A zero-dimensional climate-vegetation model containing global carbon and hydrological cycle

Abstract

A model of a hypothetical zero-dimensional planet containing a global carbon cycle, which describes the fundamental interaction between climate and biosphere, is used as a basis to formulate a new model incorporating a hydrological cycle. Using the conservation law for carbon and water in the system the number of differential equations is thereby reduced by two from five to three. The number and positions of the stable equilibria in the three-dimensional phase space is determined using numerical methods. This numbers is related to the value of the maximum productivity P max., the total amount of carbon A and water B in the system as bifurcation parameters of the system.