AmazonFACE/ME: the Amazon-FACE Model-Experiment integration project - the role of biodiversity and climate feedbacks

• Grant number: 15/02537-7
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - Young Investigators
• Start date: January 01, 2017
• End date: April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Meteorology
• Principal Investigator: David Montenegro Lapola
• Grantee: David Montenegro Lapola
• Host Institution: Centro de Pesquisas Meteorológicas e Climáticas Aplicadas à Agricultura (CEPAGRI). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Alexandro José Baldassin ; Anja Rammig ; Anthony Walker ; Bart Kruijt ; Carlos Alberto Nobre Quesada ; Celso von Randow ; Gilvan Sampaio de Oliveira ; Katrin Fleischer ; Richard J. Norby ; Ryan Paul Pavlick ; Tomas Ferreira Domingues
• Associated scholarship(s): 20/05647-6 - Plant functional diversity under climate change scenarios and their effects on ecosystem services, BP.IC; 19/14406-5 - Improvement of the representation of autotrophic respiration in a trait-based vegetation model and its sensitivity to climate change, BP.IC; 19/26441-0 - AmazonFACE+ME: The AmazonFACE Model-Experiment Integration Project Principal Investigator: David M. Lapola - UNICAMP FAPESP Young Investigator Award nº 2015/02537-7, BP.TT; + associated scholarships 19/13173-7 - Improvement of the hydrology-soil relationship in a vegetation model based on functional attributes, BP.IC; 19/04223-0 - Modeling functional diversity and resilience of Amazon Forest to climate change beyond carbon stocks, BP.DR; 19/06487-5 - Trait-based modeling of the impacts of climate change on plant phenology-related functionality, BP.MS; 19/07972-4 - Development of innovative computational solutions to model plant diversity in tropical ecosystems, BP.TT; 19/02452-2 - Ecosystem services and vulnerability to climate changes: biophysical and social relationships in the Central Amazon, BP.DR; 19/06486-9 - Individual-based modeling of plant functional traits under changing environmental conditions in the tropical region, BP.MS; 17/00005-3 - Modeling the role of nutrients for the stability of the Amazon Forest in light of climate change, BP.DD - associated scholarships

Abstract

Despite being suggested, for more than 20 years now, as a process of utter importance for the resilience of tropical forests and maintenance of the global carbon cycle, the existence, magnitude and duration of a supposed "CO2 fertilization" effect in tropical forests remains largely undetermined. This research proposal - submitted concomitantly to DFG by German collaborator scientists - initiates the long-term ecosystem modeling activities within the AmazonFACE (Free-Air CO2 Enrichment) experiment that is initiated in central Amazonia aiming to investigate the effects of increased atmospheric CO2 on the ecology and resilience of the forest - which is also the major objective of this proposal. A set of scientific questions related to carbon metabolism and cycling, water use, nutrient cycling and tropical forest plant diversity will be investigated inside three project tasks: (1) an assumption-based intercomparison of results from four dynamic global vegetation models (DGVM) run with LBA input data from the AmazonFACE experimental site under current and +200ppmv [CO2] that will provide the first set of hypothesis to be in the future verified in the field experiment (and also useful for other ongoing projects); (2) development of a new DGVM based on functional traits and trade-offs (instead of the standard plant functional types logic) that will provide better ways to tackle the enormous plant diversity found in tropical forests and how they respond to environmental changes; and (3) a simple exercise to investigate potential feedbacks that elevated [CO2] can cause between the Amazonian biosphere and atmosphere using a DGVM dynamically coupled to a general circulation model of the atmosphere-ocean system. Exchange of data and expertise will be fostered through international collaborations and with support of two joint workshops. As typical to modeling research, most of the requested budget relates to the funding of personnel through fellowships. At this stage this project is independent on the execution of the AmazonFACE experiment since it will not use any data to be generated by the experiment. However, as suggested by the most up-to-date discussions in the topic, the approach of integrating ecosystem modeling and observational experimentation such as proposed here is key to efficiently enhance our predictive understanding of climate change's impact on the Amazon and other tropical ecosystems. (AU)

Scientific publications

(8)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LAPOLA, DAVID M.; PINHO, PATRICIA; QUESADA, CARLOS A.; STRASSBURG, BERNARDO B. N.; RAMMIG, ANJA; KRUIJT, BART; BROWN, FOSTER; OMETTO, JEAN P. H. B.; PREMEBIDA, ADRIANO; MARENGO, JOSE A.; et al. Limiting the high impacts of Amazon forest dieback with no-regrets science and policy action. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. 115, n. 46, p. 11671-11679, NOV 13 2018. (14/50848-9, 15/02537-7, 14/50627-2)

