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Impact of terrestrial biosphere carbon exchanges on the anomalous CO2 increase in 2002-2003

Knorr, Wolfgang LU ; Gobron, N. ; Scholze, M. LU ; Kaminski, T. ; Schnur, R. and Pinty, B. (2007) In Geophysical Research Letters 34(9).
Abstract

Understanding the carbon dynamics of the terrestrial biosphere during climate fluctuations is a prerequisite for any reliable modeling of the climate-carbon cycle feedback. We drive a terrestrial vegetation model with observed climate data to show that most of the fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 are consistent with the modeled shift in the balance between carbon uptake by terrestrial plants and carbon loss through soil and plant respiration. Simulated anomalies of the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) during the last two El Niño events also agree well with satellite observations. Our model results suggest that changes in net primary productivity (NPP) are mainly responsible for the observed... (More)

Understanding the carbon dynamics of the terrestrial biosphere during climate fluctuations is a prerequisite for any reliable modeling of the climate-carbon cycle feedback. We drive a terrestrial vegetation model with observed climate data to show that most of the fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 are consistent with the modeled shift in the balance between carbon uptake by terrestrial plants and carbon loss through soil and plant respiration. Simulated anomalies of the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) during the last two El Niño events also agree well with satellite observations. Our model results suggest that changes in net primary productivity (NPP) are mainly responsible for the observed anomalies in the atmospheric CO2 growth rate. Changes in heterotrophic respiration (Rh) mostly happen in the same direction, but with smaller amplitude. We attribute the unusual acceleration of the atmospheric CO2 growth rate during 2002-2003 to a coincidence of moderate El Niño conditions in the tropics with a strong NPP decrease at northern mid latitudes, only partially compensated by decreased Rh.

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author
; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Geophysical Research Letters
volume
34
issue
9
article number
L09703
publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
external identifiers
  • scopus:34347254197
ISSN
0094-8276
DOI
10.1029/2006GL029019
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
f552fb04-8978-4059-8ee4-a085ed6c093e
date added to LUP
2019-03-14 21:26:23
date last changed
2024-02-09 13:51:50
@article{f552fb04-8978-4059-8ee4-a085ed6c093e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Understanding the carbon dynamics of the terrestrial biosphere during climate fluctuations is a prerequisite for any reliable modeling of the climate-carbon cycle feedback. We drive a terrestrial vegetation model with observed climate data to show that most of the fluctuations in atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> are consistent with the modeled shift in the balance between carbon uptake by terrestrial plants and carbon loss through soil and plant respiration. Simulated anomalies of the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) during the last two El Niño events also agree well with satellite observations. Our model results suggest that changes in net primary productivity (NPP) are mainly responsible for the observed anomalies in the atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> growth rate. Changes in heterotrophic respiration (R<sub>h</sub>) mostly happen in the same direction, but with smaller amplitude. We attribute the unusual acceleration of the atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> growth rate during 2002-2003 to a coincidence of moderate El Niño conditions in the tropics with a strong NPP decrease at northern mid latitudes, only partially compensated by decreased R<sub>h</sub>.</p>}},
  author       = {{Knorr, Wolfgang and Gobron, N. and Scholze, M. and Kaminski, T. and Schnur, R. and Pinty, B.}},
  issn         = {{0094-8276}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{9}},
  publisher    = {{American Geophysical Union (AGU)}},
  series       = {{Geophysical Research Letters}},
  title        = {{Impact of terrestrial biosphere carbon exchanges on the anomalous CO<sub>2</sub> increase in 2002-2003}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006GL029019}},
  doi          = {{10.1029/2006GL029019}},
  volume       = {{34}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}