Biogeosciences
www.biogeosciences.net
1726-4170
1726-4189
4
4
2007
10.5194/bg-4-647-2007
http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/647/2007/
http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/647/2007/bg-4-647-2007.html
http://www.biogeosciences.net/4/647/2007/bg-4-647-2007.pdf
647
656
2007-08-14
Assessing the ability of three land ecosystem models to simulate gross carbon uptake of forests from boreal to Mediterranean climate in Europe
M. Jung
mjung@bgc-jena.mpg.de
G. Le Maire
S. Zaehle
S. Luyssaert
M. Vetter
G. Churkina
P. Ciais
N. Viovy
M. Reichstein
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling, Hamburg, Germany
Laboratory for Climate Sciences and the Environment (LSCE), Joint Unit of CEA-CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5752 USA
School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Three terrestrial biosphere models (LPJ, Orchidee, Biome-BGC) were evaluated
with respect to their ability to simulate large-scale climate related trends
in gross primary production (GPP) across European forests. Simulated GPP and
leaf area index (LAI) were compared with GPP estimates based on flux
separated eddy covariance measurements of net ecosystem exchange and LAI
measurements along a temperature gradient ranging from the boreal to the
Mediterranean region. The three models capture qualitatively the pattern
suggested by the site data: an increase in GPP from boreal to temperate and
a subsequent decline from temperate to Mediterranean climates. The models
consistently predict higher GPP for boreal and lower GPP for Mediterranean
forests. Based on a decomposition of GPP into absorbed photosynthetic active
radiation (APAR) and radiation use efficiency (RUE), the overestimation of
GPP for the boreal coniferous forests appears to be primarily related to too
high simulated LAI - and thus light absorption (APAR) – rather than too
high radiation use efficiency. We cannot attribute the tendency of the
models to underestimate GPP in the water limited region to model structural
deficiencies with confidence. A likely dry bias of the input meteorological
data in southern Europe may create this pattern.
<br><br>
On average, the models compare similarly well to the site GPP data (RMSE of
~30% or 420 gC/m2/yr) but differences are apparent for different
ecosystem types. In terms of absolute values, we find the agreement between
site based GPP estimates and simulations acceptable when we consider
uncertainties about the accuracy in model drivers, a potential
representation bias of the eddy covariance sites, and uncertainties related
to the method of deriving GPP from eddy covariance measurements data.
Continental to global data-model comparison studies should be fostered in
the future since they are necessary to identify consistent model bias along
environmental gradients.
Anten, N. P. R.: Evolutionarily stable leaf area production in plant populations, J. Theoretical Biol., 217(1), 15–32, 2002.
Anten, N. P. R.: Optimal photosynthetic characteristics of individual plants in vegetation stands and implications for species coexistence, Annals of Botany (London), 95(3), 497–508, 2005.
Bondeau, A., Kicklighter, D. W., and Kaduk, J.: Comparing global models of terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP): importance of vegetation structure on seasonal NPP estimates, Global Change Biol., 5, 35–45, 1999.
Breda, N.: Ground-based measurements of leaf area index: a review of methods, instruments and current controversies, J. Experimental Botany, 54(392), 2403–2417, 2003.
Churkina, G., Tenhunen, J., Thornton, P., Falge, E. M., Elbers, J. A., Erhard, M., Grunwald, T., Kowalski, A. S., Rannik, U., and Sprinz, D.: Analyzing the ecosystem carbon dynamics of four European coniferous forests using a biogeochemistry model, Ecosystems, 6(2), 168–184, 2003.
Cowling, S. A. and Field, C. B.: Environmental control of leaf area production: Implications for vegetation and land-surface modeling, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 17(1), p. 14, 2003.
Cramer, W., Kicklighter, D. W., Bondeau, A., Moore, B., Churkina, C., Nemry, B., Ruimy, A., and Schloss, A. L.: Comparing global models of terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP): overview and key results, Global Change Biol., 5, 1–15, 1999.
Feser, F., Weisse, R., and von Storch, H.: Multi-decadal Atmospheric Modeling for Europe Yields Multi-purpose Data, EOS Transactions, 82, 305–310, 2001.
Hikosaka, K.: Leaf Canopy as a Dynamic System: Ecophysiology and Optimality in Leaf Turnover, Ann. Bot., 95(3), 521–533, doi:10.1093/aob/mci050, 2005.
