2012, including carbon and 33 species of trace gases and aerosols, based on the nine state-of-the-art global fire models that participated in FireMIP. We also provide information on the recent status and limitations of the model-based reconstructions and identify the main uncertainty sources in their long-term changes.
Lina Teckentrup, Sandy P. Harrison, Stijn Hantson, Angelika Heil, Joe R. Melton, Matthew Forrest, Fang Li, Chao Yue, Almut Arneth, Thomas Hickler, Stephen Sitch, and Gitta Lasslop
Biogeosciences, 16, 3883–3910, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3883-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3883-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study compares simulated burned area of seven global vegetation models provided by the Fire Model Intercomparison Project (FireMIP) since 1900. We investigate the influence of five forcing factors: atmospheric CO2, population density, land–use change, lightning and climate.
We find that the anthropogenic factors lead to the largest spread between models. Trends due to climate are mostly not significant but climate strongly influences the inter-annual variability of burned area.
Haicheng Zhang, Daniel S. Goll, Stefano Manzoni, Philippe Ciais, Bertrand Guenet, and Yuanyuan Huang
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 4779–4796, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4779-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4779-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Carbon use efficiency (CUE) of decomposers depends strongly on the organic matter quality (C : N ratio) and soil nutrient availability rather than a fixed value. A soil biogeochemical model with flexible CUE can better capture the differences in respiration rate of litter with contrasting C : N ratios and under different levels of mineral N availability than the model with fixed CUE, and well represent the effect of varying litter quality (N content) on SOM formation across temporal scales.
Stefano Manzoni, Petr Čapek, Philipp Porada, Martin Thurner, Mattias Winterdahl, Christian Beer, Volker Brüchert, Jan Frouz, Anke M. Herrmann, Björn D. Lindahl, Steve W. Lyon, Hana Šantrůčková, Giulia Vico, and Danielle Way
Biogeosciences, 15, 5929–5949, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5929-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5929-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Carbon fixed by plants and phytoplankton through photosynthesis is ultimately stored in soils and sediments or released to the atmosphere during decomposition of dead biomass. Carbon-use efficiency is a useful metric to quantify the fate of carbon – higher efficiency means higher storage and lower release to the atmosphere. Here we summarize many definitions of carbon-use efficiency and study how this metric changes from organisms to ecosystems and from terrestrial to aquatic environments.
Manuel Schmid, Todd A. Ehlers, Christian Werner, Thomas Hickler, and Juan-Pablo Fuentes-Espoz
Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 859–881, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-859-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-859-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We present a numerical modeling study into the interactions between transient climate and vegetation cover with hillslope and fluvial processes. We use a state-of-the-art landscape evolution model library (Landlab) and design model experiments to investigate the effect of climate change and the associated changes in surface vegetation cover on main basin metrics. This paper is a companion paper to Part 1 (this journal), which investigates the effect of climate change on surface vegetation cover.
Christian Werner, Manuel Schmid, Todd A. Ehlers, Juan Pablo Fuentes-Espoz, Jörg Steinkamp, Matthew Forrest, Johan Liakka, Antonio Maldonado, and Thomas Hickler
Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 829–858, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-829-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-829-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Vegetation is crucial for modulating rates of denudation and landscape evolution, and is directly influenced by climate conditions and atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Using transient climate data and a state-of-the-art dynamic vegetation model we simulate the vegetation composition and cover from the Last Glacial Maximum to present along the Coastal Cordillera of Chile. In part 2 we assess the landscape response to transient climate and vegetation cover using a landscape evolution model.
Corina Buendía, Axel Kleidon, Stefano Manzoni, Björn Reu, and Amilcare Porporato
Biogeosciences, 15, 279–295, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-279-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-279-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Amazonia is highly biodiverse and of global importance for regulating the climate system. Because soils are highly weathered, phosphorus (P) is suggested to limit ecosystem productivity. Here, we evaluate the importance of P redistribution by animals using a simple mathematical model synthesizing the major processes of the Amazon P cycle. Our findings suggest that food web complexity plays an important role for sustaining the productivity of terra firme forests.
Katja Frieler, Stefan Lange, Franziska Piontek, Christopher P. O. Reyer, Jacob Schewe, Lila Warszawski, Fang Zhao, Louise Chini, Sebastien Denvil, Kerry Emanuel, Tobias Geiger, Kate Halladay, George Hurtt, Matthias Mengel, Daisuke Murakami, Sebastian Ostberg, Alexander Popp, Riccardo Riva, Miodrag Stevanovic, Tatsuo Suzuki, Jan Volkholz, Eleanor Burke, Philippe Ciais, Kristie Ebi, Tyler D. Eddy, Joshua Elliott, Eric Galbraith, Simon N. Gosling, Fred Hattermann, Thomas Hickler, Jochen Hinkel, Christian Hof, Veronika Huber, Jonas Jägermeyr, Valentina Krysanova, Rafael Marcé, Hannes Müller Schmied, Ioanna Mouratiadou, Don Pierson, Derek P. Tittensor, Robert Vautard, Michelle van Vliet, Matthias F. Biber, Richard A. Betts, Benjamin Leon Bodirsky, Delphine Deryng, Steve Frolking, Chris D. Jones, Heike K. Lotze, Hermann Lotze-Campen, Ritvik Sahajpal, Kirsten Thonicke, Hanqin Tian, and Yoshiki Yamagata
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 4321–4345, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-4321-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-4321-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes the simulation scenario design for the next phase of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP), which is designed to facilitate a contribution to the scientific basis for the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of 1.5 °C global warming. ISIMIP brings together over 80 climate-impact models, covering impacts on hydrology, biomes, forests, heat-related mortality, permafrost, tropical cyclones, fisheries, agiculture, energy, and coastal infrastructure.
Wei Li, Philippe Ciais, Shushi Peng, Chao Yue, Yilong Wang, Martin Thurner, Sassan S. Saatchi, Almut Arneth, Valerio Avitabile, Nuno Carvalhais, Anna B. Harper, Etsushi Kato, Charles Koven, Yi Y. Liu, Julia E.M.S. Nabel, Yude Pan, Julia Pongratz, Benjamin Poulter, Thomas A. M. Pugh, Maurizio Santoro, Stephen Sitch, Benjamin D. Stocker, Nicolas Viovy, Andy Wiltshire, Rasoul Yousefpour, and Sönke Zaehle
Biogeosciences, 14, 5053–5067, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5053-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5053-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We used several observation-based biomass datasets to constrain the historical land-use change carbon emissions simulated by models. Compared to the range of the original modeled emissions (from 94 to 273 Pg C), the observationally constrained global cumulative emission estimate is 155 ± 50 Pg C (1σ Gaussian error) from 1901 to 2012. Our approach can also be applied to evaluate the LULCC impact of land-based climate mitigation policies.
Sam S. Rabin, Joe R. Melton, Gitta Lasslop, Dominique Bachelet, Matthew Forrest, Stijn Hantson, Jed O. Kaplan, Fang Li, Stéphane Mangeon, Daniel S. Ward, Chao Yue, Vivek K. Arora, Thomas Hickler, Silvia Kloster, Wolfgang Knorr, Lars Nieradzik, Allan Spessa, Gerd A. Folberth, Tim Sheehan, Apostolos Voulgarakis, Douglas I. Kelley, I. Colin Prentice, Stephen Sitch, Sandy Harrison, and Almut Arneth
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 1175–1197, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-1175-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-1175-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Global vegetation models are important tools for understanding how the Earth system will change in the future, and fire is a critical process to include. A number of different methods have been developed to represent vegetation burning. This paper describes the protocol for the first systematic comparison of global fire models, which will allow the community to explore various drivers and evaluate what mechanisms are important for improving performance. It also includes equations for all models.
M. Forrest, J. T. Eronen, T. Utescher, G. Knorr, C. Stepanek, G. Lohmann, and T. Hickler
Clim. Past, 11, 1701–1732, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1701-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1701-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We simulated Late Miocene (11-7 Million years ago) vegetation using two plausible CO2 concentrations: 280ppm CO2 and 450ppm CO2. We compared the simulated vegetation to existing plant fossil data for the whole Northern Hemisphere. Our results suggest that during the Late Miocene the CO2 levels have been relatively low, or that other factors that are not included in the models maintained the seasonal temperate forests and open vegetation.
M. H. Vermeulen, B. J. Kruijt, T. Hickler, and P. Kabat
Earth Syst. Dynam., 6, 485–503, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-485-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-485-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
We compared a process-based ecosystem model (LPJ-GUESS) with EC measurements to test whether observed interannual variability (IAV) in carbon and water fluxes can be reproduced because it is important to understand the driving mechanisms of IAV. We show that the model's mechanistic process representation for photosynthesis at low temperatures and during drought could be improved, but other process representations are still lacking in order to fully reproduce the observed IAV.
