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Soil structure is an important omission in Earth System Models

Author

Listed:
  • Simone Fatichi

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Dani Or

    (ETH Zurich
    Desert Research Institute)

  • Robert Walko

    (University of Miami)

  • Harry Vereecken

    (Jülich Research Center)

  • Michael H. Young

    (The University of Texas at Austin)

  • Teamrat A. Ghezzehei

    (University of California, Merced)

  • Tomislav Hengl

    (OpenGeoHub foundation)

  • Stefan Kollet

    (Jülich Research Center)

  • Nurit Agam

    (Ben Gurion University of the Negev)

  • Roni Avissar

    (University of Miami)

Abstract

Most soil hydraulic information used in Earth System Models (ESMs) is derived from pedo-transfer functions that use easy-to-measure soil attributes to estimate hydraulic parameters. This parameterization relies heavily on soil texture, but overlooks the critical role of soil structure originated by soil biophysical activity. Soil structure omission is pervasive also in sampling and measurement methods used to train pedotransfer functions. Here we show how systematic inclusion of salient soil structural features of biophysical origin affect local and global hydrologic and climatic responses. Locally, including soil structure in models significantly alters infiltration-runoff partitioning and recharge in wet and vegetated regions. Globally, the coarse spatial resolution of ESMs and their inability to simulate intense and short rainfall events mask effects of soil structure on surface fluxes and climate. Results suggest that although soil structure affects local hydrologic response, its implications on global-scale climate remains elusive in current ESMs.

Suggested Citation

  • Simone Fatichi & Dani Or & Robert Walko & Harry Vereecken & Michael H. Young & Teamrat A. Ghezzehei & Tomislav Hengl & Stefan Kollet & Nurit Agam & Roni Avissar, 2020. "Soil structure is an important omission in Earth System Models," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14411-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Ioanna S. Panagea & Antonio Berti & Pavel Čermak & Jan Diels & Annemie Elsen & Helena Kusá & Ilaria Piccoli & Jean Poesen & Chris Stoate & Mia Tits & Zoltan Toth & Guido Wyseure, 2021. "Soil Water Retention as Affected by Management Induced Changes of Soil Organic Carbon: Analysis of Long-Term Experiments in Europe," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Luca Piciullo & Vittoria Capobianco & Håkon Heyerdahl, 2022. "A first step towards a IoT-based local early warning system for an unsaturated slope in Norway," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 114(3), pages 3377-3407, December.
    3. Jarvis, Nicholas & Larsbo, Mats & Lewan, Elisabet & Garré, Sarah, 2022. "Improved descriptions of soil hydrology in crop models: The elephant in the room?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    4. Coronese, Matteo & Occelli, Martina & Lamperti, Francesco & Roventini, Andrea, 2023. "AgriLOVE: Agriculture, land-use and technical change in an evolutionary, agent-based model," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    5. Zhenhua Guo & Lei Lv & Di Liu & Xinmiao He & Wentao Wang & Yanzhong Feng & Md Saiful Islam & Qiuju Wang & Wengui Chen & Ziguang Liu & Saihui Wu & Adam Abied, 2022. "A global meta-analysis of animal manure application and soil microbial ecology based on random control treatments," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-17, January.
    6. Matteo Coronese & Martina Occelli & Francesco Lamperti & Andrea Roventini, 2024. "Towards sustainable agriculture: behaviors, spatial dynamics and policy in an evolutionary agent-based model," LEM Papers Series 2024/05, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.

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