IGBP-DIS: Global Soil Data Products CD-ROM. Global Soil Data Task 2000.
Jacob, D. and Podzun, R.: Sensitivity studies with the regional climate model REMO, Meteorol. Atmos. Phys., 63(1–2), 119–129, 1997.
Jung, M., Vetter, M., Herold, M., Churkina, G., Reichstein, M., Zaehle, S., Cias, P., Viovy, N., Bondeau, A., Chen, Y., Trusilova, K., Feser, F., and Heimann, M.: Uncertainties of modelling GPP over Europe: A systematic study on the effects of using different drivers and terrestrial biosphere models, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, accepted, 2007.
Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J., Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetmaa, A., Reynolds, R., Jenne, R., and Joseph, D.: The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 77(3), 437–471, 1996.
Krinner, G., Viovy, N., de Noblet-Ducoudre, N., Ogee, J., Polcher, J., Friedlingstein, P., Ciais, P., Sitch, S., and Prentice, I. C.: A dynamic global vegetation model for studies of the coupled atmosphere-biosphere system, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 19(1), 33 pp., 2005.
Kucharik, C. J. Barford, C. C., El Maayar, M., Wofsy, S. C., Monson, R. K., and Baldocchi, D. D.: A multiyear evaluation of a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model at three AmeriFlux forest sites: Vegetation structure, phenology, soil temperature, and CO2 and H2O vapor exchange, Ecol. Model. 196(1–2), 1–3, 20061.
Luyssaert, S., Inglima, I., Jung, M., Reichstein, M., Papale, D., Piao, S., Schulze, E.-D., Wingate, L., Matteucci, G., Aubinet, M., Beer, C., Bernhofer, C., Black, K. G., Bonal, D., Chambers, J., Ciais, P., Davis, K. J., Delucia, E. H., Dolman, A., Don, A., Gielen, B., Grace, J., Granier, A., Grelle, A., Griffis, T., Grünwald, T., Guidolotti, G., Hanson, P., Harding, R., Hollinger, D., Kolari, P., Kruijt, B., Kutsch, W., Lagergren, F., Laurila, T., Law, B., Le Maire, G., Lindroth, A., Magnani, F., Marek, M., Mateus, J., Migliavacca, M., Misson, L., Montagnani, L., Moncrieff, J., Moors, E., Munger, J. W., Nikinmaa, E., Loustau, D., Pita, G., Rebmann, C., Richardson, A. D., Roupsard, O., Saigusa, N., Sanz, M., Seufert, G., Soerensen, L., Tang, J., Valentini, R., Vesala, T., and Janssens, I. A.: The CO2-balance of boreal, temperate and tropical forests derived from a global database, Global Change Biol., accepted, 2007.
Magnani, F. Mencuccini, M., Borghetti, M., Berbigier, P., Berninger, F., Delzon, S., Grelle, A., Hari, P., Jarvis, P. G., Kolari, P., Kowalski, A. S., Lankreijer, H., Law, B. E., Lindroth, A., Loustau, D., Manca, G., Moncrieff, J. B., Rayment, M., Tedeschi, V., Valentini, R., and Grace, J.: The human footprint in the carbon cycle of temperate and boreal forests, Nature, 447(7146), 849–851, 2007.
McGuire, A. D., Sitch, S., Clein, J. S., Dargaville, R., Esser, G., Foley, J., Heimann, M., Joos, F., Kaplan, J., Kicklighter, D. W., Meier, R. A., Melillo, J. M., Moore, B., Prentice, I. C., Ramankutty, N., Reichenau, T., Schloss, A., Tian, H., Williams, L. J., and Wittenberg, U.: Carbon balance of the terrestrial biosphere in the twentieth century: Analyses of CO2, climate and land use effects with four process-based ecosystem models, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 15(1), 183–206, 2001.
Moorcroft, P. R.: How close are we to a predictive science of the biosphere?, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 21(7), 400–407, 2006.
Morales, P., Sykes, M. T., Prentice, I. C., Smith, P., Smith, B., Bugmann, H., Zierl, B., Friedlingstein, P., Viovy, N., Sabate, S., Sanchez, A., Pla, E., Gracia, C. A., Sitch, S., Arneth, A., and Ogee, J.: Comparing and evaluating process-based ecosystem model predictions of carbon and water fluxes in major European forest biomes, Global Change Biol., 11(12), 2211–2233, 2005.
