Abstract
Water is a key regulator of vegetation growth and mortality. Currently, the impact of water stress on growth and mortality in ACME are simulated based on simple empirical adjusting factors, which may fail under future novel climate conditions. In this study, we developed more process-based representations of water limitation functions, mortality, and insects toward better predictions of vegetation dynamics. To test these models, we have also compiled sap fluxes and leave water potential observations, drought-induced tree mortality from forest inventory and insect productivity for model evaluations. We showed promising impact of incorporating these process-level representations at the site level. In the next step, we will test these models at the regional and global scales. We expect that these process-based model, parameterized and benchmarked at the global scales, can make robust predictions of future vegetation dynamics under water stress.