M. Forkel, N. Carvalhais, S. Schaphoff, W. v. Bloh, M. Migliavacca, M. Thurner, and K. Thonicke
Biogeosciences, 11, 7025–7050, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7025-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-7025-2014, 2014
D. Wårlind, B. Smith, T. Hickler, and A. Arneth
Biogeosciences, 11, 6131–6146, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6131-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6131-2014, 2014
C. Buendía, S. Arens, T. Hickler, S. I. Higgins, P. Porada, and A. Kleidon
Biogeosciences, 11, 3661–3683, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-3661-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-3661-2014, 2014
B. Smith, D. Wårlind, A. Arneth, T. Hickler, P. Leadley, J. Siltberg, and S. Zaehle
Biogeosciences, 11, 2027–2054, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2027-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2027-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Biogeochemistry: Land
Comparison of shortwave radiation dynamics between boreal forest and open peatland pairs in southern and northern Finland
Cropland expansion drives vegetation greenness decline in Southeast Asia
How to measure the efficiency of bioenergy crops compared to forestation
Implications of climate and litter quality for simulations of litterbag decomposition at high latitudes
Precipitation-fire-functional interactions control biomass stocks and carbon exchanges across the world’s largest savanna
Soil carbon-concentration and carbon-climate feedbacks in CMIP6 Earth system models
Monitoring the impact of forest changes on carbon uptake with solar-induced fluorescence measurements from GOME-2A and TROPOMI for an Australian and Chinese case study
Technical note: Flagging inconsistencies in flux tower data
Synchrony of African rainforest solar induced chlorophyll fluorescence and environmental factors
Relevance of near-surface soil moisture vs. terrestrial water storage for global vegetation functioning
High-resolution spatial patterns and drivers of terrestrial ecosystem carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide fluxes in the tundra
Long-term additions of ammonium nitrate to montane forest ecosystems may cause limited soil acidification, even in the presence of soil carbonate
Leaf carbon and nitrogen stoichiometric variation along environmental gradients
Gross primary productivity and the predictability of CO2: more uncertainty in what we predict than how well we predict it
Scale variance in the carbon dynamics of fragmented, mixed-use landscapes estimated using model–data fusion
Seasonal controls override forest harvesting effects on the composition of dissolved organic matter mobilized from boreal forest soil organic horizons
Carbon cycle extremes accelerate weakening of the land carbon sink in the late 21st century
Estimating oil-palm Si storage, Si return to soils, and Si losses through harvest in smallholder oil-palm plantations of Sumatra, Indonesia
Assessing the sensitivity of multi-frequency passive microwave vegetation optical depth to vegetation properties
Seasonal variation of mercury concentration of ancient olive groves of Lebanon
Soil organic matter diagenetic state informs boreal forest ecosystem feedbacks to climate change
Upscaling dryland carbon and water fluxes with artificial neural networks of optical, thermal, and microwave satellite remote sensing
Sun-induced fluorescence as a proxy for primary productivity across vegetation types and climates
Technical note: A view from space on global flux towers by MODIS and Landsat: the FluxnetEO data set
Changing sub-Arctic tundra vegetation upon permafrost degradation: impact on foliar mineral element cycling
Land Management Contributes significantly to observed Vegetation Browning in Syria during 2001–2018
MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields tree cover needs calibrating in tropical savannas
Assessing the representation of the Australian carbon cycle in global vegetation models
Assessing the response of soil carbon in Australia to changing inputs and climate using a consistent modelling framework
Reviews and syntheses: Ongoing and emerging opportunities to improve environmental science using observations from the Advanced Baseline Imager on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites
First pan-Arctic assessment of dissolved organic carbon in lakes of the permafrost region
The impact of wildfire on biogeochemical fluxes and water quality in boreal catchments
Examining the sensitivity of the terrestrial carbon cycle to the expression of El Niño
Subalpine grassland productivity increased with warmer and drier conditions, but not with higher N deposition, in an altitudinal transplantation experiment
Reviews and syntheses: Impacts of plant-silica–herbivore interactions on terrestrial biogeochemical cycling
Implementation of nitrogen cycle in the CLASSIC land model
Combined effects of ozone and drought stress on the emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds from Quercus robur L.
A bottom-up quantification of foliar mercury uptake fluxes across Europe
Lagged effects regulate the inter-annual variability of the tropical carbon balance
Spatial variations in terrestrial net ecosystem productivity and its local indicators
Nitrogen cycling in CMIP6 land surface models: progress and limitations
Decomposing reflectance spectra to track gross primary production in a subalpine evergreen forest
Sensitivity of 21st century simulated ecosystem indicators to model parameters, prescribed climate drivers, RCP scenarios and forest management actions for two Finnish boreal forest sites
Summarizing the state of the terrestrial biosphere in few dimensions
Patterns and trends of the dominant environmental controls of net biome productivity
Localized basal area affects soil respiration temperature sensitivity in a coastal deciduous forest
Dissolved organic carbon mobilized from organic horizons of mature and harvested black spruce plots in a mesic boreal region
Ideas and perspectives: Proposed best practices for collaboration at cross-disciplinary observatories
Effects of leaf length and development stage on the triple oxygen isotope signature of grass leaf water and phytoliths: insights for a proxy of continental atmospheric humidity
Response of simulated burned area to historical changes in environmental and anthropogenic factors: a comparison of seven fire models
Otso Peräkylä, Erkka Rinne, Ekaterina Ezhova, Anna Lintunen, Annalea Lohila, Juho Aalto, Mika Aurela, Pasi Kolari, and Markku Kulmala
Biogeosciences, 22, 153–179, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-153-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-153-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Forests are seen as good for climate. Yet, in areas with snow, trees break up the white snow surface and absorb more sunlight than open areas. This has a warming effect, negating some of the climate benefit of trees. We studied two site pairs in Finland, both with an open peatland and a forest. We found that the later the snow melts, the more extra energy the forest absorbs as compared to the peatland. This has implications for the future, as snow cover duration is affected by global warming.
Ruiying Zhao, Xiangzhong Luo, Yuheng Yang, Luri Nurlaila Syahid, Chi Chen, and Janice Ser Huay Lee
Biogeosciences, 21, 5393–5406, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5393-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5393-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Southeast Asia has been a global hot spot of land-use change over the past 50 years. Meanwhile, it also hosts some of the most carbon-dense and diverse ecosystems in the world. Here, we explore the impact of land-use change, along with other environmental factors, on the ecosystem in Southeast Asia. We find that elevated CO2 imposed a positive impact on vegetation greenness, but the positive impact was largely offset by intensive land-use changes in the region, particularly cropland expansion.
Sabine Egerer, Stefanie Falk, Dorothea Mayer, Tobias Nützel, Wolfgang A. Obermeier, and Julia Pongratz
Biogeosciences, 21, 5005–5025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5005-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5005-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using a state-of-the-art land model, we find that bioenergy plants can store carbon more efficiently than forests over long periods in the soil, in geological reservoirs, or by substituting fossil-fuel-based energy. Planting forests is more suitable for reaching climate targets by 2050. The carbon removal potential depends also on local environmental conditions. These considerations have important implications for climate policy, spatial planning, nature conservation, and agriculture.
Elin Ristorp Aas, Inge Althuizen, Hui Tang, Sonya Geange, Eva Lieungh, Vigdis Vandvik, and Terje Koren Berntsen
Biogeosciences, 21, 3789–3817, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3789-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3789-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We used a soil model to replicate two litterbag decomposition experiments to examine the implications of climate, litter quality, and soil microclimate representation. We found that macroclimate was more important than litter quality for modeled mass loss. By comparing different representations of soil temperature and moisture we found that using observed data did not improve model results. We discuss causes for this and suggest possible improvements to both the model and experimental design.
Mathew Williams, David T. Milodowski, Thomas Luke Smallman, Kyle G. Dexter, Gabi C. Hegerl, Iain M. McNicol, Michael O'Sullivan, Carla M. Roesch, Casey M. Ryan, Stephen Sitch, and Aude Valade
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2497, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2497, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Southern African woodlands are important in both regional and global carbon cycles. A new carbon analysis created by combining satellite data with ecosystem modelling shows that the region has a neutral C balance overall, but with important spatial variations. Patterns of biomass and C balance across the region are the outcome of climate controls on production, vegetation-fire interactions, which determine mortality of vegetation, and spatial variations in vegetation function.
Rebecca M. Varney, Pierre Friedlingstein, Sarah E. Chadburn, Eleanor J. Burke, and Peter M. Cox
Biogeosciences, 21, 2759–2776, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2759-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2759-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Soil carbon is the largest store of carbon on the land surface of Earth and is known to be particularly sensitive to climate change. Understanding this future response is vital to successfully meeting Paris Agreement targets, which rely heavily on carbon uptake by the land surface. In this study, the individual responses of soil carbon are quantified and compared amongst CMIP6 Earth system models used within the most recent IPCC report, and the role of soils in the land response is highlighted.
Juliëtte C. S. Anema, Klaas Folkert Boersma, Piet Stammes, Gerbrand Koren, William Woodgate, Philipp Köhler, Christian Frankenberg, and Jacqui Stol
Biogeosciences, 21, 2297–2311, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2297-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2297-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To keep the Paris agreement goals within reach, negative emissions are necessary. They can be achieved with mitigation techniques, such as reforestation, which remove CO2 from the atmosphere. While governments have pinned their hopes on them, there is not yet a good set of tools to objectively determine whether negative emissions do what they promise. Here we show how satellite measurements of plant fluorescence are useful in detecting carbon uptake due to reforestation and vegetation regrowth.
Martin Jung, Jacob Nelson, Mirco Migliavacca, Tarek El-Madany, Dario Papale, Markus Reichstein, Sophia Walther, and Thomas Wutzler
Biogeosciences, 21, 1827–1846, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1827-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1827-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a methodology to detect inconsistencies in perhaps the most important data source for measurements of ecosystem–atmosphere carbon, water, and energy fluxes. We expect that the derived consistency flags will be relevant for data users and will help in improving our understanding of and our ability to model ecosystem–climate interactions.