Reich, P. B. and Oleksyn, J.: Global patterns of plant leaf N and P in relation to temperature and latitude. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101(30), 11 001–11 006, 2004.
Reichstein, M., Falge, E., Baldocchi, D., Papale, D., Aubinet, M., Berbigier, P., Bernhofer, C., Buchmann, N., Gilmanov, T., Granier, A., Grunwald, T., Havrankova, K., Ilvesniemi, H., Janous, D., Knohl, A., Laurila, T., Lohila, A., Loustau, D., Matteucci, G., Meyers, T., Miglietta, F., Ourcival, J. M., Pumpanen, J., Rambal, S., Rotenberg, E., Sanz, M., Tenhunen, J., Seufert, G., Vaccari, F., Vesala, T., Yakir, D., and Valentini, R.: On the separation of net ecosystem exchange into assimilation and ecosystem respiration: review and improved algorithm, Global Change Biol., 11(9), 1424–1439, 2005.
Reichstein, M., Papale, D., Valentini, R., Aubinet, M., Bernhofer, C., Knohl, A., Laurila, T., Lindroth, A., Moors, E., Pilegaard, K., and Seufert, G.: Determinants of terrestrial ecosystem carbon balance inferred from European eddy covariance flux sites, Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, 5 pp., doi:10.1029/2006GL027880, 2007.
Ruimy, A., Kergoat, L. and Bondeau, A.: Comparing global models of terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP): analysis of differences in light absorption and light-use efficiency, Global Change Biol., 5, 56–64, 1999.
Scurlock, J. M. O., Cramer, W., Olson, R. J., Parton, W. J., and Prince, S. D.: Terrestrial NPP: Toward a consistent data set for global model evaluation, Ecol. Appl., 9(3), 913–919, 1999.
Shipley, B., Lechoweicz, M. J., Wright, I., and Reich, P. B.: Fundamental trade-offs generating the worldwide leaf economics spectrum, Ecology, 87(3), 535–541, 2006.
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(2), 161–185, 2003.
Thornton, P.: Regional Ecosystem Simulation: Combining Surface- and Satellite-Based Observations to Study Linkages between Terrestrial Energy and Mass Budgets. PhD Thesis, University of Montana, Missoula, 1998.
Thornton, P.: Modeling and measuring the effects of disturbance history and climate on carbon and water budgets in evergreen needleleaf forests, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 113, 185–222, 2002.
Vetter, M., Churkina, G., Bondeau, A., Chen, Y., Ciais, P., Feser, F., Freibauer, A., Geyer, R., Heimann, M., Jones, C., Jung, M., Papale, D., Reichstein, M., Tenhunen, J., Tomelleri, E., Viovy, N., and Zaehle, S: Analyzing the causes and spatial pattern of the European 2003 carbon flux anomaly in Europe using seven models, Biogeosciences Discuss., 4, 1201–1240, 2007.
White, A., Thornton, P., Running, S., and Nemani, R.: Parameterization and sensitivity analysis of the Biome-BGC terrestrial ecosystem model: Net primary production controls, Earth Interactions, 4(3), 1–85, 2000.
Wright, I. J., Reich, P. B., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Falster, D. S., Groom, P. K., Hikosaka, K., Lee, W., Lusk, C. H., Niinemets, U., Oleksyn, J., Osada, N., Poorter, H., Warton, D. I., and Westoby, M.: Modulation of leaf economic traits and trait relationships by climate, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 14(5), 411–421, 2005.
Wright, I. J., Global Ecology and Biogeography et al.: The worldwide leaf economics spectrum, Nature, 428(6985), 821–827, 2004.
Wright, J. P., Global Ecology and Biogeography et al.: Conventional functional classification schemes underestimate the relationship with ecosystem functioning, Ecol. Lett., 9(2), 111–120, 2006.
Zaehle, S., Sitch, S., Smith, B., and Hatterman, F.: Effects of parameter uncertainties on the modeling of terrestrial biosphere dynamics, Global Biogeochem. Cycles, 19(3), 18 pp., 2005.