Impact model: CARAIB

Sector
Forests
Region
global, local, regional

CARAIB (CARbon Assimilation In the Biosphere) is a state-of-the-art dynamic vegetation module. It includes various modules describing (1) the soil water budget, (2) photosynthesis and stomatal regulation, (3) autotrophic respiration and allocation of photosynthetic products to a metabolic (leaves) and a structural (roots, stem, branches) reservoir, (4) heterotrophic respiration, litter and soil organic carbon budgets, (5) establishment competition and mortality of plant types, (6) vegetation fires, (7) ecosystem management and land use dynamics.


The model can be run with plant functional types (PFTs) or species. In ISIMIP, PFTs were used.


There are 6 land use categories: natural ecosystems, croplands, pastures, cities, water bodies and unfertile soils (or rocks). Only the first three categories can contain vegetation. In the natural ecosystem category, two vegetation storeys are defined. The understorey contains herbs and shrubs, while the overstorey include trees. Only one storey is defined in croplands and pastures. Forests are included in the natural ecosystem land use category, even if they are planted.


Indeed, a module allows the user to define management of natural ecosystems (planting, thinning, clearcut).


The global classification of plant types used in ISIMIP contains 44 PFTs, of which 26 in natural ecosystems (3 herbs, 8 shrubs and 15 trees), 16 in croplands, 2 in pastures.

Information for the model CARAIB is provided for the simulation rounds shown in the tabs below. Click on the appropriate tab to get the information for the simulation round you are interested in.

Person responsible for model simulations in this simulation round
Marie Dury: mariedury@hotmail.com, Université de Liège (Belgium)
Louis Francois: louis.francois@uliege.be, 0000-0001-8292-8360, Université de Liège (Belgium)
Alexandra Henrot: alexandra.henrot@ulg.ac.be, 0000-0003-1564-8232, Université de Liège (Belgium)
Additional persons involved: Louis François, Alexandra Henrot and Marie Dury
Output Data
Experiments: I, Ia, II, IIa, IIb, IIc, III, IIIa, IIIb (Hyytiälä, Peitz, Solling beech, Solling spruce, Sorø, Kroof, Le Bray, Collelongo, Bily Kriz)
Climate Drivers: None
Date: 2018-08-06
Basic information
Model Version: Version of year 2017
Model Output License: CC BY 4.0
Model Homepage: http://www.umccb.ulg.ac.be/Sci/m_car_f.html
Simulation Round Specific Description: * Data in embargo period, not yet publicly available
Reference Paper: Main Reference: Dury M., A. Hambuckers, P. Warnant, A. Henrot, E. Favre, M. Ouberdous, L. François et al. Responses of European forest ecosystems to 21st century climate: assessing changes in interannual variability and fire intensityiForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry ,4,82-89,2011
Resolution
Spatial aggregation: regular grid
Horizontal resolution: 0.5’ x 0.5’
Temporal resolution of input data: climate variables: daily
Temporal resolution of input data: co2: annual
Temporal resolution of input data: land use/land cover: annual
Temporal resolution of input data: soil: constant
Input data
Emissions data sets used: Atmospheric CO2 concentration
Climate variables: hurs, sfcWind, tasmax, tas, tasmin, rlds, pr
Exceptions to Protocol
Exceptions: No.
Spin-up
Was a spin-up performed?: Yes
Spin-up design: Spin-up from year 1501 to year 1860, with constant CO2 at 286 ppmv, then CO2 increased according to CO2 data provided by ISIMIP. Climatic forcing taken from the pi_Control set defined in ISIMIP for each model. No deviation with respect to the protocol, except that spin-up stared a little bit earlier.
Natural Vegetation
Natural vegetation partition: There are 6 land use categories: natural ecosystems, croplands, pastures, cities, water bodies and unfertile soils (or rocks). Land use data from ISIMIP were used to define this partitioning. All forests are included in natural vegetation/
Natural vegetation dynamics: In the natural vegetation land use category, plant functional type fractions are calculated dynamically from the model.
Soil layers: Only one soil layer corresponding to the root zone. Its depth depends on the vegetation types present on the pixel.
Extreme Events & Disturbances
Key challenges: Vegetation fires are simulated in the fire module. These are only natural fires (ignition from lightnings).
Person responsible for model simulations in this simulation round
Marie Dury: mariedury@hotmail.com, Université de Liège (Belgium)
Louis Francois: louis.francois@uliege.be, 0000-0001-8292-8360, Université de Liège (Belgium)
Alexandra Henrot: alexandra.henrot@ulg.ac.be, 0000-0003-1564-8232, Université de Liège (Belgium)