Russell Doughty, Michael C. Wimberly, Dan Wanyama, Helene Peiro, Nicholas Parazoo, Sean Crowell, and Moses Azong Cho
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-3022, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-3022, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We find West African SIF to increase during the dry season and peak prior to precipitation, similar to the Amazon. In Central Africa, we find a continental-scale bimodal seasonality in SIF, the minimum of which is synchronous with precipitation, but its maximum is likely less related to environmental drivers. We also find important differences in the seasonality of SIF and VIs, which indicates that VI-based estimates of photosynthesis could be inaccurate as they have been shown to be the Amazon.
Prajwal Khanal, Anne J. Hoek Van Dijke, Timo Schaffhauser, Wantong Li, Sinikka J. Paulus, Chunhui Zhan, and René Orth
Biogeosciences, 21, 1533–1547, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1533-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1533-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Water availability is essential for vegetation functioning, but the depth of vegetation water uptake is largely unknown due to sparse ground measurements. This study correlates vegetation growth with soil moisture availability globally to infer vegetation water uptake depth using only satellite-based data. We find that the vegetation water uptake depth varies across climate regimes and vegetation types and also changes during dry months at a global scale.
Anna-Maria Virkkala, Pekka Niittynen, Julia Kemppinen, Maija E. Marushchak, Carolina Voigt, Geert Hensgens, Johanna Kerttula, Konsta Happonen, Vilna Tyystjärvi, Christina Biasi, Jenni Hultman, Janne Rinne, and Miska Luoto
Biogeosciences, 21, 335–355, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-335-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-335-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O are important for climate feedbacks. We combined extensive in situ measurements and remote sensing data to develop machine-learning models to predict GHG fluxes at a 2 m resolution across a tundra landscape. The analysis revealed that the system was a net GHG sink and showed widespread CH4 uptake in upland vegetation types, almost surpassing the high wetland CH4 emissions at the landscape scale.
Thomas Baer, Gerhard Furrer, Stephan Zimmermann, and Patrick Schleppi
Biogeosciences, 20, 4577–4589, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4577-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4577-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrogen (N) deposition to forest ecosystems is a matter of concern because it affects their nutrient status and makes their soil acidic. We observed an ongoing acidification in a montane forest in central Switzerland even if the subsoil of this site contains carbonates and is thus well buffered. We experimentally added N to simulate a higher pollution, and this increased the acidification. After 25 years of study, however, we can see the first signs of recovery, also under higher N deposition.
Huiying Xu, Han Wang, Iain Colin Prentice, and Sandy P. Harrison
Biogeosciences, 20, 4511–4525, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4511-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4511-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Leaf carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) are crucial elements in leaf construction and physiological processes. This study reconciled the roles of phylogeny, species identity, and climate in stoichiometric traits at individual and community levels. The variations in community-level leaf N and C : N ratio were captured by optimality-based models using climate data. Our results provide an approach to improve the representation of leaf stoichiometry in vegetation models to better couple N with C cycling.
István Dunkl, Nicole Lovenduski, Alessio Collalti, Vivek K. Arora, Tatiana Ilyina, and Victor Brovkin
Biogeosciences, 20, 3523–3538, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3523-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3523-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Despite differences in the reproduction of gross primary productivity (GPP) by Earth system models (ESMs), ESMs have similar predictability of the global carbon cycle. We found that, although GPP variability originates from different regions and is driven by different climatic variables across the ESMs, the ESMs rely on the same mechanisms to predict their own GPP. This shows that the predictability of the carbon cycle is limited by our understanding of variability rather than predictability.
David T. Milodowski, T. Luke Smallman, and Mathew Williams
Biogeosciences, 20, 3301–3327, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3301-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3301-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Model–data fusion (MDF) allows us to combine ecosystem models with Earth observation data. Fragmented landscapes, with a mosaic of contrasting ecosystems, pose a challenge for MDF. We develop a novel MDF framework to estimate the carbon balance of fragmented landscapes and show the importance of accounting for ecosystem heterogeneity to prevent scale-dependent bias in estimated carbon fluxes, disturbance fluxes in particular, and to improve ecological fidelity of the calibrated models.
Keri L. Bowering, Kate A. Edwards, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 20, 2189–2206, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2189-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2189-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) mobilized from surface soils is a source of carbon (C) for deeper mineral horizons but also a mechanism of C loss. Composition of DOM mobilized in boreal forests varied more by season than as a result of forest harvesting. Results suggest reduced snowmelt and increased fall precipitation enhance DOM properties promoting mineral soil C stores. These findings, coupled with hydrology, can inform on soil C fate and boreal forest C balance in response to climate change.
Bharat Sharma, Jitendra Kumar, Auroop R. Ganguly, and Forrest M. Hoffman
Biogeosciences, 20, 1829–1841, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1829-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1829-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide increases vegetation growth and causes more heatwaves and droughts. The impact of such climate extremes is detrimental to terrestrial carbon uptake capacity. We found that due to overall climate warming, about 88 % of the world's regions towards the end of 2100 will show anomalous losses in net biospheric productivity (NBP) rather than gains. More than 50 % of all negative NBP extremes were driven by the compound effect of dry, hot, and fire conditions.
Britta Greenshields, Barbara von der Lühe, Felix Schwarz, Harold J. Hughes, Aiyen Tjoa, Martyna Kotowska, Fabian Brambach, and Daniela Sauer
Biogeosciences, 20, 1259–1276, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1259-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1259-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Silicon (Si) can have multiple beneficial effects on crops such as oil palms. In this study, we quantified Si concentrations in various parts of an oil palm (leaflets, rachises, fruit-bunch parts) to derive Si storage estimates for the total above-ground biomass of an oil palm and 1 ha of an oil-palm plantation. We proposed a Si balance by identifying Si return (via palm fronds) and losses (via harvest) in the system and recommend management measures that enhance Si cycling.
Luisa Schmidt, Matthias Forkel, Ruxandra-Maria Zotta, Samuel Scherrer, Wouter A. Dorigo, Alexander Kuhn-Régnier, Robin van der Schalie, and Marta Yebra
Biogeosciences, 20, 1027–1046, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1027-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1027-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Vegetation attenuates natural microwave emissions from the land surface. The strength of this attenuation is quantified as the vegetation optical depth (VOD) parameter and is influenced by the vegetation mass, structure, water content, and observation wavelength. Here we model the VOD signal as a multi-variate function of several descriptive vegetation variables. The results help in understanding the effects of ecosystem properties on VOD.
Nagham Tabaja, David Amouroux, Lamis Chalak, François Fourel, Emmanuel Tessier, Ihab Jomaa, Milad El Riachy, and Ilham Bentaleb
Biogeosciences, 20, 619–633, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-619-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-619-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the seasonality of the mercury (Hg) concentration of olive trees. Hg concentrations of foliage, stems, soil surface, and litter were analyzed on a monthly basis in ancient olive trees growing in two groves in Lebanon. Our study draws an adequate baseline for the eastern Mediterranean and for the region with similar climatic inventories on Hg vegetation uptake in addition to being a baseline for new studies on olive trees in the Mediterranean.
Allison N. Myers-Pigg, Karl Kaiser, Ronald Benner, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 20, 489–503, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-489-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-489-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Boreal forests, historically a global sink for atmospheric CO2, store carbon in vast soil reservoirs. To predict how such stores will respond to climate warming we need to understand climate–ecosystem feedbacks. We find boreal forest soil carbon stores are maintained through enhanced nitrogen cycling with climate warming, providing direct evidence for a key feedback. Further application of the approach demonstrated here will improve our understanding of the limits of climate–ecosystem feedbacks.
Matthew P. Dannenberg, Mallory L. Barnes, William K. Smith, Miriam R. Johnston, Susan K. Meerdink, Xian Wang, Russell L. Scott, and Joel A. Biederman
Biogeosciences, 20, 383–404, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-383-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-383-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Earth's drylands provide ecosystem services to many people and will likely be strongly affected by climate change, but it is quite challenging to monitor the productivity and water use of dryland plants with satellites. We developed and tested an approach for estimating dryland vegetation activity using machine learning to combine information from multiple satellite sensors. Our approach excelled at estimating photosynthesis and water use largely due to the inclusion of satellite soil moisture.
Mark Pickering, Alessandro Cescatti, and Gregory Duveiller
Biogeosciences, 19, 4833–4864, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4833-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4833-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores two of the most recent products in carbon productivity estimation, FLUXCOM gross primary productivity (GPP), calculated by upscaling local measurements of CO2 exchange, and remotely sensed sun-induced chlorophyll a fluorescence (SIF). High-resolution SIF data are valuable in demonstrating similarity in the SIF–GPP relationship between vegetation covers, provide an independent probe of the FLUXCOM GPP model and demonstrate the response of SIF to meteorological fluctuations.
