Global Ecohydrology

 In our November REALM meeting, we covered recent research under the theme of global ecohydrology. We were delighted to have two guest speakers, Dr Thanos Paschalis from the department of civil and environmental engineering, ICL and Dr Manon Sabot, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of New South Wales, currently at the University of Bristol …

The controls of Primary Production

Photosynthesis has evolved many times over phylogenetic history and there are different photosynthetic pathways. And whilst our understanding of photosynthesis is not perfect, it is essential for modelling.   At our REALM team meeting in September, six members shared their research updates on the theme of controls of primary production:   leaf area, water, pigment dynamics, …

Disentangling the sensitivity of soil versus atmospheric dryness on photosynthesis

By Natalie Sanders and Zheng Fu In 2018, Europe experienced an extreme heatwave that led to record-breaking temperatures, wildfires and widespread drought. Water is essential for plant photosynthesis; dryness stress can reduce terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) and is often characterized by low soil water content (SWC) and high atmospheric water demand (known as the …

Research on quantifying the carbon uptake by terrestrial plants in a simpler way. By Wenjia Cai

Terrestrial plants provide a unique ecosystem service for human kind by absorbing carbon dioxide and fixing it in the form of energy and sugar. Gross Primary Production (GPP) is used to describe the total carbon take up by terrestrial plants through photosynthesis and is a dominant flux in global carbon cycle, thus quantifying how much …

Research on tropical dry forests and their value for global ecosystem and land-surface modelling. By Rodolfo Nobrega

Tropical dry forests are characterized by environments that have high rainfall variability and a lack of soil-water availability. These forests are one of the most biodiverse semi-arid ecosystems, but they have been suffering from substantial anthropic changes, such as land-cover clearing and the desertification process. Little attention has been given to these dry forests due …