A harmonized database of European forest simulations under climate change
(2024) In Data in Brief 54.- Abstract
Process-based forest models combine biological, physical, and chemical process understanding to simulate forest dynamics as an emergent property of the system. As such, they are valuable tools to investigate the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems. Specifically, they allow testing of hypotheses regarding long-term ecosystem dynamics and provide means to assess the impacts of climate scenarios on future forest development. As a consequence, numerous local-scale simulation studies have been conducted over the past decades to assess the impacts of climate change on forests. These studies apply the best available models tailored to local conditions, parameterized and evaluated by local experts. However, this treasure trove of... (More)
Process-based forest models combine biological, physical, and chemical process understanding to simulate forest dynamics as an emergent property of the system. As such, they are valuable tools to investigate the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems. Specifically, they allow testing of hypotheses regarding long-term ecosystem dynamics and provide means to assess the impacts of climate scenarios on future forest development. As a consequence, numerous local-scale simulation studies have been conducted over the past decades to assess the impacts of climate change on forests. These studies apply the best available models tailored to local conditions, parameterized and evaluated by local experts. However, this treasure trove of knowledge on climate change responses remains underexplored to date, as a consistent and harmonized dataset of local model simulations is missing. Here, our objectives were (i) to compile existing local simulations on forest development under climate change in Europe in a common database, (ii) to harmonize them to a common suite of output variables, and (iii) to provide a standardized vector of auxiliary environmental variables for each simulated location to aid subsequent investigations. Our dataset of European stand- and landscape-level forest simulations contains over 1.1 million simulation runs representing 135 million simulation years for more than 13,000 unique locations spread across Europe. The data were harmonized to consistently describe forest development in terms of stand structure (dominant height), composition (dominant species, admixed species), and functioning (leaf area index). Auxiliary variables provided include consistent daily climate information (temperature, precipitation, radiation, vapor pressure deficit) as well as information on local site conditions (soil depth, soil physical properties, soil water holding capacity, plant-available nitrogen). The present dataset facilitates analyses across models and locations, with the aim to better harness the valuable information contained in local simulations for large-scale policy support, and for fostering a deeper understanding of the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems in Europe.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-06
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Europe's forests, Forest composition, Forest development, Forest functioning, Forest structure, Process-based models, Vegetation dynamics
- in
- Data in Brief
- volume
- 54
- article number
- 110384
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85190448422
- ISSN
- 2352-3409
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.dib.2024.110384
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- bc1bc09a-ac68-46a0-b591-4f03d566b1f5
- date added to LUP
- 2024-05-03 09:32:24
- date last changed
- 2024-05-03 09:32:55
@article{bc1bc09a-ac68-46a0-b591-4f03d566b1f5,
abstract = {{<p>Process-based forest models combine biological, physical, and chemical process understanding to simulate forest dynamics as an emergent property of the system. As such, they are valuable tools to investigate the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems. Specifically, they allow testing of hypotheses regarding long-term ecosystem dynamics and provide means to assess the impacts of climate scenarios on future forest development. As a consequence, numerous local-scale simulation studies have been conducted over the past decades to assess the impacts of climate change on forests. These studies apply the best available models tailored to local conditions, parameterized and evaluated by local experts. However, this treasure trove of knowledge on climate change responses remains underexplored to date, as a consistent and harmonized dataset of local model simulations is missing. Here, our objectives were (i) to compile existing local simulations on forest development under climate change in Europe in a common database, (ii) to harmonize them to a common suite of output variables, and (iii) to provide a standardized vector of auxiliary environmental variables for each simulated location to aid subsequent investigations. Our dataset of European stand- and landscape-level forest simulations contains over 1.1 million simulation runs representing 135 million simulation years for more than 13,000 unique locations spread across Europe. The data were harmonized to consistently describe forest development in terms of stand structure (dominant height), composition (dominant species, admixed species), and functioning (leaf area index). Auxiliary variables provided include consistent daily climate information (temperature, precipitation, radiation, vapor pressure deficit) as well as information on local site conditions (soil depth, soil physical properties, soil water holding capacity, plant-available nitrogen). The present dataset facilitates analyses across models and locations, with the aim to better harness the valuable information contained in local simulations for large-scale policy support, and for fostering a deeper understanding of the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems in Europe.</p>}},
author = {{Grünig, Marc and Rammer, Werner and Albrich, Katharina and André, Frédéric and Augustynczik, Andrey L.D. and Bohn, Friedrich and Bouwman, Meike and Bugmann, Harald and Collalti, Alessio and Cristal, Irina and Dalmonech, Daniela and De Caceres, Miquel and De Coligny, Francois and Dobor, Laura and Dollinger, Christina and Forrester, David I. and Garcia-Gonzalo, Jordi and González, José Ramón and Hiltner, Ulrike and Hlásny, Tomáš and Honkaniemi, Juha and Huber, Nica and Jonard, Mathieu and Maria Jönsson, Anna and Lagergren, Fredrik and Nieberg, Mats and Mina, Marco and Mohren, Frits and Moos, Christine and Morin, Xaxier and Muys, Bart and Peltoniemi, Mikko and Reyer, Christopher PO and Storms, Ilié and Thom, Dominik and Toïgo, Maude and Seidl, Rupert}},
issn = {{2352-3409}},
keywords = {{Europe's forests; Forest composition; Forest development; Forest functioning; Forest structure; Process-based models; Vegetation dynamics}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Data in Brief}},
title = {{A harmonized database of European forest simulations under climate change}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2024.110384}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.dib.2024.110384}},
volume = {{54}},
year = {{2024}},
}