Anthropogenic forcing increases the water‐use efficiency of African trees. (17th June 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wils, Tommy H. G.; Robertson, Iain; Woodborne, Stephan; Hall, Grant; Koprowski, Marcin; Eshetu, Zewdu
• Other Names: Holmes Jonathan A. guestEditor.; Barker Philip A. guestEditor.; Leng Melanie J. guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of quaternary science. Volume 31:Number 4(2016)
• Page Start: 386
• Page End: 390
• Publication Date: 2016-06-17
• Subjects: Africa -- carbon dioxide -- intrinsic water‐use efficiency (iWUE) -- physiological forcing -- water resource management; Geology, Stratigraphic -- Quaternary -- Periodicals; Paleontology -- Quaternary -- Periodicals; 551.79
• DOI: 10.1002/jqs.2865
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0267-8179

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations affect climate directly through radiative effects and indirectly by changing plant water‐use efficiency. Under global warming scenarios these widely reported changes will have a substantial impact on future bush encroachment, crop yields, river flow and climate feedbacks. Tree‐ring intrinsic water‐use efficiency (iWUE) records for Africa show a 24.6% increase over the 20th century. As high iWUE can partly counterbalance projected decreases in regional precipitation, this research has important implications for those involved in water resource management and highlights the need for climate models to take physiological forcing into account.