Sophia Walther, Simon Besnard, Jacob Allen Nelson, Tarek Sebastian El-Madany, Mirco Migliavacca, Ulrich Weber, Nuno Carvalhais, Sofia Lorena Ermida, Christian Brümmer, Frederik Schrader, Anatoly Stanislavovich Prokushkin, Alexey Vasilevich Panov, and Martin Jung
Biogeosciences, 19, 2805–2840, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2805-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2805-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite observations help interpret station measurements of local carbon, water, and energy exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere and are indispensable for simulations of the same in land surface models and their evaluation. We propose generalisable and efficient approaches to systematically ensure high quality and to estimate values in data gaps. We apply them to satellite data of surface reflectance and temperature with different resolutions at the stations.
Elisabeth Mauclet, Yannick Agnan, Catherine Hirst, Arthur Monhonval, Benoît Pereira, Aubry Vandeuren, Maëlle Villani, Justin Ledman, Meghan Taylor, Briana L. Jasinski, Edward A. G. Schuur, and Sophie Opfergelt
Biogeosciences, 19, 2333–2351, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2333-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2333-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic warming and permafrost degradation largely affect tundra vegetation. Wetter lowlands show an increase in sedges, whereas drier uplands favor shrub expansion. Here, we demonstrate that the difference in the foliar elemental composition of typical tundra vegetation species controls the change in local foliar elemental stock and potential mineral element cycling through litter production upon a shift in tundra vegetation.
Tiexi Chen, Renjie Guo, Qingyun Yan, Xin Chen, Shengjie Zhou, Chuanzhuang Liang, Xueqiong Wei, and Han Dolman
Biogeosciences, 19, 1515–1525, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1515-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1515-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Currently people are very concerned about vegetation changes and their driving factors, including natural and anthropogenic drivers. In this study, a general browning trend is found in Syria during 2001–2018, indicated by the vegetation index. We found that land management caused by social unrest is the main cause of this browning phenomenon. The mechanism initially reported here highlights the importance of land management impacts at the regional scale.
Rahayu Adzhar, Douglas I. Kelley, Ning Dong, Charles George, Mireia Torello Raventos, Elmar Veenendaal, Ted R. Feldpausch, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Bonaventure Sonké, Herman Taedoumg, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Tomas Domingues, Luzmila Arroyo, Gloria Djagbletey, Gustavo Saiz, and France Gerard
Biogeosciences, 19, 1377–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) product underestimates tree cover compared to field data and could be underestimating tree cover significantly across the tropics. VCF is used to represent land cover or validate model performance in many land surface and global vegetation models and to train finer-scaled Earth observation products. Because underestimation in VCF may render it unsuitable for training data and bias model predictions, it should be calibrated before use in the tropics.
Lina Teckentrup, Martin G. De Kauwe, Andrew J. Pitman, Daniel S. Goll, Vanessa Haverd, Atul K. Jain, Emilie Joetzjer, Etsushi Kato, Sebastian Lienert, Danica Lombardozzi, Patrick C. McGuire, Joe R. Melton, Julia E. M. S. Nabel, Julia Pongratz, Stephen Sitch, Anthony P. Walker, and Sönke Zaehle
Biogeosciences, 18, 5639–5668, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5639-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5639-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The Australian continent is included in global assessments of the carbon cycle such as the global carbon budget, yet the performance of dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) over Australia has rarely been evaluated. We assessed simulations by an ensemble of dynamic global vegetation models over Australia and highlighted a number of key areas that lead to model divergence on both short (inter-annual) and long (decadal) timescales.
Juhwan Lee, Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel, Mingxi Zhang, Zhongkui Luo, and Ying-Ping Wang
Biogeosciences, 18, 5185–5202, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5185-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5185-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We performed Roth C simulations across Australia and assessed the response of soil carbon to changing inputs and future climate change using a consistent modelling framework. Site-specific initialisation of the C pools with measurements of the C fractions is essential for accurate simulations of soil organic C stocks and composition at a large scale. With further warming, Australian soils will become more vulnerable to C loss: natural environments > native grazing > cropping > modified grazing.
Anam M. Khan, Paul C. Stoy, James T. Douglas, Martha Anderson, George Diak, Jason A. Otkin, Christopher Hain, Elizabeth M. Rehbein, and Joel McCorkel
Biogeosciences, 18, 4117–4141, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4117-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-4117-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Remote sensing has played an important role in the study of land surface processes. Geostationary satellites, such as the GOES-R series, can observe the Earth every 5–15 min, providing us with more observations than widely used polar-orbiting satellites. Here, we outline current efforts utilizing geostationary observations in environmental science and look towards the future of GOES observations in the carbon cycle, ecosystem disturbance, and other areas of application in environmental science.
Lydia Stolpmann, Caroline Coch, Anne Morgenstern, Julia Boike, Michael Fritz, Ulrike Herzschuh, Kathleen Stoof-Leichsenring, Yury Dvornikov, Birgit Heim, Josefine Lenz, Amy Larsen, Katey Walter Anthony, Benjamin Jones, Karen Frey, and Guido Grosse
Biogeosciences, 18, 3917–3936, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3917-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3917-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Our new database summarizes DOC concentrations of 2167 water samples from 1833 lakes in permafrost regions across the Arctic to provide insights into linkages between DOC and environment. We found increasing lake DOC concentration with decreasing permafrost extent and higher DOC concentrations in boreal permafrost sites compared to tundra sites. Our study shows that DOC concentration depends on the environmental properties of a lake, especially permafrost extent, ecoregion, and vegetation.
Gustaf Granath, Christopher D. Evans, Joachim Strengbom, Jens Fölster, Achim Grelle, Johan Strömqvist, and Stephan J. Köhler
Biogeosciences, 18, 3243–3261, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3243-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3243-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We measured element losses and impacts on water quality following a wildfire in Sweden. We observed the largest carbon and nitrogen losses during the fire and a strong pulse of elements 1–3 months after the fire that showed a fast (weeks) and a slow (months) release from the catchments. Total carbon export through water did not increase post-fire. Overall, we observed a rapid recovery of the biogeochemical cycling of elements within 3 years but still an annual net release of carbon dioxide.
Lina Teckentrup, Martin G. De Kauwe, Andrew J. Pitman, and Benjamin Smith
Biogeosciences, 18, 2181–2203, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2181-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2181-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) describes changes in the sea surface temperature patterns of the Pacific Ocean. This influences the global weather, impacting vegetation on land. There are two types of El Niño: central Pacific (CP) and eastern Pacific (EP). In this study, we explored the long-term impacts on the carbon balance on land linked to the two El Niño types. Using a dynamic vegetation model, we simulated what would happen if only either CP or EP El Niño events had occurred.
Matthias Volk, Matthias Suter, Anne-Lena Wahl, and Seraina Bassin
Biogeosciences, 18, 2075–2090, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-2075-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Grassland ecosystem services like forage production and greenhouse gas storage in the soil depend on plant growth.
In an experiment in the mountains with warming treatments, we found that despite dwindling soil water content, the grassland growth increased with up to +1.3 °C warming (annual mean) compared to present temperatures. Even at +2.4 °C the growth was still larger than at the reference site.
This suggests that plant growth will increase due to global warming in the near future.
Bernice C. Hwang and Daniel B. Metcalfe
Biogeosciences, 18, 1259–1268, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1259-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1259-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Despite growing recognition of herbivores as important ecosystem engineers, many major gaps remain in our understanding of how silicon and herbivory interact to shape biogeochemical processes. We highlight the need for more research particularly in natural settings as well as on the potential effects of herbivory on terrestrial silicon cycling to understand potentially critical animal–plant–soil feedbacks.
Ali Asaadi and Vivek K. Arora
Biogeosciences, 18, 669–706, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-669-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-669-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
More than a quarter of the current anthropogenic CO2 emissions are taken up by land, reducing the atmospheric CO2 growth rate. This is because of the CO2 fertilization effect which benefits 80 % of global vegetation. However, if nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients cannot keep up with increasing atmospheric CO2, the magnitude of this terrestrial ecosystem service may reduce in future. This paper implements nitrogen constraints on photosynthesis in a model to understand the mechanisms involved.
Arianna Peron, Lisa Kaser, Anne Charlott Fitzky, Martin Graus, Heidi Halbwirth, Jürgen Greiner, Georg Wohlfahrt, Boris Rewald, Hans Sandén, and Thomas Karl
Biogeosciences, 18, 535–556, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-535-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-535-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Drought events are expected to become more frequent with climate change. Along with these events atmospheric ozone is also expected to increase. Both can stress plants. Here we investigate to what extent these factors modulate the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from oak plants. We find an antagonistic effect between drought stress and ozone, impacting the emission of different BVOCs, which is indirectly controlled by stomatal opening, allowing plants to control their water budget.
Lena Wohlgemuth, Stefan Osterwalder, Carl Joseph, Ansgar Kahmen, Günter Hoch, Christine Alewell, and Martin Jiskra
Biogeosciences, 17, 6441–6456, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6441-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6441-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Mercury uptake by trees from the air represents an important but poorly quantified pathway in the global mercury cycle. We determined mercury uptake fluxes by leaves and needles at 10 European forests which were 4 times larger than mercury deposition via rainfall. The amount of mercury taken up by leaves and needles depends on their age and growing height on the tree. Scaling up our measurements to the forest area of Europe, we estimate that each year 20 t of mercury is taken up by trees.
