Abstract

Recently, drought-induced changes in vegetation have received increasing attention (Allen et al., 2010) and models have been revised to specifically simulate vegetation responses to drought (e.g. Fisher et al., 2010; Domec et al., 2012). However, few rigorous tests have been conducted to evaluate... Show moreRecently, drought-induced changes in vegetation have received increasing attention (Allen et al., 2010) and models have been revised to specifically simulate vegetation responses to drought (e.g. Fisher et al., 2010; Domec et al., 2012). However, few rigorous tests have been conducted to evaluate how well vegetation models simulate drought-caused vegetation responses (Galbraith et al., 2010). In this issue of New Phytologist, Powell et al. (pp. 350-365) conducted a critical data-model comparison study to assess model simulations of vegetation and ecosystem responses to drought manipulation experiments in the Amazon. This unique study revealed key limitations of five state-of-the-art biosphere models and one hydrodynamic terrestrial ecosystem model. They found that the biosphere models accurately captured the carbon (C) fluxes in control plots, but poorly simulated C and water fluxes, seasonal leaf-area indices, and vegetation mortality under imposed drought. This result is significant because it clearly points the way towards specific model developments and field experiments needed to better predict terrestrial ecosystem responses to drought. Show less