Contrasting response of European forest and grassland energy exchange to heatwaves

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • Adriaan J. Teuling - , ETH Zurich, Wageningen University & Research (WUR) (Autor:in)
  • Sonia I. Seneviratne - , ETH Zurich (Autor:in)
  • Reto Stöckli - , Eidgenössisches Bundesamt für Meteorologie und Klimatologie (MeteoSwiss) (Autor:in)
  • Markus Reichstein - , Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (Autor:in)
  • Eddy Moors - , Wageningen University & Research (WUR) (Autor:in)
  • Philippe Ciais - , Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Autor:in)
  • Sebastiaan Luyssaert - , Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Autor:in)
  • Bart Van Den Hurk - , Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (Autor:in)
  • Christof Ammann - , Forschungsanstalt Agroscope Reckenholz-Tanikon (Autor:in)
  • Christian Bernhofer - , Professur für Meteorologie (Autor:in)
  • Ebba Dellwik - , Technical University of Denmark (Autor:in)
  • Damiano Gianelle - , Istituto Agrario San Michele all'Adige (Edmund Mach Foundation) (Autor:in)
  • Bert Gielen - , University of Antwerp (Autor:in)
  • Thomas Grünwald - , Professur für Meteorologie (Autor:in)
  • Katja Klumpp - , UREP (Autor:in)
  • Leonardo Montagnani - , Forest Services of the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano, Libera Universita di Bolzano (Autor:in)
  • Christine Moureaux - , University of Liege (Autor:in)
  • Matteo Sottocornola - , Istituto Agrario San Michele all'Adige (Edmund Mach Foundation) (Autor:in)
  • Georg Wohlfahrt - , Universität Innsbruck (Autor:in)

Abstract

Recent European heatwaves have raised interest in the impact of land cover conditions on temperature extremes. At present, it is believed that such extremes are enhanced by stronger surface heating of the atmosphere, when soil moisture content is below average. However, the impact of land cover on the exchange of water and energy and the interaction of this exchange with the soil water balance during heatwaves is largely unknown. Here we analyse observations from an extensive network of flux towers in Europe that reveal a difference between the temporal responses of forest and grassland ecosystems during heatwaves. We find that initially, surface heating is twice as high over forest than over grassland. Over grass, heating is suppressed by increased evaporation in response to increased solar radiation and temperature. Ultimately, however, this process accelerates soil moisture depletion and induces a critical shift in the regional climate system that leads to increased heating. We propose that this mechanism may explain the extreme temperatures in August 2003. We conclude that the conservative water use of forest contributes to increased temperatures in the short term, but mitigates the impact of the most extreme heat and/or long-lasting events.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)722-727
Seitenumfang6
FachzeitschriftNature geoscience
Jahrgang3
Ausgabenummer10
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Okt. 2010
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Externe IDs

ORCID /0000-0003-2263-0073/work/163765994

Schlagworte