A. Anthony Bloom, Kevin W. Bowman, Junjie Liu, Alexandra G. Konings, John R. Worden, Nicholas C. Parazoo, Victoria Meyer, John T. Reager, Helen M. Worden, Zhe Jiang, Gregory R. Quetin, T. Luke Smallman, Jean-François Exbrayat, Yi Yin, Sassan S. Saatchi, Mathew Williams, and David S. Schimel
Biogeosciences, 17, 6393–6422, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6393-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6393-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We use a model of the 2001–2015 tropical land carbon cycle, with satellite measurements of land and atmospheric carbon, to disentangle lagged and concurrent effects (due to past and concurrent meteorological events, respectively) on annual land–atmosphere carbon exchanges. The variability of lagged effects explains most 2001–2015 inter-annual carbon flux variations. We conclude that concurrent and lagged effects need to be accurately resolved to better predict the world's land carbon sink.
Erqian Cui, Chenyu Bian, Yiqi Luo, Shuli Niu, Yingping Wang, and Jianyang Xia
Biogeosciences, 17, 6237–6246, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6237-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6237-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Mean annual net ecosystem productivity (NEP) is related to the magnitude of the carbon sink of a specific ecosystem, while its inter-annual variation (IAVNEP) characterizes the stability of such a carbon sink. Thus, a better understanding of the co-varying NEP and IAVNEP is critical for locating the major and stable carbon sinks on land. Based on daily NEP observations from eddy-covariance sites, we found local indicators for the spatially varying NEP and IAVNEP, respectively.
Taraka Davies-Barnard, Johannes Meyerholt, Sönke Zaehle, Pierre Friedlingstein, Victor Brovkin, Yuanchao Fan, Rosie A. Fisher, Chris D. Jones, Hanna Lee, Daniele Peano, Benjamin Smith, David Wårlind, and Andy J. Wiltshire
Biogeosciences, 17, 5129–5148, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5129-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-5129-2020, 2020
Rui Cheng, Troy S. Magney, Debsunder Dutta, David R. Bowling, Barry A. Logan, Sean P. Burns, Peter D. Blanken, Katja Grossmann, Sophia Lopez, Andrew D. Richardson, Jochen Stutz, and Christian Frankenberg
Biogeosciences, 17, 4523–4544, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4523-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4523-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We measured reflected sunlight from an evergreen canopy for a year to detect changes in pigments that play an important role in regulating the seasonality of photosynthesis. Results show a strong mechanistic link between spectral reflectance features and pigment content, which is validated using a biophysical model. Our results show spectrally where, why, and when spectral features change over the course of the season and show promise for estimating photosynthesis remotely.
Jarmo Mäkelä, Francesco Minunno, Tuula Aalto, Annikki Mäkelä, Tiina Markkanen, and Mikko Peltoniemi
Biogeosciences, 17, 2681–2700, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2681-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2681-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We assess the relative magnitude of uncertainty sources on ecosystem indicators of the 21st century climate change on two boreal forest sites. In addition to RCP and climate model uncertainties, we included the overlooked model parameter uncertainty and management actions in our analysis. Management was the dominant uncertainty factor for the more verdant southern site, followed by RCP, climate and parameter uncertainties. The uncertainties were estimated with canonical correlation analysis.
Guido Kraemer, Gustau Camps-Valls, Markus Reichstein, and Miguel D. Mahecha
Biogeosciences, 17, 2397–2424, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2397-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2397-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
To closely monitor the state of our planet, we require systems that can monitor
the observation of many different properties at the same time. We create
indicators that resemble the behavior of many different simultaneous
observations. We apply the method to create indicators representing the
Earth's biosphere. The indicators show a productivity gradient and a water
gradient. The resulting indicators can detect a large number of changes and
extremes in the Earth system.
Barbara Marcolla, Mirco Migliavacca, Christian Rödenbeck, and Alessandro Cescatti
Biogeosciences, 17, 2365–2379, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2365-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2365-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This work investigates the sensitivity of terrestrial CO2 fluxes to climate drivers. We observed that CO2 flux is mostly controlled by temperature during the growing season and by radiation off season. We also observe that radiation importance is increasing over time while sensitivity to temperature is decreasing in Eurasia. Ultimately this analysis shows that ecosystem response to climate is changing, with potential repercussions for future terrestrial sink and land role in climate mitigation.
Stephanie C. Pennington, Nate G. McDowell, J. Patrick Megonigal, James C. Stegen, and Ben Bond-Lamberty
Biogeosciences, 17, 771–780, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-771-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-771-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Soil respiration (Rs) is the flow of CO2 from the soil surface to the atmosphere and is one of the largest carbon fluxes on land. This study examined the effect of local basal area (tree area) on Rs in a coastal forest in eastern Maryland, USA. Rs measurements were taken as well as distance from soil collar, diameter, and species of each tree within a 15 m radius. We found that trees within 5 m of our sampling points had a positive effect on how sensitive soil respiration was to temperature.
Keri L. Bowering, Kate A. Edwards, Karen Prestegaard, Xinbiao Zhu, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 17, 581–595, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-581-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-581-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We examined the effects of season and tree harvesting on the flow of water and the organic carbon (OC) it carries from boreal forest soils. We found that more OC was lost from the harvested forest because more precipitation reached the soil surface but that during periods of flushing in autumn and snowmelt a limit on the amount of water-extractable OC is reached. These results contribute to an increased understanding of carbon loss from boreal forest soils.
Jason Philip Kaye, Susan L. Brantley, Jennifer Zan Williams, and the SSHCZO team
Biogeosciences, 16, 4661–4669, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4661-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4661-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Interdisciplinary teams can only capitalize on innovative ideas if members work well together through collegial and efficient use of field sites, instrumentation, samples, data, and model code. Thus, biogeoscience teams may benefit from developing a set of best practices for collaboration. We present one such example from a the Susquehanna Shale Hills critical zone observatory. Many of the themes from our example are universal, and they offer insights useful to other biogeoscience teams.
Anne Alexandre, Elizabeth Webb, Amaelle Landais, Clément Piel, Sébastien Devidal, Corinne Sonzogni, Martine Couapel, Jean-Charles Mazur, Monique Pierre, Frédéric Prié, Christine Vallet-Coulomb, Clément Outrequin, and Jacques Roy
Biogeosciences, 16, 4613–4625, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4613-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-4613-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This calibration study shows that despite isotope heterogeneity along grass leaves, the triple oxygen isotope composition of bulk leaf phytoliths can be estimated from the Craig and Gordon model, a mixing equation and a mean leaf water–phytolith fractionation exponent (lambda) of 0.521. The results strengthen the reliability of the 17O–excess of phytoliths to be used as a proxy of atmospheric relative humidity and open tracks for its use as an imprint of leaf water 17O–excess.
Lina Teckentrup, Sandy P. Harrison, Stijn Hantson, Angelika Heil, Joe R. Melton, Matthew Forrest, Fang Li, Chao Yue, Almut Arneth, Thomas Hickler, Stephen Sitch, and Gitta Lasslop
Biogeosciences, 16, 3883–3910, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3883-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3883-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This study compares simulated burned area of seven global vegetation models provided by the Fire Model Intercomparison Project (FireMIP) since 1900. We investigate the influence of five forcing factors: atmospheric CO2, population density, land–use change, lightning and climate.
We find that the anthropogenic factors lead to the largest spread between models. Trends due to climate are mostly not significant but climate strongly influences the inter-annual variability of burned area.
Cited articles
Arora, V. K., Katavouta, A., Williams, R. G., Jones, C. D., Brovkin, V., Friedlingstein, P., Schwinger, J., Bopp, L., Boucher, O., Cadule, P., Chamberlain, M. A., Christian, J. R., Delire, C., Fisher, R. A., Hajima, T., Ilyina, T., Joetzjer, E., Kawamiya, M., Koven, C. D., Krasting, J. P., Law, R. M., Lawrence, D. M., Lenton, A., Lindsay, K., Pongratz, J., Raddatz, T., Séférian, R., Tachiiri, K., Tjiputra, J. F., Wiltshire, A., Wu, T., and Ziehn, T.: Carbon–concentration and carbon–climate feedbacks in CMIP6 models and their comparison to CMIP5 models, Biogeosciences, 17, 4173–4222, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4173-2020, 2020.
Augusto, L., Meredieu, C., Bert, D., Trichet, P., Porté, A., Bosc, A., Lagane, F., Loustau, D., Pellerin, S., Danjon, F., Ranger, J., and Gelpe, J.: Improving models of forest nutrient export with equations that predict the nutrient concentration of tree compartments, Ann. For. Sci., 65, 808–808, https://doi.org/10.1051/forest:2008059, 2008.
Bazzaz, F. A., Chiariello, N. R., Coley, P. D., and Pitelka, L. F.: Allocating Resources to Reproduction and Defense: New assessments of the costs and benefits of allocation patterns in plants are relating ecological roles to resource use, BioScience, 37, 58–67, https://doi.org/10.2307/1310178, 1987.
Beer, C., Lucht, W., Gerten, D., Thonicke, K., and Schmullius, C.: Effects of soil freezing and thawing on vegetation carbon density in Siberia: A modeling analysis with the Lund-Potsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPJ-DGVM), Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 21, GB1012, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006gb002760, 2007.
Bosc, A., De Grandcourt, A., and Loustau, D.: Variability of stem and branch maintenance respiration in a Pinus pinaster tree, Tree Physiol., 23, 227–236, https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/23.4.227, 2003.
