Montreal University
Using satellite L-band observations to incorporate plant hydraulic functioning into a terrestrial ecosystem model to project future boreal forest response to drought conditions and heat stress — The boreal biome constitutes an integral component of the climate system. Our limited quantitative understanding of coupled carbon and water fluxes hampers reliably predicting the boreal biome response to projected increases in disturbance frequency and intensity. This project will enhance the ecological realism of the boreal biome in a terrestrial biosphere model (CLASSIC). After exploring empirical relationships between microwave vegetation optical depth (VOD) and tree hydraulic traits, we will introduce a tree hydraulics scheme into CLASSIC. Next, we will use regional VOD-derived tree hydraulic traits to constrain past, present and future flux simulations with CLASSIC across the boreal biome.