Observed allocations of productivity and biomass, and turnover times in tropical forests are not accurately represented in CMIP5 Earth system models

• Published in: Environmental research letters Vol. 10; no. 6; pp. 64017 - 64025
• Main Authors: Negrón-Juárez, Robinson I, Koven, Charles D, Riley, William J, Knox, Ryan G, Chambers, Jeffrey Q
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.06.2015
• Subjects: Allocations; Anthropogenic factors; Atmospheric models; Benchmarks; Biomass; biomass turnover time; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide emissions; Climate change; Climate models; Climate prediction; Compartments; earth system models; Ecosystem models; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Forests; Plant tissues; Productivity; tropical biomass; Tropical forests; tropical productivity

A significant fraction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions is assimilated by tropical forests and stored as biomass, slowing the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere. Because different plant tissues have different functional roles and turnover times, predictions of carbon balance of tropical forests dep...