Bathiany, S.

Brovkin, V.

Claussen, M.

Kleinen, T.

MPG.PuRe

Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 16, EGU2014-13398, 2014EGU General Assembly 2014© Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License.Abrupt or not abrupt - biodiversity affects climate-vegetation interactionat the end of the African Humid PeriodMartin Claussen (1,2), Sebastian Bathiany (1), Victor Brovkin (1), and Thomas Kleinen (1)(1) Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie, Hamburg, Germany (martin.claussen@mpimet.mpg.de, +49-(0)40-41173350), (2)CEN, Hamburg University, GermanyPalaeo-climate and ecosystem data derived from the sediment record from Lake Yoa (Ounianga Kebir, North-EastTchad) have been interpreted as support for a weak interaction between climate and vegetation without abruptchanges in precipitation climate and vegetation coverage over the last 6000 years. However, interpretation of thesedata has neglected potential effects of plant diversity on the stability of the climate - vegetation system. Here,we use a conceptual model that represents plant diversity in terms of moisture requirement; some plant types aresensitive to changes in precipitation thereby leading to an unstable system with the possibility of abrupt changes,while other plant types are more resilient with gradual system changes. We demonstrate that plant diversity tendsto attenuate the instability of the interaction between climate and sensitive plant types, while it reduces the stabilityof the interaction between climate and less sensitive plant types. Hence, despite large sensitivities of individualplant types to precipitation, a gradual decline in precipitation and mean vegetation cover can occur. The presentstudy offers a new interpretation for reconstructed shifts in vegetation and climate in northern Africa at the end ofthe African Humid Period. It focusses on the ecosystems in semi-arid climate, but the principle that plant diversitycan affect the stability of climate-vegetation interaction may generally apply.

Abrupt or not abrupt - biodiversity affects climate-vegetation interaction at the end of the African Humid Period

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