Research report 2013 - Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
How climate change is accelerated by nutrient limitation
Authors
Goll, D. S.; Brovkin, V.
Departments
Land im Erdsystem
Summary
Earth System models do not account for the limited availability of essential plant nutrients. Currently, about one third of the fossil fuel CO2 emissions is taken up by land ecosystems, but there is no guarantee that this ecosystem service will continue into the future. This study accounts for the first time for the availability of nitrogen and phosphorus on land. It shows that the omission of nutrient limitation in the models leads to an overestimation of carbon dioxide uptake by vegetation in future. Reduced CO2 uptake due to nutrient limitation will accelerate global warming.