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Simulating carbon dynamics along the Boreal Forest Transect Case Study (BFTCS) in central Canada: 1. Model testing
Author(s) -
Peng Changhui,
Apps Michael J.,
Price David T.,
Nalder Ian A.,
Halliwell David H.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
global biogeochemical cycles
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.512
H-Index - 187
eISSN - 1944-9224
pISSN - 0886-6236
DOI - 10.1029/98gb00351
Subject(s) - taiga , environmental science , soil carbon , transect , soil texture , boreal , soil science , ecosystem , biomass (ecology) , soil water , physical geography , ecology , forestry , geography , biology
CENTURY 4.0, a simulation model of carbon and nitrogen dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems based on the relationships between climate, soil texture, plant productivity, decomposition and human management, was tested against observed data along the boreal forest transect case study (BFTCS) in central Canada. The results show that the simulated average aboveground biomass and net N mineralization were consistent with observed data. The modeled estimates for soil carbon were consistent with those from regional‐scale empirical regression models. High correlation ( R 2 = 0.92) with data was obtained for the simulation of soil carbon dynamics of the boreal forest, but the model overestimated soil carbon (O–20 cm) by 2–8% for fine‐textured soil and underestimated soil carbon by 5–18% for sandy soil. The effects of climatic variation on temporal changes in biomass and soil carbon storage over the past century were found to be very different for southern and northern sites but relatively insensitive to site‐specific soil texture. The main discrepancies between observed data and CENTURY 4.0 results are associated with the effects of soil texture and an inadequate representation of fire disturbance on C dynamics of boreal forests. Further improvements, particularly in the representation of disturbance regimes and in the simulation of slow pool C dynamics, are suggested to enhance its predictive capability.