Seminar: Georgios Blougouras

Afforestation and reforestation are often considered viable climate change adaptation and mitigation tools, due to the forests’ biogeochemical benefits (e.g., carbon uptake). However, the biophysical effect of forests can also have profound and diverse impacts on the climate system, and understanding them is crucial and timely. In this study, we explore how changes in the forest cover over Europe can influence the coupled land-atmosphere system and reveal its biophysical signature. We use advanced regional climate modeling with a 5 km spatial resolution, using the Regional Climate Model (RegCM5) coupled with the Community Land Model (CLM4.5). Simulations include a baseline scenario and two scenarios representing afforestation and deforestation, covering 2004–2014. We explore key components of the radiation and energy budget to assess the local and continental-scale biophysical impacts of forests. Under this context, we further investigate how forest-induced changes affect the functioning of the coupled land surface–atmosphere system, especially the evaporative response to soil moisture (supply) and the coupling with atmospheric dryness (demand). These results reflect shifts in system behavior and allow us to identify emerging hydroclimatic regimes across Europe. Overall, our findings highlight the important role of biophysical processes in shaping the radiative forcing, which is crucial for climate change mitigation. At the same time, we reveal the potential of forests to reorganize surface–atmosphere coupling and shift the hydroclimatic functioning of the land surface.