FLEISCHER, KATRIN; RAMMIGL, ANJA; DE KAUWE, MARTIN G.; WALKER, ANTHONY P.; DOMINGUES, TOMAS F.; FUCHSLUEGER, LUCIA; GARCIA, SABRINA; GOLL, DANIEL S.; GRANDIS, ADRIANA; JIANG, MINGKAI; et al. Amazon forest response to CO2 fertilization dependent on plant phosphorus acquisition. NATURE GEOSCIENCE, v. 12, n. 9, p. 736+, SEP 2019. (15/02537-7)

MARTINS, NATHIELLY P.; FUCHSLUEGER, LUCIA; FLEISCHER, KATRIN; ANDERSEN, KELLY M.; ASSIS, RAFAEL L.; BACCARO, FABRICIO B.; CAMARGO, PLINIO B.; CORDEIRO, AMANDA L.; GRANDIS, ADRIANA; HARTLEY, IAIN P.; et al. Fine roots stimulate nutrient release during early stages of leaf litter decomposition in a Central Amazon rainforest. PLANT AND SOIL, v. 469, n. 1-2, OCT 2021. (15/02537-7)

MENEZES, JULIANE; GARCIA, SABRINA; GRANDIS, ADRIANA; NASCIMENTO, HENRIQUE; DOMINGUES, TOMAS F.; GUEDES, ALACIMAR, V; ALEIXO, IZABELA; CAMARGO, PLINIO; CAMPOS, JESSICA; DAMASCENO, AMANDA; et al. Changes in leaf functional traits with leaf age: when do leaves decrease their photosynthetic capacity in Amazonian trees?. TREE PHYSIOLOGY, v. 42, n. 5, p. 17-pg., 2021-04-28. (15/02537-7)

SAMPAIO, GILVAN; SHIMIZU, MARILIA H.; GUIMARAES-JUNIOR, CARLOS A.; ALEXANDRE, FELIPE; GUATURA, MARCELO; CARDOSO, MANOEL; DOMINGUES, TOMAS F.; RAMMIG, ANJA; VON RANDOW, CELSO; REZENDE, LUIZ F. C.; et al. CO2 physiological effect can cause rainfall decrease as strong as large-scale deforestation in the Amazon. BIOGEOSCIENCES, v. 18, n. 8, p. 2511-2525, APR 22 2021. (15/02537-7, 15/50687-8, 17/03048-5, 15/50122-0)

LAPOLA, DAVID M.; PINHO, PATRICIA; BARLOW, JOS; ARAGAO, LUIZ E. O. C.; BERENGUER, ERIKA; CARMENTA, RACHEL; LIDDY, HANNAH M.; SEIXAS, HUGO; SILVA, CAMILA V. J.; SILVA-JUNIOR, CELSO H. L.; et al. The drivers and impacts of Amazon forest degradation. Science, v. 379, n. 6630, p. 12-pg., 2023-01-27. (20/08916-8, 20/16457-3, 20/08940-6, 16/02018-2, 15/02537-7, 20/15230-5)

RIUS, BIANCA FAZIO; DARELA FILHO, JOAO PAULO; FLEISCHER, KATRIN; HOFHANSL, FLORIAN; BLANCO, CAROLINA CASAGRANDE; RAMMIG, ANJA; DOMINGUES, TOMAS FERREIRA; LAPOLA, DAVID MONTENEGRO. Higher functional diversity improves modeling of Amazon forest carbon storage. ECOLOGICAL MODELLING, v. 481, p. 14-pg., 2023-03-13. (15/02537-7, 19/04223-0, 17/00005-3)

SILVA JUNIOR, CELSO H. L.; CARVALHO, NATHALIA S.; PESSOA, ANA C. M.; REIS, JOAO B. C.; PONTES-LOPES, ALINE; DOBLAS, JUAN; HEINRICH, VIOLA; CAMPANHARO, WESLEY; ALENCAR, ANE; SILVA, CAMILA; et al. Amazonian forest degradation must be incorporated into the COP26 agenda. NATURE GEOSCIENCE, v. 14, n. 9, p. 634-635, SEP 2021. (19/05440-5, 16/21043-8, 16/02018-2, 15/02537-7, 18/14423-4)