Impact of the representation of stomatal conductance on model projections of heatwave intensity.

ABSTRACT: Stomatal conductance links plant water use and carbon uptake, and is a critical process for the land surface component of climate models. However, stomatal conductance schemes commonly assume that all vegetation with the same photosynthetic pathway use identical plant water use strategies whereas observations indicate otherwise. Here, we implement a new stomatal scheme derived from optimal stomatal theory and constrained by a recent global synthesis of stomatal conductance measurements from 314 species, across 56 field sites. Using this new stomatal scheme, within a global climate model, subtantially increases the intensity of future heatwaves across Northern Eurasia. This indicates that our climate model has previously been under-predicting heatwave intensity. Our results have widespread

SUBMITTER: Kala J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4800495 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature