Holocene vegetation transitions and their climatic drivers in MPI-ESM1.2
<p>We present a transient simulation of global vegetation and climate patterns of the mid- and late Holocene using the MPI-ESM (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Earth System Model) at T63 resolution. The simulated vegetation trend is discussed in the context of the simulated Holocene clima...
Guardado en:
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
Copernicus Publications
2021
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/9e12110150354990b7ba883aeffea60f |
| Etiquetas: |
Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
|
| Sumario: | <p>We present a transient simulation of global vegetation and climate patterns
of the mid- and late Holocene using the MPI-ESM (Max Planck Institute for
Meteorology Earth System Model) at T63 resolution. The simulated vegetation
trend is discussed in the context of the simulated Holocene climate change.
Our model captures the main trends found in reconstructions. Most prominent
are the southward retreat of the northern treeline that is combined with the strong decrease of forest in the high northern latitudes during the Holocene
and the vast increase of the Saharan desert, embedded in a general decrease
in precipitation and vegetation in the Northern Hemisphere monsoon margin
regions. The Southern Hemisphere experiences weaker changes in total
vegetation cover during the last 8000 years. However, the monsoon-related
increase in precipitation and the insolation-induced cooling of the winter
climate lead to shifts in the vegetation composition, mainly between the
woody plant functional types (PFTs).</p>
<p>The large-scale global patterns of vegetation almost linearly follow the
subtle, approximately linear, orbital forcing. In some regions, however,
non-linear, more rapid changes in vegetation are found in the simulation.
The most striking region is the Sahel–Sahara domain with rapid vegetation
transitions to a rather desertic state, despite a gradual insolation
forcing. Rapid shifts in the simulated vegetation also occur in the high
northern latitudes, in South Asia and in the monsoon margins of the Southern Hemisphere. These rapid changes are mainly triggered by changes in the
winter temperatures, which go into, or move out of, the bioclimatic
tolerance range of individual PFTs. The dynamics of
the transitions are determined by dynamics of the net primary production
(NPP) and the competition between PFTs. These changes mainly occur on
timescales of centuries. More rapid changes in PFTs that occur within a few
decades are mainly associated with the timescales of mortality and the
bioclimatic thresholds implicit in the dynamic vegetation model, which have
to be interpreted with caution.</p>
<p>Most of the simulated Holocene vegetation changes outside the high northern
latitudes are associated with modifications in the intensity of the global
summer monsoon dynamics that also affect the circulation in the extra
tropics via teleconnections. Based on our simulations, we thus identify the
global monsoons as the key player in Holocene climate and vegetation change.</p> |
|---|