Modelling Potential Equilibrium States of Vegetation and Terrestrial Water Cycle of Mesoamerica under Climate Change Scenarios

The likelihood and magnitude of the impacts of climate change on potential vegetation and the water cycle in Mesoamerica is evaluated. Mesoamerica is a global biodiversity hotspot with highly diverse topographic and climatic conditions and is among the tropical regions with the highest expected ch...

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Main Authors: Imbach, Pablo A., Molina, Luis, Locatelli, Bruno, Roupsard, Olivier, Mahé, Gil, Neilson, Ronald, Corrales, Lenin, Scholze, Marko, Clais, Philippe
Format: Artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/8083
id RepoCATIE8083
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spelling RepoCATIE80832021-12-22T20:26:45Z Modelling Potential Equilibrium States of Vegetation and Terrestrial Water Cycle of Mesoamerica under Climate Change Scenarios Imbach, Pablo A. Molina, Luis Locatelli, Bruno Roupsard, Olivier Mahé, Gil Neilson, Ronald Corrales, Lenin Scholze, Marko Clais, Philippe CAMBIO CLIMATICO IMPACTO AMBIENTAL CICLO HIDROLOGICO VEGETACION INDICE DE VEGETACION MODELIZACION DEL MEDIO AMBIENTE CO2 ATMOSFERICO EVAPOTRANSPIRACION ESCORRENTIA INTERACCION BIOLOGICA The likelihood and magnitude of the impacts of climate change on potential vegetation and the water cycle in Mesoamerica is evaluated. Mesoamerica is a global biodiversity hotspot with highly diverse topographic and climatic conditions and is among the tropical regions with the highest expected changes in precipitation and temperature under future climate scenarios. The biogeographic soil-vegetation-atmosphere model Mapped Atmosphere Plant Soil System (MAPSS) was used for simulating the integrated changes in leaf area index (LAI), vegetation types (grass, shrubs, and trees), evapotranspiration, and runoff at the end of the twenty-first century. Uncertainty was estimated as the likelihood of changes in vegetation and water cycle under three ensembles of model runs, one for each of the groups of greenhouse gas emission scenarios (low, intermediate, and high emissions), for a total of 136 runs generated with 23 general circulation models (GCMs). LAI is likely to decrease over 77%-89% of the region, depending on climate scenario groups, showing that potential vegetation will likely shift from humid to dry types. Accounting for potential effects of CO2 on water use efficiency significantly decreased impacts on LAI. Runoff will decrease across the region even in areas where precipitation increases (even under increased water use efficiency), as temperature change will increase evapotranspiration. Higher emission scenarios show lower uncertainty (higher likelihood) in modeled impacts. Although the projection spread is high for future precipitation, the impacts of climate change on vegetation and water cycle are predicted with relatively low uncertainty. 2015-11-20T21:11:01Z 2015-11-20T21:11:01Z 2012 Artículo https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/8083 en Programa de Cambio Climático y Cuencas (PCCC) pdf application/pdf
institution Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza
collection Repositorio CATIE
language Inglés
topic CAMBIO CLIMATICO
IMPACTO AMBIENTAL
CICLO HIDROLOGICO
VEGETACION
INDICE DE VEGETACION
MODELIZACION DEL MEDIO AMBIENTE
CO2 ATMOSFERICO
EVAPOTRANSPIRACION
ESCORRENTIA
INTERACCION BIOLOGICA
spellingShingle CAMBIO CLIMATICO
IMPACTO AMBIENTAL
CICLO HIDROLOGICO
VEGETACION
INDICE DE VEGETACION
MODELIZACION DEL MEDIO AMBIENTE
CO2 ATMOSFERICO
EVAPOTRANSPIRACION
ESCORRENTIA
INTERACCION BIOLOGICA
Imbach, Pablo A.
Molina, Luis
Locatelli, Bruno
Roupsard, Olivier
Mahé, Gil
Neilson, Ronald
Corrales, Lenin
Scholze, Marko
Clais, Philippe
Modelling Potential Equilibrium States of Vegetation and Terrestrial Water Cycle of Mesoamerica under Climate Change Scenarios
description The likelihood and magnitude of the impacts of climate change on potential vegetation and the water cycle in Mesoamerica is evaluated. Mesoamerica is a global biodiversity hotspot with highly diverse topographic and climatic conditions and is among the tropical regions with the highest expected changes in precipitation and temperature under future climate scenarios. The biogeographic soil-vegetation-atmosphere model Mapped Atmosphere Plant Soil System (MAPSS) was used for simulating the integrated changes in leaf area index (LAI), vegetation types (grass, shrubs, and trees), evapotranspiration, and runoff at the end of the twenty-first century. Uncertainty was estimated as the likelihood of changes in vegetation and water cycle under three ensembles of model runs, one for each of the groups of greenhouse gas emission scenarios (low, intermediate, and high emissions), for a total of 136 runs generated with 23 general circulation models (GCMs). LAI is likely to decrease over 77%-89% of the region, depending on climate scenario groups, showing that potential vegetation will likely shift from humid to dry types. Accounting for potential effects of CO2 on water use efficiency significantly decreased impacts on LAI. Runoff will decrease across the region even in areas where precipitation increases (even under increased water use efficiency), as temperature change will increase evapotranspiration. Higher emission scenarios show lower uncertainty (higher likelihood) in modeled impacts. Although the projection spread is high for future precipitation, the impacts of climate change on vegetation and water cycle are predicted with relatively low uncertainty.
format Artículo
author Imbach, Pablo A.
Molina, Luis
Locatelli, Bruno
Roupsard, Olivier
Mahé, Gil
Neilson, Ronald
Corrales, Lenin
Scholze, Marko
Clais, Philippe
author_facet Imbach, Pablo A.
Molina, Luis
Locatelli, Bruno
Roupsard, Olivier
Mahé, Gil
Neilson, Ronald
Corrales, Lenin
Scholze, Marko
Clais, Philippe
author_sort Imbach, Pablo A.
title Modelling Potential Equilibrium States of Vegetation and Terrestrial Water Cycle of Mesoamerica under Climate Change Scenarios
title_short Modelling Potential Equilibrium States of Vegetation and Terrestrial Water Cycle of Mesoamerica under Climate Change Scenarios
title_full Modelling Potential Equilibrium States of Vegetation and Terrestrial Water Cycle of Mesoamerica under Climate Change Scenarios
title_fullStr Modelling Potential Equilibrium States of Vegetation and Terrestrial Water Cycle of Mesoamerica under Climate Change Scenarios
title_full_unstemmed Modelling Potential Equilibrium States of Vegetation and Terrestrial Water Cycle of Mesoamerica under Climate Change Scenarios
title_sort modelling potential equilibrium states of vegetation and terrestrial water cycle of mesoamerica under climate change scenarios
publishDate 2015
url https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/8083
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