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Water-use efficiency and transpiration across European forests during the Anthropocene
- Source :
- Nature Climate Change, Nature Climate Change, Nature Publishing Group, 2015, 5 (6), pp.579-583. ⟨10.1038/nclimate2614⟩, ResearcherID, Nature Climate Change, 2015, 5 (6), pp.579-583. ⟨10.1038/nclimate2614⟩
- Publication Year :
- 2015
- Publisher :
- HAL CCSD, 2015.
-
Abstract
- Considering the combined effects of CO2 fertilization and climate change drivers on plant physiology leads to a modest increase in simulated European forest transpiration in spite of the effects of CO2-induced stomatal closure. The Earth’s carbon and hydrologic cycles are intimately coupled by gas exchange through plant stomata1,2,3. However, uncertainties in the magnitude4,5,6 and consequences7,8 of the physiological responses9,10 of plants to elevated CO2 in natural environments hinders modelling of terrestrial water cycling and carbon storage11. Here we use annually resolved long-term δ13C tree-ring measurements across a European forest network to reconstruct the physiologically driven response of intercellular CO2 (Ci) caused by atmospheric CO2 (Ca) trends. When removing meteorological signals from the δ13C measurements, we find that trees across Europe regulated gas exchange so that for one ppmv atmospheric CO2 increase, Ci increased by ∼0.76 ppmv, most consistent with moderate control towards a constant Ci/Ca ratio. This response corresponds to twentieth-century intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) increases of 14 ± 10 and 22 ± 6% at broadleaf and coniferous sites, respectively. An ensemble of process-based global vegetation models shows similar CO2 effects on iWUE trends. Yet, when operating these models with climate drivers reintroduced, despite decreased stomatal opening, 5% increases in European forest transpiration are calculated over the twentieth century. This counterintuitive result arises from lengthened growing seasons, enhanced evaporative demand in a warming climate, and increased leaf area, which together oppose effects of CO2-induced stomatal closure. Our study questions changes to the hydrological cycle, such as reductions in transpiration and air humidity, hypothesized to result from plant responses to anthropogenic emissions.
- Subjects :
- hiilidioksidi
Stomatal conductance
hiili
[SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes
ta1171
vesi
Growing season
Climate change
Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
Atmospheric sciences
tree-ring
chemistry.chemical_compound
hydrologinen kierto
dioxide
[SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems
[SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry
kasvit
ilmasto
Water cycle
Water-use efficiency
[SDU.ENVI]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Continental interfaces, environment
climate
CO2 fertilization
ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS
Transpiration
Hydrology
ilmakehä
atmospheric CO2
elevated CO2
[CHIM.ORGA]Chemical Sciences/Organic chemistry
Global warming
varastointi
15. Life on land
[SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society
gas-exchange
rising CO2
chemistry
13. Climate action
stomatal conductance
[SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology
[SDU.STU.ST]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Stratigraphy
[SHS.ENVIR]Humanities and Social Sciences/Environmental studies
Carbon dioxide
Environmental science
aineiden kierto
Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
carbon-isotope discrimination
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1758678X and 17586798
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nature Climate Change, Nature Climate Change, Nature Publishing Group, 2015, 5 (6), pp.579-583. ⟨10.1038/nclimate2614⟩, ResearcherID, Nature Climate Change, 2015, 5 (6), pp.579-583. ⟨10.1038/nclimate2614⟩
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....2d77b1804f6a261ea842d5cadde3e9e2