What to plant and where to plant it; Modeling the biophysical effects of North America temperate forests on climate using the Community Earth System Model

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dc.contributor.authorAhlswede, Benjamin Jamesen
dc.contributor.committeechairThomas, R. Quinnen
dc.contributor.committeememberWynne, Randolph H.en
dc.contributor.committeememberStrahm, Brian D.en
dc.contributor.departmentForest Resources and Environmental Conservationen
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-12T07:00:11Zen
dc.date.available2017-01-12T07:00:11Zen
dc.date.issued2015-07-21en
dc.description.abstractForests affect climate by absorbing CO₂ but also by altering albedo, latent heat flux, and sensible heat flux. In this study we used the Community Earth System Model to assess the biophysical effect of North American temperate forests on climate and how this effect changes with location, tree type, and forest management. We calculated the change in annual temperature and energy balance associated with afforestation with either needle leaf evergreen trees (NET) or broadleaf deciduous trees (BDT) and between forests with high and low leaf-area indices (LAI). Afforestation from crops to forests resulted in lower albedo and higher sensible heat flux but no consistent difference in latent heat flux. Forests were consistently warmer than crops at high latitudes and colder at lower latitudes. In North America, the temperature response from afforestation shifted from warming to cooling between 34° N and 40° N for ground temperature and between 21° N and 25° N for near surface air temperature. NET tended to have lower albedo, higher sensible heat flux and warmer temperatures than BDT. The effect of tree PFT was larger than the effect of afforestation in the south and in the mid-Atlantic. Increasing LAI, a proxy for increased management intensity, caused a cooling effect in both tree types, but NET responded more strongly and albedo decreased while albedo increased for BDT. Our results show that forests' location, tree type, and management intensity can have nearly equal biophysical effects on temperature. A forest will have maximum biophysical cooling effect if it is in the south, composed of broadleaf PFT, and is managed to maximize leaf area index.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:5943en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/74269en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjecttemperate forestsen
dc.subjectclimateen
dc.subjectbiophysicalen
dc.subjectalbedoen
dc.subjectlatent heat fluxen
dc.subjectsensible heat fluxen
dc.subjectforest managementen
dc.subjectleaf area index (lai)en
dc.subjectcommunity earth system model (cesm)en
dc.subjectneedleleaf evergreenen
dc.subjectbroadleaf deciduousen
dc.subjectground temperatureen
dc.subjectair temperatureen
dc.titleWhat to plant and where to plant it; Modeling the biophysical effects of North America temperate forests on climate using the Community Earth System Modelen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineForestryen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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