Including the phosphorus cycle into the LPJ-GUESS dynamic global vegetation model (v4.1, r10994) – global patterns and temporal trends of N and P primary production limitation
Dantas de Paula, Mateus ; Forrest, Matthew ; Wårlind, David LU
; Paulo Darela Filho, João
; Fleischer, Katrin
; Rammig, Anja
and Hickler, Thomas
(2025)
In Geoscientific Model Development
18(7).
- Abstract
- Phosphorus (P) is a critical macronutrient for plant growth, often limiting plant production in areas where plant demand is higher than soil supply. In contrast to nitrogen (N), P cannot be sourced from the atmosphere; therefore, where it is rare, it becomes a strong constraint on primary production. Due to this, most dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) are incorporating a prognostic P cycle in addition to N, improving their ability to correctly predict stocks and fluxes of carbon and how climate change may impact N and/or P limitations to soil processes and plant productivity.
We included the P cycle into an individual-based DGVM, Lund–Potsdam–Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ-GUESS, v4.1, r10994), in order to improve... (More) - Phosphorus (P) is a critical macronutrient for plant growth, often limiting plant production in areas where plant demand is higher than soil supply. In contrast to nitrogen (N), P cannot be sourced from the atmosphere; therefore, where it is rare, it becomes a strong constraint on primary production. Due to this, most dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) are incorporating a prognostic P cycle in addition to N, improving their ability to correctly predict stocks and fluxes of carbon and how climate change may impact N and/or P limitations to soil processes and plant productivity.
We included the P cycle into an individual-based DGVM, Lund–Potsdam–Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ-GUESS, v4.1, r10994), in order to improve model performance with regard to observations of vegetation and soil N and P stocks and fluxes in comparison to the N-only (LPJ-GUESS-CN) model version. The new model version (LPJ-GUESS-CNP v1.0) includes soil organic P dynamics, P limitation of organic matter decomposition, P deposition, temperature- and humidity-dependent P weathering, plant P demand and uptake, and P limitations to photosynthesis. Using the CNP version of LPJ-GUESS, we also estimated global spatial patterns of nutrient limitation to plant growth as well as the temporal change in plant N and P limitation during the 20th and early 21st century, evaluating the causes for these temporal shifts.
We show that including the P cycle significantly reduces simulated global vegetation and soil C and N stocks and fluxes, in particular in tropical regions. The CNP model simulation improves the fit to global biomass observations in relation to the CN simulation. The CNP model predicts predominant P limitation of plant growth in the tropics, and N limitation in the temperate, boreal, and high-altitude tropical regions. The CNP model also correctly predicted the global magnitude (∼50 PgP) and the spatial pattern of total organic P stocks. P-limited regions cover less land surface area (46 %) than N-limited ones but are responsible for 57 % of the global gross primary productivity (GPP) and 68 % of vegetation biomass, while N-limited regions store a larger portion of total carbon stocks (55.9 %). Finally, the model shows that globally, primary production limitation to N availability decreased and limitation to P increased from 1901 to 2018, with N being more responsive to temperature and P than CO2 changes. We conclude that including the P cycle in models like LPJ-GUESS is crucial for understanding global-scale spatial and temporal patterns in nutrient limitation and improving the simulated carbon stocks and fluxes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/187bcb60-e37f-4527-88c1-3bf3c8251dc9
- author
- Dantas de Paula, Mateus
; Forrest, Matthew
; Wårlind, David
LU
; Paulo Darela Filho, João
; Fleischer, Katrin
; Rammig, Anja
and Hickler, Thomas
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-04-11
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Geoscientific Model Development
- volume
- 18
- issue
- 7
- article number
- 2249
- publisher
- Copernicus GmbH
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105002748883
- ISSN
- 1991-959X
- DOI
- 10.5194/gmd-18-2249-2025
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 187bcb60-e37f-4527-88c1-3bf3c8251dc9
- date added to LUP
- 2025-04-14 13:45:47
- date last changed
- 2025-04-30 04:01:51
@article{187bcb60-e37f-4527-88c1-3bf3c8251dc9,
abstract = {{Phosphorus (P) is a critical macronutrient for plant growth, often limiting plant production in areas where plant demand is higher than soil supply. In contrast to nitrogen (N), P cannot be sourced from the atmosphere; therefore, where it is rare, it becomes a strong constraint on primary production. Due to this, most dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) are incorporating a prognostic P cycle in addition to N, improving their ability to correctly predict stocks and fluxes of carbon and how climate change may impact N and/or P limitations to soil processes and plant productivity.<br/><br/>We included the P cycle into an individual-based DGVM, Lund–Potsdam–Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ-GUESS, v4.1, r10994), in order to improve model performance with regard to observations of vegetation and soil N and P stocks and fluxes in comparison to the N-only (LPJ-GUESS-CN) model version. The new model version (LPJ-GUESS-CNP v1.0) includes soil organic P dynamics, P limitation of organic matter decomposition, P deposition, temperature- and humidity-dependent P weathering, plant P demand and uptake, and P limitations to photosynthesis. Using the CNP version of LPJ-GUESS, we also estimated global spatial patterns of nutrient limitation to plant growth as well as the temporal change in plant N and P limitation during the 20th and early 21st century, evaluating the causes for these temporal shifts.<br/><br/>We show that including the P cycle significantly reduces simulated global vegetation and soil C and N stocks and fluxes, in particular in tropical regions. The CNP model simulation improves the fit to global biomass observations in relation to the CN simulation. The CNP model predicts predominant P limitation of plant growth in the tropics, and N limitation in the temperate, boreal, and high-altitude tropical regions. The CNP model also correctly predicted the global magnitude (∼50 PgP) and the spatial pattern of total organic P stocks. P-limited regions cover less land surface area (46 %) than N-limited ones but are responsible for 57 % of the global gross primary productivity (GPP) and 68 % of vegetation biomass, while N-limited regions store a larger portion of total carbon stocks (55.9 %). Finally, the model shows that globally, primary production limitation to N availability decreased and limitation to P increased from 1901 to 2018, with N being more responsive to temperature and P than CO2 changes. We conclude that including the P cycle in models like LPJ-GUESS is crucial for understanding global-scale spatial and temporal patterns in nutrient limitation and improving the simulated carbon stocks and fluxes.}},
author = {{Dantas de Paula, Mateus and Forrest, Matthew and Wårlind, David and Paulo Darela Filho, João and Fleischer, Katrin and Rammig, Anja and Hickler, Thomas}},
issn = {{1991-959X}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{04}},
number = {{7}},
publisher = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
series = {{Geoscientific Model Development}},
title = {{Including the phosphorus cycle into the LPJ-GUESS dynamic global vegetation model (v4.1, r10994) – global patterns and temporal trends of N and P primary production limitation}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-2249-2025}},
doi = {{10.5194/gmd-18-2249-2025}},
volume = {{18}},
year = {{2025}},
}