Integrating Arctic Plant Functional Types in a Land Surface Model Using Above‐ and Belowground Field Observations

Abstract

Biomass measurements of arctic plants in the Seward Peninsula were used to develop nine arctic plant functional types in the E3SM Land Model • New plant functional types included mosses, lichens, graminoids, and shrubs of different height classes and leaf habits • Simulations across a gradient of plant communities showed how variations in plant traits and soil depth drive different biomass patterns Accepted ArticleThis article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as

Vegetation type is an important predictor of the arctic summer land surface energy budget

“…One reason for the strong predictive power of vegetation type could be that vegetation types reflect integrative proxies of distinct combinations of environmental conditions that control the SEB, including temperature, topography, soil moisture, and permafrost characteristics [18][19][20]26 . However, it has also been shown that the CAVM classes 20 , upon which our vegetation types are largely based, do differ in SEB-relevant traits and functions such as vegetation height, productivity and albedo 25,42 , and therefore, causal effects of vegetation types can also be expected.…”

“…However, to date, a quantitative understanding of the importance of vegetation type compared to other drivers of the Arctic SEB is missing 11,15,17 . Land surface components in current Earth system models often represent Arctic vegetation by only a single or few plant functional types (PFTs) 18,19 , despite the notable diversity thereof 20 . Previous observational studies demonstrate that Arctic vegetation types can influence SEB-components, including latent and sensible heat fluxes 11,15,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27] .…”

Mid-summer snow-free albedo across the Arctic tundra was mostly stable or increased over the past two decades

“…In climate models, vegetation is represented by plant functional types (PFTs), and their distribution and characteristics, together with water and soil fractions, define the modeled albedo. Arctic tundra vegetation is often characterized by only two PFTs (shrub and grass) (Sulman et al ., 2021), and the plant-light interactions are represented by a simplistic big-leaf model (Bonan et al ., 2021).…”

Modeling Global Carbon Costs of Plant Nitrogen and Phosphorus Acquisition

“…Vegetation is divided into multiple PFTs with independent parameterizations controlling photosynthesis, leaf gas exchange, biomass allocation, and other processes (Sulman et al, 2021). The current PFT configuration of ELM follows CLM5; Lawrence et al (2019), which are based on broad plant groups relevant for global-scale configurations (Wullschleger et al, 2014).…”