Bruelheide, H., Dengler, J., Purschke, O., et al.: Global trait–environment relationships of plant communities, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2, 1906–1917, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0699-8, 2018.
Brun, P., Zimmermann, N. E., Hari, C., Pellissier, L., and Karger, D. N.: Global climate-related predictors at kilometer resolution for the past and future, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 5573–5603, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-5573-2022, 2022.
Burnham, K. P. and Anderson, D. R.: Multimodel Inference: Understanding AIC and BIC in Model Selection, Sociol. Methods Res., 33, 261–304, https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124104268644, 2004.
Butler, E. E., Datta, A., Flores-Moreno, H., Chen, M., Wythers, K. R., Fazayeli, F., Banerjee, A., Atkin, O. K., Kattge, J., Amiaud, B., Blonder, B., Boenisch, G., Bond-Lamberty, B., Brown, K. A., Byun, C., Campetella, G., Cerabolini, B. E. L., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Craine, J. M., Craven, D., de Vries, F. T., Diaz, S., Domingues, T. F., Forey, E., Gonzalez-Melo, A., Gross, N., Han, W., Hattingh, W. N., Hickler, T., Jansen, S., Kramer, K., Kraft, N. J. B., Kurokawa, H., Laughlin, D. C., Meir, P., Minden, V., Niinemets, U., Onoda, Y., Penuelas, J., Read, Q., Sack, L., Schamp, B., Soudzilovskaia, N. A., Spasojevic, M. J., Sosinski, E., Thornton, P. E., Valladares, F., van Bodegom, P. M., Williams, M., Wirth, C., and Reich, P. B.: Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 114, E10937–E10946, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1708984114, 2017.
Ceccon, C., Tagliavini, M., Schmitt, A. O., and Eissenstat, D. M.: Untangling the effects of root age and tissue nitrogen on root respiration in Populus tremuloides at different nitrogen supply, Tree Physiol., 36, 618–627, https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpw022, 2016.
Ceschia, E., Damesin, C., Lebaube, S., Pontailler, J.-Y., and Dufrene, E.: Spatial and seasonal variations in stem respiration of beech trees (Fagus sylvatica), Ann. For. Sci., 59, 801–812, https://doi.org/10.1051/forest:2002078, 2002.
Chapin, F. S.: Integrated Responses of Plants to Stress: A centralized system of physiological responses, BioScience, 41, 29–36, https://doi.org/10.2307/1311538, 1991.
Chapin, F. S., Schulze, E.-D., and Mooney, H. A.: The Ecology and Economics of Storage in Plants, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 21, 423–447, 1990.
Chapin, F. S., Autumn, K., and Pugnaire, F.: Evolution of Suites of Traits in Response to Environmental Stress, Am. Nat., 142, S78–S92, https://doi.org/10.1086/285524, 1993.
Damesin, C.: Respiration and photosynthesis characteristics of current-year stems of Fagus sylvatica: from the seasonal pattern to an annual balance, New Phytol., 158, 465–475, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1469-8137.2003.00756.x, 2003.
Dong, N., Prentice, I. C., Wright, I. J., Wang, H., Atkin, O. K., Bloomfield, K. J., Domingues, T. F., Gleason, S. M., Maire, V., Onoda, Y., Poorter, H., and Smith, N. G.: Leaf nitrogen from the perspective of optimal plant function, J. Ecol., 110, 2585–2602, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13967, 2022.
Du, E., Terrer, C., Pellegrini, A. F. A., Ahlström, A., van Lissa, C. J., Zhao, X., Xia, N., Wu, X., and Jackson, R. B.: Global patterns of terrestrial nitrogen and phosphorus limitation, Nat. Geosci., 13, 221–226, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0530-4, 2020.
Fagerland, M. W.: t-tests, non-parametric tests, and large studies – a paradox of statistical practice?, BMC Medical Research Methodology, 12, 78, https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-12-78, 2012.
Falster, D. S., Duursma, R. A., Ishihara, M. I., et al.: BAAD: a biomass and allometry database for woody plants, Ecology, 96, 1445, https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1889.1, 2015.
Feng, Z., Brumme, R., Xu, Y. J., and Lamersdorf, N.: Tracing the fate of mineral N compounds under high ambient N deposition in a Norway spruce forest at Solling/Germany, Forest Ecol. Manag., 255, 2061–2073, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2007.12.049, 2008.
Friedlingstein, P., O'Sullivan, M., Jones, M. W., et al.: Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 5301–5369, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023, 2023.
Hanewinkel, M., Cullmann, D. A., Schelhaas, M.-J., Nabuurs, G.-J., and Zimmermann, N. E.: Climate change may cause severe loss in the economic value of European forest land, Nat. Clim. Change, 3, 203–207, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1687, 2013.
Hastie, T. J. and Tibshirani, R. J.: Generalized additive models, Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, FL, 1990.
Haxeltine, A. and Prentice, I. C.: A General Model for the Light-Use Efficiency of Primary Production, Funct. Ecol., 10, 551–561, https://doi.org/10.2307/2390165, 1996.
Hendricks, J. J., Aber, J. D., Nadelhoffer, K. J., and Hallett, R. D.: Nitrogen Controls on Fine Root Substrate Quality in Temperate Forest Ecosystems, Ecosystems, 3, 57–69, https://doi.org/10.1007/s100210000010, 2000.
Herms, D. A. and Mattson, W. J.: The Dilemma of Plants: To Grow or Defend, The Quarterly Review of Biology, 67, 283–335, 1992.
Hickler, T., Rammig, A., and Werner, C.: Modelling CO2 Impacts on Forest Productivity, Current Forestry Reports, 1, 69–80, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40725-015-0014-8, 2015.
Hickler, T., Vohland, K., Feehan, J., Miller, P. A., Smith, B., Costa, L., Giesecke, T., Fronzek, S., Carter, T. R., Cramer, W., Kühn, I., and Sykes, M. T.: Projecting the future distribution of European potential natural vegetation zones with a generalized, tree species-based dynamic vegetation model, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 21, 50-63, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00613.x, 2012.
Iversen, C. M., McCormack, M. L., Powell, A. S., Blackwood, C. B., Freschet, G. T., Kattge, J., Roumet, C., Stover, D. B., Soudzilovskaia, N. A., Valverde-Barrantes, O. J., van Bodegom, P. M., and Violle, C.: A global Fine-Root Ecology Database to address below-ground challenges in plant ecology, New Phytol., 215, 15–26, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14486, 2017.
Joswig, J. S., Wirth, C., Schuman, M. C., Kattge, J., Reu, B., Wright, I. J., Sippel, S. D., Rüger, N., Richter, R., Schaepman, M. E., van Bodegom, P. M., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Díaz, S., Hattingh, W. N., Kramer, K., Lens, F., Niinemets, Ü., Reich, P. B., Reichstein, M., Römermann, C., Schrodt, F., Anand, M., Bahn, M., Byun, C., Campetella, G., Cerabolini, B. E. L., Craine, J. M., Gonzalez-Melo, A., Gutiérrez, A. G., He, T., Higuchi, P., Jactel, H., Kraft, N. J. B., Minden, V., Onipchenko, V., Peñuelas, J., Pillar, V. D., Sosinski, Ê., Soudzilovskaia, N. A., Weiher, E., and Mahecha, M. D.: Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation, Nat. Ecol. Evol., 6, 36–50, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01616-8, 2022.
Kattge, J., Bönisch, G., Diaz, S., et al.: TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage, open access, Glob. Chang. Biol., 26, 119–188, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14904, 2020.
Kou-Giesbrecht, S., Arora, V. K., Seiler, C., Arneth, A., Falk, S., Jain, A. K., Joos, F., Kennedy, D., Knauer, J., Sitch, S., O'Sullivan, M., Pan, N., Sun, Q., Tian, H., Vuichard, N., and Zaehle, S.: Evaluating nitrogen cycling in terrestrial biosphere models: a disconnect between the carbon and nitrogen cycles, Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 767–795, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-767-2023, 2023.
Lambers, H. and Poorter, H.: Inherent Variation in Growth Rate Between Higher Plants: A Search for Physiological Causes and Ecological Consequences, Adv. Ecol. Res., 23, 187–261, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0065-2504(08)60148-8, 1992.
Larjavaara, M., Berninger, F., Palviainen, M., Prokushkin, A., and Wallenius, T.: Post-fire carbon and nitrogen accumulation and succession in Central Siberia, Sci. Rep., 7, 12776, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13039-2, 2017.
Laughlin, D. C., Fulé, P. Z., Huffman, D. W., Crouse, J., and Laliberté, E.: Climatic constraints on trait-based forest assembly, J. Ecol., 99, 1489–1499, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01885.x, 2011.
LeBauer, D. S. and Treseder, K. K.: Nitrogen limitation of net primary productivity in terrestrial ecosystems is globally distributed, Ecology, 89, 371–379, https://doi.org/10.1890/06-2057.1, 2008.
Liu, B., He, J., Zeng, F., Lei, J., and Arndt, S. K.: Life span and structure of ephemeral root modules of different functional groups from a desert system, New Phytol., 211, 103–112, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13880, 2016.
Loehle, C.: Tree life history strategies: the role of defenses, Can. J. Forest Res., 18, 209–222, https://doi.org/10.1139/x88-032, 1988.
