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Vegetation Feedbacks over the Eurasian Boreal Forest

Collaborators: Zhengyu Liu, Robert Gallimore, Lixin Wu

Funding: DOE

Publications:
Notaro, M., and Z. Liu, 2008: Joint statistical and dynamical assessment of simulated vegetation feedbacks on
    climate over the boreal forests. Climate Dynamics, 31, 691-712.
Notaro, M., and Z. Liu, 2007: Potential impact of the Eurasian boreal forest on North Pacific climate variability. J.
    Climate, 20, 981-992.
Wu, L., Z. Liu, R. Gallimore, M. Notaro, and R. Jacob, 2005: Modeling surgery: A new way toward understanding
    Earth climate variability. Journal of Ocean University of China, 10, 306-314.

Methods: The impact of variability in Eurasian boreal forest cover on variability in the atmosphere and ocean is investigated with the FOAM-LPJ fully coupled global climate model. The control simulation is compared to one in which forest cover is fixed across North Africa.

Key finding: Variability in forest cover along the northern edge of the Eurasian boreal forest results in a strong simulated albedo feedback on the atmosphere, leading to enhanced sea-surface temperature (SST) variability across the Kuroshio Extension of the North Pacific. This interaction has a strong decadal component.

In FOAM-LPJ fully coupled global climate model, the largest interannual variability in forest cover fraction is found along the northern edge of the Eurasian boreal forest (middle plot), and this variability displays a decadal component. The presence of this vegetation variability results in a substantial enhancement in annual sea-surface temperature (SST) variability (+30%) in the Kuroshio Extension (bottom plot). This illustrates that variability in forest cover, through albedo feedbacks, can indirectly affect SST variability.