08.09.2014 Views

On the Ecology of Mountainous Forests in a Changing Climate: A ...

On the Ecology of Mountainous Forests in a Changing Climate: A ...

On the Ecology of Mountainous Forests in a Changing Climate: A ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Parameter sensitivity & model validation 135<br />

FORECE<br />

P<strong>in</strong>us cembra<br />

T (°C)<br />

P (mm/yr)<br />

FORC LIM-E/P<br />

FORC LIM-E/P/S<br />

T (°C)<br />

T (°C)<br />

P (mm/yr)<br />

P (mm/yr)<br />

Fig. 5.5: Contour plot <strong>of</strong> P<strong>in</strong>us cembra biomass [t/ha] as simulated by FORECE (top),<br />

FORCLIM-E/P (bottom left), and FORCLIM-E/P/S (bottom right).<br />

this area; however, nei<strong>the</strong>r model corresponds well to <strong>the</strong> scheme <strong>in</strong> Fig. 5.1. The major<br />

difference between FORCLIM-E/P and FORCLIM-E/P/S is that <strong>the</strong> biomass <strong>of</strong> P. excelsa<br />

is reduced to some extent when soil nitrogen availability is treated explicitly (Fig. 5.4),<br />

because this species is not tolerant <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> low nitrogen availability simulated dur<strong>in</strong>g<br />

certa<strong>in</strong> phases <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> gap dynamics cycle (cf. section 4.3).<br />

The FORECE model suggests that P. cembra dom<strong>in</strong>ates under all precipitation regimes<br />

when T l is less than 2 °C (Fig. 5.5), although P. excelsa should approach <strong>the</strong> alp<strong>in</strong>e<br />

timberl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> moist regions (Fig. 5.1). With both FORCLIM variants P. cembra is<br />

abundant <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> dry (cont<strong>in</strong>ental) subalp<strong>in</strong>e zone, and it is codom<strong>in</strong>ant close to <strong>the</strong> alp<strong>in</strong>e<br />

timberl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r areas (Fig. 5.5), a pattern also supported e.g. by Renner (1982).

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!