Dynamics of global vegetation biomass simulated by the integrated Earth System Model

Jiafu Mao, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, TN, United States, Xiaoying Shi, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, United States, Alan V Di Vittorio, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA, United States, Peter E Thornton, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, United States, Shilong Piao, Peking University, Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China, Xuebin Yang, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Geography and Environment, Austin, TX, United States, John E Truesdale, Independent contractor with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States, Ben P Bond-Lamberty, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Joint Global Change Research Institute, Richland, WA, United States, Louise P Chini, University of Maryland, Department of Geographical Sciences, College Park, MD, United States, Allison M Thomson, Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, College Park, MD, United States, George C Hurtt, University of Maryland College Park, Department of Geographical Sciences, College Park, MD, United States, William Drew Collins, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Earth and Environmental Science, Berkeley, United States and James Edmonds, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Joint Global Change Research Institute, College Park, United States
Abstract:
The global vegetation biomass stores huge amounts of carbon and is thus important to the global carbon budget (Pan et al., 2010). For the past few decades, different observation-based estimates and modeling of biomass in the above- and below-ground vegetation compartments have been comprehensively conducted (Saatchi et al., 2011; Baccini et al., 2012). However, uncertainties still exist, in particular for the simulation of biomass magnitude, tendency, and the response of biomass to climatic conditions and natural and human disturbances. The recently successful coupling of the integrated Earth System Model (iESM) (Di Vittorio et al., 2014; Bond-Lamberty et al., 2014), which links the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), Global Land-use Model (GLM), and Community Earth System Model (CESM), offers a great opportunity to understand the biomass-related dynamics in a fully-coupled natural and human modeling system. In this study, we focus on the systematic analysis and evaluation of the iESM simulated historical (1850-2005) and future (2006-2100) biomass changes and the response of the biomass dynamics to various impact factors, in particular the human-induced Land Use/Land Cover Change (LULCC). By analyzing the iESM simulations with and without the interactive LULCC feedbacks, we further study how and where the climate feedbacks affect socioeconomic decisions and LULCC, such as to alter vegetation carbon storage.

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