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Interactions Between Climate and Species Drive Future Forest Carbon and Water Balances

Journal Article · · Ecohydrology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2748· OSTI ID:2570789
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1]
  1. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)
  2. USDA Forest Service, Otto, NC (United States)
  3. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Global change is altering forest carbon and water balances; however, the extent to which tree species shape ecosystem‐scale responses to climate, particularly in biodiverse forests, remains unclear. To address this, we simulated the effects of an envelope of future climate conditions on watershed carbon and water balances and quantified the contributions of tree species based on their xylem anatomy. We accomplished this by incorporating species‐level transpiration calculations into a landscape‐scale ecosystem process model. Our revised model linked the effects of forest succession, species composition, and climate change on water and carbon. Calibration of forest water fluxes using sap flux measurements and catchment water balances captured variability in species transpiration and interannual ET in biodiverse, humid temperate forest catchments in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains, USA. Across wet and dry future climate projections, ET increased, and streamflow and net carbon uptake decreased, particularly under a scenario of increasing drought. Despite accounting for just 30% of current biomass, diffuse‐porous tree species were the main driver of carbon and water flux responses now and in the future, thus intensifying the increase in ET and decline in streamflow. As diffuse‐porous biomass continues to increase, these forests will be increasingly sensitive to drought, amplifying losses of carbon sequestration and freshwater delivery.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDA; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
2570789
Report Number(s):
LA-UR--24-31996; 1936-0592; 10.1002/eco.2748
Journal Information:
Ecohydrology, Journal Name: Ecohydrology Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 18; ISSN 1936-0584; ISSN 1936-0592
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Figures / Tables (9)

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Coweeta
LANDIS II
NECN
forest landscape model
mesophication
transpiration
xylem anatomy