A process-based ecosystem model (Paleo-BGC) to simulate the dynamic response of Late Carboniferous plants to elevated O2 and aridification

White, Joseph D.; Montañez, Isabel P.; Wilson, Jonathan P.; Poulsen, Christopher J.; McElwain, Jennifer C.; DiMichele, William A.; Hren, Michael T.; Macarewich, Sophia; Richey, Jon D.; Matthaeus, William J.

doi:10.2475/09.2020.01

Cited by 17 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 221 publications

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“…Thus, we set this parameter worldwide to an averaged value corresponding to loam in the Zobler classification (Zobler, 1986): 0.39 % silt, 0.43 % sand and 0.18 % clay. Soil color determines the bare soil albedo and is set globally at 0.16 (Wilson and Henderson-Sellers, 1985). We set the solar radiation at 99 % of the current value (Gough, 1981) and the orbital parameters as today (Laskar et al, 2004).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The problem has an additional degree of complexity for million-year-old ("deeptime") climates, for which the vegetation physiological traits have been very different from the present. As shown recently for the extinct vegetation of the late Paleozoic, fossil plants provide invaluable information regarding "paleo-traits" that can be in turn included in land surface models (White et al, 2020;Richey et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining pCO2: a modeling approach emulating paleo-traits

et al. 2021

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Abstract. The Cretaceous evolution of angiosperm leaves towards higher vein densities enables unprecedented leaf stomatal conductance. Still, simulating and quantifying the impact of such change on plant productivity and transpiration in the specific environmental conditions of the Cretaceous remain challenging. Here, we address this issue by combining a paleo proxy-based model with a full atmosphere–vegetation model that couples stomatal conductance to carbon assimilation. Based on the fossil record, we build and evaluate three consistent proto-angiosperm vegetation parameterizations under two end-member scenarios of pCO2 (280 and 1120 ppm) for the mid-Cretaceous: a reduction of leaf hydraulic or photosynthetic capacity and a combination of both, supported by a likely coevolution of stomatal conductance and photosynthetic biochemistry. Our results suggest that decreasing leaf hydraulic and/or photosynthetic capacities always generates a reduction of transpiration that is predominantly the result of plant productivity variations modulated by light, water availability in the soil, atmospheric evaporative demand and pCO2. The high pCO2 acts as a fertilizer on plant productivity that strengthens plant transpiration and water-use efficiency. However, we show that proto-angiosperm physiology does not allow vegetation to grow under low pCO2 because of a positive feedback between leaf stomatal conductance and leaf area index. Our modeling approach stresses the need to better represent paleovegetation physiological traits. It also confirms the hypothesis of a likely evolution of angiosperms from a state of low leaf hydraulic and photosynthetic capacities at high pCO2 to a state of high leaf hydraulic and photosynthetic capacities linked to leaves with more and more veins together with a more efficient biochemistry at low pCO2.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining pCO2: a modeling approach emulating paleo-traits

et al. 2021

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“…Recent studies about Paleozoic vegetation transitions indicate that differences in transpiration rates also arise from the ratio of carbon over nitrogen (White et al, 2020;Richey et al, 2021). As mentioned earlier, the ORCHIDEE version we used does not explicitly represent the nitrogen cycle, preventing us from considering the additional cost to maintain high photosynthetic capacity with lower hydraulic capacity.…”

Section: What Are the Limitations Of Our Modelling Choices?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However by using fixed sea-surface temperatures, we neglect the feedbacks from the ocean-atmosphere coupling that could occur as a response to simulated changes in vegetation cover. Although sensitivity experiments with strong changes in vegetation suggested ocean feedbacks could play a significant role on the continental hydrological cycle (Davin and de Noblet-Ducoudré, 2010), our choice was motivated by (i) the will to focus on first-order continental processes, (ii) the computing cost required to equilibrate fully coupled simulations that typically require more than 3000 simulated years (Sepulchre et al, 2020), the fact that comparable studies either used fixed-SSTs Lee and Boyce, 2010) or slab oceans (White et al, 2020).…”

Section: What Are the Limitations Of Our Modelling Choices?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In line with recent studies focusing on Paleozoic vegetation transitions (White et al, 2020;Richey et al, 2021), the purpose of our study is to better represent past vegetation in earth system models by implementing "paleo-traits" in the vegetation parameterizations. Our approach involves an atmosphere-vegetation model, which couples stomatal conductance and carbon assimilation, with an ecophysiological model based on angiosperm fossil records.…”

Section: What Are the Limitations Of Our Modelling Choices?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining pCO2: a trait-oriented modelling approach

Bres

Sepulchre

Viovy

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Abstract. The Cretaceous evolution of angiosperm leaves towards higher vein densities enables unprecedented leaf stomatal conductance. Still, simulating and quantifying the impact of such change on plant productivity and transpiration in the peculiar environmental conditions of the Cretaceous remains challenging. Here, we address this issue by combining a paleo proxy-based model with a fully atmosphere-vegetation model that couples stomatal conductance to carbon assimilation. Based on the fossil record, we build and evaluate three consistent pre-angiosperm vegetation parameterizations under two end-members scenarios of pCO2 (280 ppm and 1120 ppm) for the mid-Cretaceous : a reduction of hydraulic or photosynthetic capacity and a combination of both, supported by a likely coevolution of stomatal conductance and photosynthetic biochemistry. Our results suggest that decreasing hydraulic or/and photosynthetic capacities always generates a reduction of transpiration that is predominantly the result of plant productivity variations, modulated by light, water availability in the soil and atmospheric evaporative demand. The high pCO2 acts as a fertilizer on plant productivity that bolsters plant transpiration and water-use efficiency. However, we show that pre-angiosperm physiology does not allow vegetation to grow under low pCO2 because of a positive feedback between leaf stomatal conductance and leaf area index. Our modelling approach stresses the need to better represent paleovegetation physiological traits. It also confirms the hypothesis of a likely evolution of angiosperms from a stage of low hydraulic and photosynthetic capacities at high pCO2 to a stage of high hydraulic and photosynthetic capacities linked to leaves more and more densely irrigated together with a more efficient biochemistry at low pCO2.

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Quantifying the effect of shade on cuticle morphology and carbon isotopes of sycamores: present and past

Milligan

Flynn

Wagner

et al. 2021

American J of Botany

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Premise Reconstructing the light environment and architecture of the plant canopy from the fossil record requires the use of proxies, such as those derived from cell wall undulation, cell size, and carbon isotopes. All approaches assume that plant taxa will respond predictably to changes in light environments. However, most species‐level studies looking at cell wall undulation only consider “sun” or “shade” leaves; therefore, we need a fully quantitative taxon‐specific method. Methods We quantified the response of cell wall undulation, cell size, and carbon isotopes of Platanus occidentalis using two experimental setups: (1) two growth chambers at low and high light and (2) a series of outdoor growth experiments using green and black shade cloth at different densities. We then developed and applied a proxy for daily light integral (DLI) to fossil Platanites leaves from two early Paleocene floras from the San Juan Basin in New Mexico. Results All traits responded to light environment. Cell wall undulation was the most useful trait for reconstructing DLI in the geological record. Median reconstructed DLI from early Paleocene leaves was ~44 mol m−2 d−1, with values from 28 to 54 mol m−2 d−1. Conclusions Cell wall undulation of P. occidentalis is a robust, quantifiable measurement of light environment that can be used to reconstruct the paleo‐light environment from fossil leaves. The distribution of high DLI values from fossil leaves may provide information on canopy architecture; indicating that either (1) most of the canopy mass is within the upper portion of the crown or (2) leaves exposed to more sunlight are preferentially preserved.

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A process-based ecosystem model (Paleo-BGC) to simulate the dynamic response of Late Carboniferous plants to elevated O₂ and aridification

Cited by 17 publications

References 221 publications

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>: a modeling approach emulating paleo-traits

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>: a modeling approach emulating paleo-traits

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining pCO<sub>2</sub>: a trait-oriented modelling approach

Quantifying the effect of shade on cuticle morphology and carbon isotopes of sycamores: present and past

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A process-based ecosystem model (Paleo-BGC) to simulate the dynamic response of Late Carboniferous plants to elevated O2 and aridification

Cited by 17 publications

References 221 publications

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt;CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;: a modeling approach emulating paleo-traits

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt;CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;: a modeling approach emulating paleo-traits

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining pCO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;: a trait-oriented modelling approach

Quantifying the effect of shade on cuticle morphology and carbon isotopes of sycamores: present and past

Contact Info

Product

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About

A process-based ecosystem model (Paleo-BGC) to simulate the dynamic response of Late Carboniferous plants to elevated O₂ and aridification

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>: a modeling approach emulating paleo-traits

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining <i>p</i>CO<sub>2</sub>: a modeling approach emulating paleo-traits

The Cretaceous physiological adaptation of angiosperms to a declining pCO<sub>2</sub>: a trait-oriented modelling approach