On the cause of abrupt vegetation collapse in North Africa during the Holocene: climate variability vs. vegetation feedback

Zhengyu Liu; Yi Wang; Robert Gallimore; Michael Notaro; I. Colin Prentice

doi:10.1029/2006GL028062

On the cause of abrupt vegetation collapse in North Africa during the Holocene: climate variability vs. vegetation feedback

Zhengyu Liu^*, Yi Wang, Robert Gallimore, Michael Notaro, I. Colin Prentice

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The abrupt desertification over the northern Africa in the mid-Holocene is studied in both a complex and a simple coupled climate-vegetation model. In contrast to the previous mechanism that relies on strong positive vegetation-climate feedback and the resulted multiple equilibria, we propose a new mechanism in which the abrupt desertification is caused by low frequency climate variability, rather than a positive vegetation-climate feedback. The implication of this new mechanism to modelling and observation is also discussed.

Original language	English
Article number	L22709
Pages (from-to)	1-6
Number of pages	6
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	33
Issue number	22
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL028062
Publication status	Published - 28 Nov 2006
Externally published	Yes

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10.1029/2006GL028062

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AU - Notaro, Michael

AU - Prentice, I. Colin

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AB - The abrupt desertification over the northern Africa in the mid-Holocene is studied in both a complex and a simple coupled climate-vegetation model. In contrast to the previous mechanism that relies on strong positive vegetation-climate feedback and the resulted multiple equilibria, we propose a new mechanism in which the abrupt desertification is caused by low frequency climate variability, rather than a positive vegetation-climate feedback. The implication of this new mechanism to modelling and observation is also discussed.

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On the cause of abrupt vegetation collapse in North Africa during the Holocene: climate variability vs. vegetation feedback

Abstract

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