Simulating co-existence of functionally diverse trees in European natural forests with LPJmL-FIT
- 1Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) e.V., Research Domain 1, Potsdam, Germany (kirsten.thonicke@pik-potsdam.de)
- 2Institute of Environmental Science and Geography, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- 3Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
- 4Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain
- 5Systems Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 6Institute of Environmental Sciences, Department Environmental Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- 7Remote Sensing Laboratories, Dept. of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- 8Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
We adopted the flexible trait Dynamic Global Vegetation Model LPJmL-FIT for European natural forests by eliminating bioclimatic limits of Plant Functional Types (PFTs) and replacing prescribed values of functional traits with flexible individual traits. Vegetation dynamics are simulated with permafrost and fire disturbance being considered in the simulation domain. Leaf and stem-economic traits are assigned to individual trees at establishment which then determine plant competition for light and water in a forest patch. We simulate vegetation dynamics in selected natural forests sites and at the Pan-European scale. We quantified functional richness (FR), functional divergence (FDv) and functional evenness (FE) from combinations of functional and structural traits of the simulated individual trees.
We find good agreement with observed productivity, biomass and tree height, and spatial PFT and local trait distributions. The latter is compared against TRY observations. We find site-specific trait distributions and spatial gradients of the simulated LES and SES traits to coincide with environmental and competitive filtering for light and water in environments with strong abiotic stress. Where deciduous and needle-leaved trees co-occur in a forest patch, functional richness (potential niche space) is high, and extreme ends of the niche space are occupied resulting in high FDv. Functional divergence declines where the performance of deciduous trees decreases due to increasing environmental stress as simulated along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. When climate gets cooler, needle-leaved trees become dominant, occupying the extreme ends of the niche space. Under Mediterranean climate conditions, drought increasingly limits tree growth thus niche differentiation becomes more important.
Co-existence of functionally diverse trees within and across PFTs emerges from alternative life history strategies, disturbance and tree demography.
How to cite: Thonicke, K., Billing, M., von Bloh, W., Sakschewski, B., Niinemets, Ü., Penuelas, J., Cornelissen, J. H. C., van Bodegom, P., Shaepman, M. E., Schneider, F. D., and Walz, A.: Simulating co-existence of functionally diverse trees in European natural forests with LPJmL-FIT, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-4100, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4100, 2020
