Estimating California ecosystem carbon change using process model and land cover disturbance data: 1951-2000

Land use change, natural disturbance, and climate change directly alter ecosystem productivity and carbon stock level. The estimation of ecosystem carbon dynamics depends on the quality of land cover change data and the effectiveness of the ecosystem models that represent the vegetation growth processes and disturbance effects. We used the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) and a set of 30- to 60-m resolution fire and land cover change data to examine the carbon changes of California's forests, shrublands, and grasslands. Simulation results indicate that during 1951-2000, the net primary productivity (NPP) increased by 7%, from 72.2 to 77.1 Tg C yr⁻¹ (1 teragram = 10¹² g), mainly due to CO₂ fertilization, since the climate hardly changed during this period. Similarly, heterotrophic respiration increased by 5%, from 69.4 to 73.1 Tg C yr⁻¹, mainly due to increased forest soil carbon and temperature. Net ecosystem production (NEP) was highly variable in the 50-year period but on average equalled 3.0 Tg C yr⁻¹ (total of 149 Tg C). As with NEP, the net biome production (NBP) was also highly variable but averaged −0.55 Tg C yr⁻¹ (total of -27.3 Tg C) because NBP in the 1980s was very low (-5.34 Tg C yr⁻¹). During the study period, a total of 126 Tg carbon were removed by logging and land use change, and 50 Tg carbon were directly removed by wildland fires. For carbon pools, the estimated total living upper canopy (tree) biomass decreased from 928 to 834 Tg C, and the understory (including shrub and grass) biomass increased from 59 to 63 Tg C. Soil carbon and dead biomass carbon increased from 1136 to 1197 Tg C.Our analyses suggest that both natural and human processes have significant influence on the carbon change in California. During 1951-2000, climate interannual variability was the key driving force for the large interannual changes of ecosystem carbon source and sink at the state level, while logging and fire were the dominant driving forces for carbon balances in several specific ecoregions. From a long-term perspective, CO₂ fertilization plays a key role in maintaining higher NPP. However, our study shows that the increase in C sequestration by CO₂ fertilization is largely offset by logging/land use change and wildland fires.     

Evaluating the effects of future climate change and elevated CO2 on the water use efficiency in terrestrial ecosystems of China

Water use efficiency (WUE) is an important variable used in climate change and hydrological studies in relation to how it links ecosystem carbon cycles and hydrological cycles together. However, obtaining reliable WUE results based on site-level flux data remains a great challenge when scaling up to larger regional zones. Biophysical, process-based ecosystem models are powerful tools to study WUE at large spatial and temporal scales. The Integrated BIosphere Simulator (IBIS) was used to evaluate the effects of climate change and elevated CO₂ concentrations on ecosystem-level WUE (defined as the ratio of gross primary production (GPP) to evapotranspiration (ET)) in relation to terrestrial ecosystems in China for 2009-2099. Climate scenario data (IPCC SRES A2 and SRES B1) generated from the Third Generation Coupled Global Climate Model (CGCM3) was used in the simulations. Seven simulations were implemented according to the assemblage of different elevated CO₂ concentrations scenarios and different climate change scenarios. Analysis suggests that (1) further elevated CO₂ concentrations will significantly enhance the WUE over China by the end of the twenty-first century, especially in forest areas; (2) effects of climate change on WUE will vary for different geographical regions in China with negative effects occurring primarily in southern regions and positive effects occurring primarily in high latitude and altitude regions (Tibetan Plateau); (3) WUE will maintain the current levels for 2009-2099 under the constant climate scenario (i.e. using mean climate condition of 1951-2006 and CO₂ concentrations of the 2008 level); and (4) WUE will decrease with the increase of water resource restriction (expressed as evaporation ratio) among different ecosystems.     

IBIS改进及其多尺度流域分布式生态水文模拟

针对集成生物圈模拟器IBIS未考虑高分辨率模拟情况下地表起伏对太阳辐射等参数影响的特点,改进了IBIS的地表太阳辐射计算模块、日气象数据读取模块,并增加了坡度、坡向数据读取模块。在土地利用覆被数据、DEM、坡度、坡向和降水、气温、云量、湿度、风速等气象数据的支持下,利用改进的IBIS分别对泾河及其子流域在0.041 5°和0.001°空间尺度上的生态水文过程进行了模拟,并用二源遥感估算的蒸散发对模拟结果进行了空间比较分析。结果表明,改进的IBIS在日、月、年不同时间尺度和不同空间尺度上均具有很好的模拟适应性与模拟能力,模拟蒸散发与二源遥感估算蒸散发结果比较一致,总体空间分布形态和趋势具有相似特征。     

广东省植被固碳量时空变化及气象贡献率研究

植被固碳能力对气象条件十分敏感,研究植被固碳量变化的气象贡献率,对提升生态环境质量、实现"碳中和"目标具有重要意义.文章基于植被净初级生产力数据和地面气象观测数据,利用相关性分析和模型模拟方法,分析广东省植被固碳量的时空分布特征及其对气象条件的响应规律,并定量研究植被固碳量变化的气象贡献率.结果表明,从空间分布而言,广...