Luo, Y., Su, B., Currie, W. S., Dukes, J. S., Finzi, A., Hartwig, U., Hungate, B., McMurtrie, R. E., Oren, R., Parton, W. J., Pataki, D. E., Shaw, R. M., Zak, D. R., and Field, C. B.: Progressive Nitrogen Limitation of Ecosystem Responses to Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, BioScience, 54, 731–739, https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2004)054[0731:Pnloer]2.0.Co;2, 2004.
Magill, A. H., Aber, J. D., Hendricks, J. J., Bowden, R. D., Melillo, J. M., and Steudler, P. A.: Biogeochemical Response of Forest Ecosystems to Simulated Chronic Nitrogen Deposition, Ecol. Appl., 7, 402–415, https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(1997)007[0402:BROFET]2.0.CO;2, 1997.
Manzoni, S., Čapek, P., Porada, P., Thurner, M., Winterdahl, M., Beer, C., Brüchert, V., Frouz, J., Herrmann, A. M., Lindahl, B. D., Lyon, S. W., Šantrůčková, H., Vico, G., and Way, D.: Reviews and syntheses: Carbon use efficiency from organisms to ecosystems – definitions, theories, and empirical evidence, Biogeosciences, 15, 5929–5949, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5929-2018, 2018.
Martin, A. R., Gezahegn, S., and Thomas, S. C.: Variation in carbon and nitrogen concentration among major woody tissue types in temperate trees, Can. J. Forest Res., 45, 744–757, https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2015-0024, 2015.
Maynard, D. S., Bialic-Murphy, L., Zohner, C. M., Averill, C., van den Hoogen, J., Ma, H., Mo, L., Smith, G. R., Acosta, A. T. R., Aubin, I., Berenguer, E., Boonman, C. C. F., Catford, J. A., Cerabolini, B. E. L., Dias, A. S., González-Melo, A., Hietz, P., Lusk, C. H., Mori, A. S., Niinemets, Ü., Pillar, V. D., Pinho, B. X., Rosell, J. A., Schurr, F. M., Sheremetev, S. N., da Silva, A. C., Sosinski, Ê., van Bodegom, P. M., Weiher, E., Bönisch, G., Kattge, J., and Crowther, T. W.: Global relationships in tree functional traits, Nat. Commun., 13, 3185, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30888-2, 2022.
Meerts, P.: Mineral nutrient concentrations in sapwood and heartwood: a literature review, Ann. For. Sci., 59, 713–722, https://doi.org/10.1051/forest:2002059, 2002.
Mei, L., Xiong, Y., Gu, J., Wang, Z., and Guo, D.: Whole-tree dynamics of non-structural carbohydrate and nitrogen pools across different seasons and in response to girdling in two temperate trees, Oecologia, 177, 333–344, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3186-1, 2015.
Meir, P., Kruijt, B., Broadmeadow, M., Barbosa, E., Kull, O., Carswell, F., Nobre, A., and Jarvis, P. G.: Acclimation of photosynthetic capacity to irradiance in tree canopies in relation to leaf nitrogen concentration and leaf mass per unit area, Plant Cell Environ., 25, 343–357, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0016-8025.2001.00811.x, 2002.
Merrill, W. and Cowling, E. B.: Role of nitrogen in wood deterioration: amounts and distribution of nitrogen in tree stems, Can. J. Bot., 44, 1555–1580, https://doi.org/10.1139/b66-168, 1966.
Meyerholt, J. and Zaehle, S.: The role of stoichiometric flexibility in modelling forest ecosystem responses to nitrogen fertilization, New Phytol., 208, 1042–1055, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.13547, 2015.
Moreno-Martínez, Á., Camps-Valls, G., Kattge, J., Robinson, N., Reichstein, M., van Bodegom, P., Kramer, K., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Reich, P., Bahn, M., Niinemets, Ü., Peñuelas, J., Craine, J. M., Cerabolini, B. E. L., Minden, V., Laughlin, D. C., Sack, L., Allred, B., Baraloto, C., Byun, C., Soudzilovskaia, N. A., and Running, S. W.: A methodology to derive global maps of leaf traits using remote sensing and climate data, Remote Sens. Environ., 218, 69–88, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.09.006, 2018.
Nash, J. E. and Sutcliffe, J. V.: River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I – a discussion of principles, J. Hydrol., 10, 282–290, 1970.
Norby, R. J., Warren, J. M., Iversen, C. M., Medlyn, B. E., and McMurtrie, R. E.: CO2 enhancement of forest productivity constrained by limited nitrogen availability, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 107, 19368–19373, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1006463107, 2010.
Oren, R., Werk, K. S., Schulze, E. D., Meyer, J., Schneider, B. U., and Schramel, P.: Performance of Two Picea abies (L.) Karst. Stands at Different Stages of Decline. VI. Nutrient Concentration, Oecologia, 77, 151–162, 1988.
Ostonen, I., Truu, M., Helmisaari, H. S., Lukac, M., Borken, W., Vanguelova, E., Godbold, D. L., Lohmus, K., Zang, U., Tedersoo, L., Preem, J. K., Rosenvald, K., Aosaar, J., Armolaitis, K., Frey, J., Kabral, N., Kukumagi, M., Leppalammi-Kujansuu, J., Lindroos, A. J., Merila, P., Napa, U., Nojd, P., Parts, K., Uri, V., Varik, M., and Truu, J.: Adaptive root foraging strategies along a boreal-temperate forest gradient, New Phytol., 215, 977–991, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14643, 2017.
Parton, W., Silver, W. L., Burke, I. C., Grassens, L., Harmon, M. E., Currie, W. S., King, J. Y., Adair, E. C., Brandt, L. A., Hart, S. C., and Fasth, B.: Global-scale similarities in nitrogen release patterns during long-term decomposition, Science, 315, 361–364, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1134853, 2007.
Ponette, Q., Ranger, J., Ottorini, J.-M., and Ulrich, E.: Aboveground biomass and nutrient content of five Douglas-fir stands in France, Forest Ecol. Manag., 142, 109–127, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-1127(00)00345-5, 2001.
Poorter, H., Remkes, C., and Lambers, H.: Carbon and Nitrogen Economy of 24 Wild Species Differing in Relative Growth Rate, Plant Physiol., 94, 621–627, https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.94.2.621, 1990.
Pregitzer, K. S., Zak, D. R., Curtis, P. S., Kubiske, M. E., Teeri, J. A., and Vogel, C. S.: Atmospheric CO2, soil nitrogen and turnover of fine roots, New Phytol., 129, 579–585, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.1995.tb03025.x, 1995.
Prokushkin, A., Hagedorn, F., Pokrovsky, O., Viers, J., Kirdyanov, A., Masyagina, O., Prokushkina, M., and McDowell, W.: Permafrost Regime Affects the Nutritional Status and Productivity of Larches in Central Siberia, Forests, 9, 314, https://doi.org/10.3390/f9060314, 2018.
Pruyn, M. L., Gartner, B. L., and Harmon, M. E.: Storage versus substrate limitation to bole respiratory potential in two coniferous tree species of contrasting sapwood width, J. Exp. Bot., 56, 2637–2649, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eri257, 2005.
Ranger, J., Marques, R., Colin-Belgrand, M., Flammang, N., and Gelhaye, D.: The dynamics of biomass and nutrient accumulation in a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Franco) stand studied using a chronosequence approach, Forest Ecol. Manag., 72, 167–183, https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-1127(94)03469-D, 1995.
Reich, P. B.: The world-wide “fast-slow” plant economics spectrum: a traits manifesto, J. Ecol., 102, 275–301, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12211, 2014.
Reich, P. B. and Oleksyn, J.: Global patterns of plant leaf N and P in relation to temperature and latitude, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 101, 11001–11006, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0403588101, 2004.
Reich, P. B., Walters, M. B., and Ellsworth, D. S.: Leaf Life-Span in Relation to Leaf, Plant, and Stand Characteristics among Diverse Ecosystems, Ecol. Monogr., 62, 365–392, https://doi.org/10.2307/2937116, 1992.
Reich, P. B., Tjoelker, M. G., Machado, J. L., and Oleksyn, J.: Universal scaling of respiratory metabolism, size and nitrogen in plants, Nature, 439, 457–461, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04282, 2006b.
Reich, P. B., Hobbie, S. E., Lee, T., Ellsworth, D. S., West, J. B., Tilman, D., Knops, J. M., Naeem, S., and Trost, J.: Nitrogen limitation constrains sustainability of ecosystem response to CO2, Nature, 440, 922–925, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04486, 2006a.
Ryan, M. G.: Effects of Climate Change on Plant Respiration, Ecol. Appl., 1, 157–167, https://doi.org/10.2307/1941808, 1991.
Schepaschenko, D., Shvidenko, A., Usoltsev, V., Lakyda, P., Luo, Y., Vasylyshyn, R., Lakyda, I., Myklush, Y., See, L., McCallum, I., Fritz, S., Kraxner, F., and Obersteiner, M.: A dataset of forest biomass structure for Eurasia, Sci. Data, 4, 170070, https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.70, 2017.
Schowalter, T. D. and Morrell, J. J.: Nutritional Quality of Douglas-Fir Wood: Effect of Vertical and Horizontal Position on Nutrient Levels, Wood and Fiber Science, 34, 158–164, 2002.
