Plant hydraulic modelling of leaf and canopy fuel moisture content reveals increasing vulnerability of a Mediterranean forest to wildfires under extreme drought
LIMOUSIN, Jean‐marc
Université de Montpellier [UM]
Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive [CEFE]
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Université de Montpellier [UM]
Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive [CEFE]
LIMOUSIN, Jean‐marc
Université de Montpellier [UM]
Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive [CEFE]
Université de Montpellier [UM]
Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive [CEFE]
COCHARD, Hervé
Laboratoire de Physique et Physiologie Intégratives de l’Arbre en environnement Fluctuant [PIAF]
Laboratoire de Physique et Physiologie Intégratives de l’Arbre en environnement Fluctuant [PIAF]
TORRES-RUIZ, José
Laboratoire de Physique et Physiologie Intégratives de l’Arbre en environnement Fluctuant [PIAF]
< Reduce
Laboratoire de Physique et Physiologie Intégratives de l’Arbre en environnement Fluctuant [PIAF]
Language
en
Article de revue
This item was published in
New Phytologist. 2023-02, vol. 237, n° 4, p. 1256-1269
Wiley
English Abstract
Fuel moisture content (FMC) is a crucial driver of forest fires in many regions world-wide. Yet, the dynamics of FMC in forest canopies as well as their physiological and environmental determinants remain poorly understood, ...Read more >
Fuel moisture content (FMC) is a crucial driver of forest fires in many regions world-wide. Yet, the dynamics of FMC in forest canopies as well as their physiological and environmental determinants remain poorly understood, especially under extreme drought.We embedded a FMC module in the trait-based, plant-hydraulic SurEau-Ecos model to provide innovative process-based predictions of leaf live fuel moisture content (LFMC) and canopy fuel moisture content (CFMC) based on leaf water potential (psi Leaf$$ {\psi}_{\mathrm{Leaf}} $$). SurEau-Ecos-FMC relies on pressure-volume (p-v) curves to simulate LFMC and vulnerability curves to cavitation to simulate foliage mortality.SurEau-Ecos-FMC accurately reproduced psi Leaf$$ {\psi}_{\mathrm{Leaf}} $$ and LFMC dynamics as well as the occurrence of foliage mortality in a Mediterranean Quercus ilex forest. Several traits related to water use (leaf area index, available soil water, and transpiration regulation), vulnerability to cavitation, and p-v curves (full turgor osmotic potential) had the greatest influence on LFMC and CFMC dynamics. As the climate gets drier, our results showed that drought-induced foliage mortality is expected to increase, thereby significantly decreasing CFMC.Our results represent an important advance in our capacity to understand and predict the sensitivity of forests to wildfires.Read less <
English Keywords
climate changed
rought
forest flammability
live fuel moisture content
plant hydraulics
process-based modelling
tree mortality
wildfire
ANR Project
Comprendre les effets combinés des stress hydriques et thermiques sur la mortalité des arbres - ANR-18-CE20-0005
ANAEE-Services
ANAEE-Services
Origin
Hal imported