HR: 08:25h
AN: H21I-02 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Topographic Influence on Vegetation Distribution: A Distributed Hydrologic Model with Vegetation Dynamics
AU: * Bras, R L
EM: rlbras@mit.edu
AF: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rm. 48-211, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139 United States
AU: Ivanov, V Y
EM: viva@mit.edu
AF: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rm. 48-211, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139 United States
AU: Vivoni, E R
EM: vivoni@nmt.edu
AF: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 801 Leroy Place, MSEC 244, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AB: Vegetation can adaptively evolve and respond following seasonal and inter-annual cycles of climate and water redistribution in the system. As a result, it is commonly observed that in semi-arid regions vegetation follows particular patterns, apparently related to topography. In this paper we discuss how vegetation responds to topographically mediated photosyntetically active radiation and soil moisture in a semi-arid climate characteristic of New Mexico. The analysis is done with a new version of the spatially distributed hydrologic model: tRIBS. The latest evolution of the model couples the physics of the principal water and energy processes over the river basin to the basic plant biochemistry. The end result is a fully dynamic representation of vegetation that responds to and influences the spatially variable hydrology. Using the new modeling framework we construct a set of numerical experiments that examine linkages between the catchment geomorphologic structure and patterns of vegetation productivity. The results stress the importance of proper accounting of dynamic vegetation in understanding the water and energy cycles over the basin.
DE: 1813 Eco-hydrology
DE: 1847 Modeling
DE: 1866 Soil moisture
DE: 1878 Water/energy interactions (0495)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005