Abstract
We developed a new world natural vegetation map at 1 degree horizontal resolution for use in global climate models. We used the Dorman and Sellers vegetation classification with inclusion of a new biome: tropical seasonal forest, which refers to both deciduous and semi-deciduous tropical forests. SSiB biogeophysical parameters values for this new biome type are presented. Under this new vegetation classification we obtained a consensus map between two global natural vegetation maps widely used in climate studies. We found that these two maps assign different biomes in ca. 1/3 of the continental grid points. To obtain a new global natural vegetation map, non-consensus areas were filled according to regional consensus based on more than 100 regional maps available on the internet. To minimize the risk of using poor quality information, the regional maps were obtained from reliable internet sources, and the filling procedure was based on the consensus among several regional maps obtained from independent sources. The new map was designed to reproduce accurately both the large-scale distribution of the main vegetation types (as it builds on two reliable global natural vegetation maps) and the regional details (as it is based on the consensus of regional maps).
Highlights
The vegetation cover of the Earth surface plays a recognized important role in global climate regulation (e.g. Charney 1975, Avissar et al 2002)
In land use change studies (e.g. Ramankutty and Foley 1999), it is useful to compare the distribution of modern croplands to global natural vegetation maps, in order to access the consequences of human land use (Foley et al 2005)
In this paper we report the development of a new global natural vegetation map, for use initially in climate studies with the CPTEC/COLA Atmospheric general circulation models (AGCM) and with the CPTEC Potential Vegetation Model (Oyama and Nobre 2004)
Summary
The vegetation cover of the Earth surface plays a recognized important role in global climate regulation (e.g. Charney 1975, Avissar et al 2002). To better represent the tropical biomes, we add a new vegetation type to DS89 classification and present its biogeophysical parameters in the context of SSiB land surface model (Xue et al 1991). Considering DS89 type 2 as referring strictly to deciduous temperate forests, it would be reasonable to include a new vegetation type in DS89 classification that would represent forests different from the evergreen type (type 1 in DS89) in tropical regions.
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