Schulze, E.-D., Kelliher, F. M., Körner, C., Lloyd, J., and Leuning, R.: Relationships among maximum stomatal conductance, ecosystem surface conductance, carbon assimilation rate, and plant nitrogen nutrition: a global ecology scaling exercise, Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 25, 629–662, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.25.110194.003213, 1994.
Schulze, E. D., Schulze, W., Koch, H., Arneth, A., Bauer, G., Kelliher, F. M., Hollinger, D. Y., Vygodskaya, N. N., Kusnetsova, W. A., Sogatchev, A., Ziegler, W., Kobak, K. I., and Issajev, A.: Aboveground biomass and nitrogen nutrition in a chronosequence of pristine Dahurian Larix stands in eastern Siberia, Can. J. Forest Res., 25, 943–960, https://doi.org/10.1139/x95-103, 1995.
Schwede, D. B., Simpson, D., Tan, J., Fu, J. S., Dentener, F., Du, E., and deVries, W.: Spatial variation of modelled total, dry and wet nitrogen deposition to forests at global scale, Environ. Pollut., 243, 1287–1301, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.09.084, 2018.
Shuman, J. K., Shugart, H. H., and O'Halloran, T. L.: Sensitivity of Siberian larch forests to climate change, Global Change Biol., 17, 2370–2384, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02417.x, 2011.
Sitch, S., Smith, B., Prentice, I. C., Arneth, A., Bondeau, A., Cramer, W., Kaplan, J. O., Levis, S., Lucht, W., Sykes, M. T., Thonicke, K., and Venevsky, S.: Evaluation of ecosystem dynamics, plant geography and terrestrial carbon cycling in the LPJ dynamic global vegetation model, Global Change Biol., 9, 161–185, 2003.
Sprugel, D. G.: Density, Biomass, Productivity, and Nutrient-Cycling Changes During Stand Development in Wave-Regenerated Balsam Fir Forests, Ecol. Monogr., 54, 165–186, https://doi.org/10.2307/1942660, 1984.
Steppe, K., Niinemets, Ü., and Teskey, R. O.: Tree Size- and Age-Related Changes in Leaf Physiology and Their Influence on Carbon Gain, in: Size- and Age-Related Changes in Tree Structure and Function, Tree Physiol., 235–253, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1242-3_9, 2011.
Sun, Y., Wang, M., Mur, L. A. J., Shen, Q., and Guo, S.: Unravelling the Roles of Nitrogen Nutrition in Plant Disease Defences, Int. J. Mol. Sci., 21, 572, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21020572, 2020.
Tang, Z., Xu, W., Zhou, G., Bai, Y., Li, J., Tang, X., Chen, D., Liu, Q., Ma, W., Xiong, G., He, H., He, N., Guo, Y., Guo, Q., Zhu, J., Han, W., Hu, H., Fang, J., and Xie, Z.: Patterns of plant carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentration in relation to productivity in China's terrestrial ecosystems, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 115, 4033–4038, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1700295114, 2018.
Tateno, R. and Takeda, H.: Nitrogen uptake and nitrogen use efficiency above and below ground along a topographic gradient of soil nitrogen availability, Oecologia, 163, 793–804, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1561-0, 2010.
Terrer, C., Jackson, R. B., Prentice, I. C., Keenan, T. F., Kaiser, C., Vicca, S., Fisher, J. B., Reich, P. B., Stocker, B. D., Hungate, B. A., Peñuelas, J., McCallum, I., Soudzilovskaia, N. A., Cernusak, L. A., Talhelm, A. F., Van Sundert, K., Piao, S., Newton, P. C. D., Hovenden, M. J., Blumenthal, D. M., Liu, Y. Y., Müller, C., Winter, K., Field, C. B., Viechtbauer, W., Van Lissa, C. J., Hoosbeek, M. R., Watanabe, M., Koike, T., Leshyk, V. O., Polley, H. W., and Franklin, O.: Nitrogen and phosphorus constrain the CO2 fertilization of global plant biomass, Nat. Clim. Change, 9, 684–689, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0545-2, 2019.
Thurner, M., Beer, C., Santoro, M., Carvalhais, N., Wutzler, T., Schepaschenko, D., Shvidenko, A., Kompter, E., Ahrens, B., Levick, S. R., and Schmullius, C.: Carbon stock and density of northern boreal and temperate forests, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 23, 297–310, https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12125, 2014.
Thurner, M., Beer, C., Crowther, T., Falster, D., Manzoni, S., Prokushkin, A., Schulze, E. D., and Gillespie, T.: Sapwood biomass carbon in northern boreal and temperate forests, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 28, 640–660, https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12883, 2019.
Thurner, M., Yu, K., Manzoni, S., Prokushkin, A., Thurner, M. A., Wang, Z., and Hickler, T.: Nitrogen concentrations in boreal and temperate tree tissues (1.0.0), Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14742947, 2025.
Thurner, M. A., Caldararu, S., Engel, J., Rammig, A., and Zaehle, S.: Modelled forest ecosystem carbon–nitrogen dynamics with integrated mycorrhizal processes under elevated CO2, Biogeosciences, 21, 1391–1410, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-1391-2024, 2024.
Ullmann-Zeunert, L., Stanton, M. A., Wielsch, N., Bartram, S., Hummert, C., Svatos, A., Baldwin, I. T., and Groten, K.: Quantification of growth-defense trade-offs in a common currency: nitrogen required for phenolamide biosynthesis is not derived from ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase turnover, Plant J., 75, 417–429, https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.12210, 2013.
UNEP: World Atlas of Desertification. United Nations Environment Programme, edited by: Middleton, N. and Thomas D. S. G., Edward Arnold, London, 1992.
Vergutz, L., Manzoni, S., Porporato, A., Novais, R. F., and Jackson, R. B.: Global resorption efficiencies and concentrations of carbon and nutrients in leaves of terrestrial plants, Ecol. Monogr., 82, 205–220, https://doi.org/10.1890/11-0416.1, 2012.
Vose, J. M. and Ryan, M. G.: Seasonal respiration of foliage, fine roots, and woody tissues in relation to growth, tissue N, and photosynthesis, Global Change Biol., 8, 182–193, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2002.00464.x, 2002.
Wang, Z., Yu, K., Lv, S., Niklas, K. J., Mipam, T. D., Crowther, T. W., Umaña, M. N., Zhao, Q., Huang, H., Reich, P. B., and Niu, S.: The scaling of fine root nitrogen versus phosphorus in terrestrial plants: A global synthesis, Funct. Ecol., 33, 2081–2094, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13434, 2019.
Wang, Z., Lv, S., Song, H., Wang, M., Zhao, Q., Huang, H., and Niklas, K. J.: Plant type dominates fine-root
Wang, Z., Huang, H., Yao, B., Deng, J., Ma, Z., and Niklas, K. J.: Divergent scaling of fine-root nitrogen and phosphorus in different root diameters, orders and functional categories: A meta-analysis, Forest Ecol. Manag., 495, 119384, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119384, 2021.
Withington, J. M., Reich, P. B., Oleksyn, J., and Eissenstat, D. M.: Comparisons of Structure and Life Span in Roots and Leaves among Temperate Trees, Ecol. Monogr., 76, 381–397, 2006.
Wood, S. N.: Generalized additive models: an introduction with R, Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2006.
Wright, I. J., Reich, P. B., and Westoby, M.: Strategy shifts in leaf physiology, structure and nutrient content between species of high- and low-rainfall and high- and low-nutrient habitats, Funct. Ecol., 15, 423–434, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0269-8463.2001.00542.x, 2001.
Wright, I. J., Reich, P. B., Westoby, M., Ackerly, D. D., Baruch, Z., Bongers, F., Cavender-Bares, J., Chapin, T., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Diemer, M., Flexas, J., Garnier, E., Groom, P. K., Gulias, J., Hikosaka, K., Lamont, B. B., Lee, T., Lee, W., Lusk, C., Midgley, J. J., Navas, M.-L., Niinemets, Ü., Oleksyn, J., Osada, N., Poorter, H., Poot, P., Prior, L., Pyankov, V. I., Roumet, C., Thomas, S. C., Tjoelker, M. G., Veneklaas, E. J., and Villar, R.: The worldwide leaf economics spectrum, Nature, 428, 821–827, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02403, 2004.
Yin, X.: Variation in foliar nitrogen concentration by forest type and climatic gradients in North America, Can. J. Forest Res., 23, 1587–1602, https://doi.org/10.1139/x93-199, 1993.
Yoder, B. J., Ryan, M. G., Waring, R. H., Schoettle, A. W., and Kaufmann, M. R.: Evidence of Reduced Photosynthetic Rates in Old Trees, Forest Sci., 40, 513–527, https://doi.org/10.1093/forestscience/40.3.513, 1994.
Yuan, Z. Y., Chen, H. Y. H., and Reich, P. B.: Global-scale latitudinal patterns of plant fine-root nitrogen and phosphorus, Nat. Commun., 2, 344, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1346, 2011.
Short summary
Nitrogen concentrations in tree tissues (leaves, branches, stems, and roots) are related to photosynthesis, growth, and respiration and thus to vegetation carbon uptake. Our novel database allows us to identify the controls of tree tissue nitrogen concentrations in boreal and temperate forests, such as tree age/size, species, and climate. Changes therein will affect tissue nitrogen concentrations and thus also vegetation carbon uptake.
Nitrogen concentrations in tree tissues (leaves, branches, stems, and roots) are related to...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint