Case study for the assessment of the biogeophysical effects of a potential afforestation in Europe

Gálos, Borbála; Hagemann, Stefan; Hänsler, Andreas; Kindermann, Georg; Rechid, Diana; Sieck, Kevin; Teichmann, Claas; Jacob, Daniela

doi:10.1186/1750-0680-8-3

Cited by 31 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Regional climate models in Europe are often based on comparisons among climate model outputs for different land cover conditions, with the major difference being that forests in one scenario are replaced by open land conditions in another scenario [29]. However, considerable heterogeneity in the climate and topography of Europe has created complex spatial patterns regarding the effects of forests on temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Effects of Forests on Temperatures across Europe

Tang

Zhao

2018

Remote Sensing

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Forests affect local climate through biophysical processes in terrestrial ecosystems. Due to the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of ecosystems in Europe, climate responses to forests vary considerably with diverse geographic and seasonal patterns. Few studies have used an empirical analysis to examine the effect of forests on temperature and the role of the background climate in Europe. In this study, we aimed to quantitatively determine the effects of forest on temperature in different seasons with MODIS (MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) land surface temperature (LST) data and in situ air temperature measurements. First, we compared the differences in LSTs between forests and nearby open land. Then, we paired 48 flux sites with nearby weather stations to quantify the effects of forests on surface air temperature. Finally, we explored the role of background temperatures on the above forests effects. The results showed that (1) forest in Europe generally increased LST and air temperature in northeastern Europe and decreased LST and air temperature in other areas; (2) the daytime cooling effect was dominate and produced a net cooling effect from forests in the warm season. In the cold season, daytime and nighttime warming effects drove the net effect of forests; (3) the effects of forests on temperatures were mainly negatively correlated with the background temperatures in Europe. Under extreme climate conditions, the cooling effect of forests will be stronger during heatwaves or weaker during cold spring seasons; (4) the background temperature affects the spatiotemporal distribution of differences in albedo and evapotranspiration (forest minus open land), which determines the spatial, seasonal and interannual effects of forests on temperature. The extrapolation of the results could contribute not only to model validation and development but also to appropriate land use policies for future decades under the background of global warming.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Effects of Forests on Temperatures across Europe

Tang

Zhao

2018

Remote Sensing

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“…For box 3, the mean temperature increases with only 0.13 °C. The study of Gálos et al () presented an opposite signal of temperature decrease of −0.4 °C with afforestation for northeast France and northern Germany. This sensitivity study involved a change of only one specific land cover for the far future.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The largest benefit of LULCC can be reached in box 3, where more than half of the increase in the number of extremely warm days could be mitigated by the change to forest cover (value in bold, Table ). This is similar to results for the French region by the end of the century with a land cover scenario of afforestation (Gálos et al, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lee et al () observed an increase in local cooling effect of deforestation at higher latitudes. In a recent study by Gálos et al () over Europe, large‐scale afforestation‐induced cooling was quite small (−0.3 °C) compared to the +3 °C emission‐induced warming for the period 2071–2090. However, changes in precipitation were relatively larger (−10% to +10% compared to −25% to +25% resulting from increased greenhouse gases).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, to more accurately simulate climate change, these country‐scale climate simulations must not only be run at increased spatial resolution but also integrate the changes of the land surface, that is, the changes in ecosystems, land use, and land cover, which can significantly impact local and regional climates through modification of albedo, roughness length, and evapotranspiration rates. Although many modeling studies of the global (Bathiany et al, ; Boisier et al, ; Brovkin et al, ; de Noblet‐Ducoudré et al, ; Jones et al, , ; Pitman et al, ; Pongratz et al, ; Winckler et al, ) and regional (Burakowski, ; Gálos et al, , ) biophysical impact of LULCC have been conducted, these studies remain quite limited in their assessment of the interactions between climate and land surface dynamics. In fact, they usually use low‐resolution models, so that atmospheric processes like regional winds, thunderstorms, or other local convective systems cannot be represented, while these mesoscale circulation features are probably central in governing the land surface‐climate feedbacks at the scale of a region or a country (Pitman et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Bridging the Gap Between Policy‐Driven Land Use Changes and Regional Climate Projections

2019

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Changes in the land surface interact with a changing climate. Moreover, the impact of land surface changes on the local and regional climate can be as large as the impact of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The land surface‐climate interactions are best represented by high‐resolution models to capture the mesoscale circulation features. The future land surface changes are preferably represented by scenarios that illustrate plausible storylines. Furthermore, the impact of future urbanization is relevant for the highly urbanized region of Europe. In this study, we assess the interactions between climate and land surface dynamics by modeling the near‐future climate state for western Europe based on a policy‐driven land use change scenario at high resolution. The global climate model CNRM‐CM5.1 has been downscaled to the regional climate of western Europe by using ALARO‐SURFEX at 4‐km horizontal resolution. SURFEX provides a parameterization of the urban physical properties so that the impact of urban surfaces on the regional climate can be modeled realistically. Results are interpreted with respect to the near‐future climate change without land surface changes. The near future presents a uniform temperature increase of 0.3–0.6 °C. This is in contrast to changes by the land surface that are more heterogeneous in space and much stronger at the local scale. Deforestation and conversion to arable land diminishes climate change effects, whereas urbanization results in an enhancing effect of climate change. Moreover, urbanization is as big as the radiative forcing warming for minimum temperature.

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Increasing bioenergy production on arable land: Does the regional and local climate respond? Germany as a case study

Tölle

Gutjahr

Busch³

et al. 2014

J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.

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The extent and magnitude of land cover change effect on local and regional future climate during the vegetation period due to different forms of bioenergy plants are quantified for extreme temperatures and energy fluxes. Furthermore, we vary the spatial extent of plant allocation on arable land and simulate alternative availability of transpiration water to mimic both rainfed agriculture and irrigation. We perform climate simulations down to 1 km scale for 1970-1975 C20 and 2070-2075 A1B over Germany with Consortium for Small-Scale Modeling in Climate Mode. Here an impact analysis indicates a strong local influence due to land cover changes. The regional effect is decreased by two thirds of the magnitude of the local-scale impact. The changes are largest locally for irrigated poplar with decreasing maximum temperatures by 1• C in summer months and increasing specific humidity by 0.15 g kg −1 . The increased evapotranspiration may result in more precipitation. The increase of surface radiative fluxes R net due to changes in latent and sensible heat is estimated by 5 W m −2 locally. Moreover, increases in the surface latent heat flux cause strong local evaporative cooling in the summer months, whereas the associated regional cooling effect is pronounced by increases in cloud cover. The changes on a regional scale are marginal and not significant. Increasing bioenergy production on arable land may result in local temperature changes but not in substantial regional climate change in Germany. We show the effect of agricultural practices during climate transitions in spring and fall.

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Case study for the assessment of the biogeophysical effects of a potential afforestation in Europe

Cited by 31 publications

References 57 publications

Local Effects of Forests on Temperatures across Europe

Local Effects of Forests on Temperatures across Europe

Bridging the Gap Between Policy‐Driven Land Use Changes and Regional Climate Projections

Increasing bioenergy production on arable land: Does the regional and local climate respond? Germany as a case study

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