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Anthropogenic forcing increases the water‐use efficiency of African trees
Author(s) -
Wils Tommy H. G.,
Robertson Iain,
Woodborne Stephan,
Hall Grant,
Koprowski Marcin,
Eshetu Zewdu
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.2865
Subject(s) - radiative forcing , environmental science , precipitation , forcing (mathematics) , climate change , water use efficiency , streamflow , water resources , climatology , atmospheric sciences , geography , irrigation , ecology , drainage basin , meteorology , geology , cartography , biology
ABSTRACT Rising atmospheric CO 2 concentrations affect climate directly through radiative effects and indirectly by changing plant water‐use efficiency. Under global warming scenarios these widely reported changes will have a substantial impact on future bush encroachment, crop yields, river flow and climate feedbacks. Tree‐ring intrinsic water‐use efficiency (iWUE) records for Africa show a 24.6% increase over the 20th century. As high iWUE can partly counterbalance projected decreases in regional precipitation, this research has important implications for those involved in water resource management and highlights the need for climate models to take physiological forcing into account.