Articles | Volume 23, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-1223-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-23-1223-2026
Research article
 | 
12 Feb 2026
Research article |  | 12 Feb 2026

Satellite-derived Ecosystem Functional Types capture ecosystem functional heterogeneity at regional scale

Beatriz P. Cazorla, Ana Meijide, Javier Cabello, Julio Peñas, Javier Martínez-López, Rodrigo Vargas, Leonardo Montagnani, Alexander Knohl, Lukas Siebicke, Benimiano Gioli, Jiří Dušek, Ladislav Šigut, Andreas Ibrom, Georg Wohlfahrt, Eugénie Paul-Limoges, Kathrin Fuchs, Antonio Manco, Marian Pavelka, Lutz Merbold, Lukas Hörtnagl, Pierpaolo Duce, Ignacio Goded, Kim Pilegaard, and Domingo Alcaraz-Segura

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Cited articles

Alcaraz-Segura, D., Paruelo, J., and Cabello, J.: Identification of current ecosystem functional types in the Iberian Peninsula, Global Ecology and Biogeography, 15, 200–212, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-822X.2006.00215.x, 2006. 
Alcaraz-Segura, D., Paruelo, J. M., Epstein, H. E., and Cabello, J.: Environmental and human controls of ecosystem functional diversity in temperate South America, Remote Sens., 5, 127–154, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs5010127, 2013. 
Arenas-Castro, S., Gonçalves, J., Alves, P., Alcaraz-Segura, D., and Honrado, J. P.: Assessing the multi-scale predictive ability of ecosystem functional attributes for species distribution modelling, PLoS ONE, 13, e0199292, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199292, 2018. 
Arenas-Castro, S., Regos, A., Gonçalves, J. F., Alcaraz-Segura, D., and Honrado, J.: Remotely sensed variables of ecosystem functioning support robust predictions of abundance patterns for rare species, Remote Sens., 11, 2086, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11182086, 2019. 
Armstrong, A., Alcaraz-Segura, D., Raynolds, M., and Epstein, H.: Ecosystem functional types of the circumpolar Arctic tundra based on the seasonal dynamics of vegetation productivity, Environ. Res. Ecol., 3, 025003, https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-664X/ad4beb, 2024. 
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We assess whether satellite-derived Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs) reflect spatial heterogeneity in carbon fluxes across Europe. Using Eddy Covariance data from 50 sites, we show that EFTs capture distinct Net Ecosystem Exchange dynamics and perform slightly better than Plant Functional Types (PFTs). EFTs offer a scalable, annually updatable approach to monitor ecosystem functioning and its interannual variability.
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