Functional convergence of biosphere–atmosphere interactions in response to meteorological conditions

<p>Understanding the dependencies of the terrestrial carbon and water cycle with meteorological conditions is a prerequisite to anticipate their behaviour under climate change conditions. However, terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere interact via a multitude of variables across temporal a...

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Main Authors: C. Krich, M. Migliavacca, D. G. Miralles, G. Kraemer, T. S. El-Madany, M. Reichstein, J. Runge, M. D. Mahecha
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2021-04-01
Series:Biogeosciences
Online Access:https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/2379/2021/bg-18-2379-2021.pdf
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author C. Krich
C. Krich
M. Migliavacca
D. G. Miralles
G. Kraemer
G. Kraemer
T. S. El-Madany
M. Reichstein
J. Runge
M. D. Mahecha
M. D. Mahecha
author_facet C. Krich
C. Krich
M. Migliavacca
D. G. Miralles
G. Kraemer
G. Kraemer
T. S. El-Madany
M. Reichstein
J. Runge
M. D. Mahecha
M. D. Mahecha
author_sort C. Krich
collection DOAJ
description <p>Understanding the dependencies of the terrestrial carbon and water cycle with meteorological conditions is a prerequisite to anticipate their behaviour under climate change conditions. However, terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere interact via a multitude of variables across temporal and spatial scales. Additionally these interactions might differ among vegetation types or climatic regions. Today, novel algorithms aim to disentangle the causal structure behind such interactions from empirical data. The estimated causal structures can be interpreted as networks, where nodes represent relevant meteorological variables or land-surface fluxes and the links represent the dependencies among them (possibly including time lags and link strength). Here we derived causal networks for different seasons at 119 eddy covariance flux tower observations in the FLUXNET network. We show that the networks of biosphere–atmosphere interactions are strongly shaped by meteorological conditions. For example, we find that temperate and high-latitude ecosystems during peak productivity exhibit biosphere–atmosphere interaction networks very similar to tropical forests. In times of anomalous conditions like droughts though, both ecosystems behave more like typical Mediterranean ecosystems during their dry season. Our results demonstrate that ecosystems from different climate zones or vegetation types have similar biosphere–atmosphere interactions if their meteorological conditions are similar. We anticipate our analysis to foster the use of network approaches, as they allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the state of ecosystem functioning. Long-term or even irreversible changes in network structure are rare and thus can be indicators of fundamental functional ecosystem shifts.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-e29340aabad148adaca589b95e4588412022-12-21T23:47:01ZengCopernicus PublicationsBiogeosciences1726-41701726-41892021-04-01182379240410.5194/bg-18-2379-2021Functional convergence of biosphere–atmosphere interactions in response to meteorological conditionsC. Krich0C. Krich1M. Migliavacca2D. G. Miralles3G. Kraemer4G. Kraemer5T. S. El-Madany6M. Reichstein7J. Runge8M. D. Mahecha9M. D. Mahecha10Department Biogeochemical Integration, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, GermanyHydro-Climate Extremes Lab (H-CEL), Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, BelgiumDepartment Biogeochemical Integration, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, GermanyHydro-Climate Extremes Lab (H-CEL), Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, BelgiumDepartment Biogeochemical Integration, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, GermanyRemote Sensing Centre for Earth System Research, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, GermanyDepartment Biogeochemical Integration, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, GermanyDepartment Biogeochemical Integration, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, 07745 Jena, GermanyInstitute of Data Science, German Aerospace Center, 07745 Jena, GermanyRemote Sensing Centre for Earth System Research, Leipzig University, 04103 Leipzig, GermanyRemote Sensing Centre for Earth System Research, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany<p>Understanding the dependencies of the terrestrial carbon and water cycle with meteorological conditions is a prerequisite to anticipate their behaviour under climate change conditions. However, terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere interact via a multitude of variables across temporal and spatial scales. Additionally these interactions might differ among vegetation types or climatic regions. Today, novel algorithms aim to disentangle the causal structure behind such interactions from empirical data. The estimated causal structures can be interpreted as networks, where nodes represent relevant meteorological variables or land-surface fluxes and the links represent the dependencies among them (possibly including time lags and link strength). Here we derived causal networks for different seasons at 119 eddy covariance flux tower observations in the FLUXNET network. We show that the networks of biosphere–atmosphere interactions are strongly shaped by meteorological conditions. For example, we find that temperate and high-latitude ecosystems during peak productivity exhibit biosphere–atmosphere interaction networks very similar to tropical forests. In times of anomalous conditions like droughts though, both ecosystems behave more like typical Mediterranean ecosystems during their dry season. Our results demonstrate that ecosystems from different climate zones or vegetation types have similar biosphere–atmosphere interactions if their meteorological conditions are similar. We anticipate our analysis to foster the use of network approaches, as they allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the state of ecosystem functioning. Long-term or even irreversible changes in network structure are rare and thus can be indicators of fundamental functional ecosystem shifts.</p>https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/2379/2021/bg-18-2379-2021.pdf
spellingShingle C. Krich
C. Krich
M. Migliavacca
D. G. Miralles
G. Kraemer
G. Kraemer
T. S. El-Madany
M. Reichstein
J. Runge
M. D. Mahecha
M. D. Mahecha
Functional convergence of biosphere–atmosphere interactions in response to meteorological conditions
Biogeosciences
title Functional convergence of biosphere–atmosphere interactions in response to meteorological conditions
title_full Functional convergence of biosphere–atmosphere interactions in response to meteorological conditions
title_fullStr Functional convergence of biosphere–atmosphere interactions in response to meteorological conditions
title_full_unstemmed Functional convergence of biosphere–atmosphere interactions in response to meteorological conditions
title_short Functional convergence of biosphere–atmosphere interactions in response to meteorological conditions
title_sort functional convergence of biosphere atmosphere interactions in response to meteorological conditions
url https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/2379/2021/bg-18-2379-2021.pdf
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