Research
The QUINCY model
“QUINCY (Quantifying the effects of interacting nutrient cycles on terrestrial biosphere dynamics and their climate feedbacks) is a newly developed land surface model with fully coupled carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and water cycles. QUINCY is built in a modular fashion, and is the ideal tool to test out new hypotheses and model processes. We of course have some new scientific features as well, such as the ability to track carbon and nitrogen isotopes, a short and long-term plant storage pool and decoupling photosynthesis from growth.
You can find the model description paper here and you can request access to the model code here.
Optimal plant responses to elevated CO2
Plants have the capacity to acclimate and adapt to changing environmental conditions. Specifically under elevated atmospheric CO2, we expect increased photosynthesis and water use efficiency but the effects on plant growth and therefore the carbon land sink remain unclear. Part of the reason for this is the effect of nutrient limitation on plant growth and the uncertainty around the way in which plants cope with such limitation. You can read more about the topic in this paper.
A general concept for global leaf phenology
Leaf phenology - the timing of leaf on and leaf off - is still largely viewed as phenomenon driven by temperature. However, leaf seasonality is not restricted to ecosystems where temperature is the main seasonal driver, it is a process taking place in most ecosystems, including tropical and subtropical seasonally more or less dry systems. We developed a global model of leaf phenology based on optimality concepts, which can predict seasonal cycles of leaf area without any prior information on vegetation type. the model predicts multiple drivers for leaf phenology across the globe (right). Read more about the model here.