Simulating Regional Vegetation-climate Dynamics for Middle America: Tropical Versus Temperate Applications
(2013) In Biotropica 45(5). p.567-577- Abstract
- Regional vegetation-climate modelling studies have typically focused on boreal or temperate ecosystems in North America and Europe, almost completely overlooking tropical ecosystems. We present the first results of simulated regional vegetation-climate dynamics in Middle America as simulated by the model, LPJ-GUESS. The Kappa statistic indicated poor agreement, with a Kappa value of 0.301. When we modified the Kappa statistic by aggregating cell sizes and using generalized biomes, the Kappa value increased to 0.543, indicating a fair agreement. Total LAI simulated from LPJ-GUESS was strongly correlated to remotely sensed LAI values (r=0.75). Our simulations indicate that fire frequency was overestimated in tropical moist forests and... (More)
- Regional vegetation-climate modelling studies have typically focused on boreal or temperate ecosystems in North America and Europe, almost completely overlooking tropical ecosystems. We present the first results of simulated regional vegetation-climate dynamics in Middle America as simulated by the model, LPJ-GUESS. The Kappa statistic indicated poor agreement, with a Kappa value of 0.301. When we modified the Kappa statistic by aggregating cell sizes and using generalized biomes, the Kappa value increased to 0.543, indicating a fair agreement. Total LAI simulated from LPJ-GUESS was strongly correlated to remotely sensed LAI values (r=0.75). Our simulations indicate that fire frequency was overestimated in tropical moist forests and underestimated in savannas. This underestimation of fire resulted in an over-simulation of dry tropical forest at the expense of savanna. We highlight additional reasons for the initially poor representation of vegetation in Middle America, including factors such as non-parameterized plant functional types (desert shrub, cacti, and other succulents), rugged topography, and an insufficient representation of soil. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4106582
- author
- Snell, Rebecca S. ; Cowling, Sharon A. and Smith, Benjamin LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- fire dynamics, Kappa statistic, leaf area index, LPJ-GUESS, plant, functional types, remote-sensing, tropical and arid ecosystems
- in
- Biotropica
- volume
- 45
- issue
- 5
- pages
- 567 - 577
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000323829800005
- scopus:84883446898
- ISSN
- 0006-3606
- DOI
- 10.1111/btp.12054
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c5010b0c-9c4d-4322-919d-c2a2c0cea939 (old id 4106582)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:44:26
- date last changed
- 2022-03-29 22:36:07
@article{c5010b0c-9c4d-4322-919d-c2a2c0cea939,
abstract = {{Regional vegetation-climate modelling studies have typically focused on boreal or temperate ecosystems in North America and Europe, almost completely overlooking tropical ecosystems. We present the first results of simulated regional vegetation-climate dynamics in Middle America as simulated by the model, LPJ-GUESS. The Kappa statistic indicated poor agreement, with a Kappa value of 0.301. When we modified the Kappa statistic by aggregating cell sizes and using generalized biomes, the Kappa value increased to 0.543, indicating a fair agreement. Total LAI simulated from LPJ-GUESS was strongly correlated to remotely sensed LAI values (r=0.75). Our simulations indicate that fire frequency was overestimated in tropical moist forests and underestimated in savannas. This underestimation of fire resulted in an over-simulation of dry tropical forest at the expense of savanna. We highlight additional reasons for the initially poor representation of vegetation in Middle America, including factors such as non-parameterized plant functional types (desert shrub, cacti, and other succulents), rugged topography, and an insufficient representation of soil.}},
author = {{Snell, Rebecca S. and Cowling, Sharon A. and Smith, Benjamin}},
issn = {{0006-3606}},
keywords = {{fire dynamics; Kappa statistic; leaf area index; LPJ-GUESS; plant; functional types; remote-sensing; tropical and arid ecosystems}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{5}},
pages = {{567--577}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Biotropica}},
title = {{Simulating Regional Vegetation-climate Dynamics for Middle America: Tropical Versus Temperate Applications}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/btp.12054}},
doi = {{10.1111/btp.12054}},
volume = {{45}},
year = {{2013}},
}