Vegetation pattern formation in Daisyworld model with greenhouse effect

Abstract

A vegetation pattern is closely related to its environmental conditions. The quantitative and qualitative effects of environmental changes due to increased greenhouse gases on vegetation patterns should thus be urgently investigated. Although the simple Daisyworld model, a conceptual Earth system model introduced in the 1980s, limits life on the plant to two species of daisies, it is expected to provide new insights into the relationship between vegetation patterns and environmental conditions. This study investigates the effects of greenhouse gases on plants and their environment in a two-dimensional Daisyworld model that takes the greenhouse effect into account. Specifically, the effect of varying the emissivity of the atmosphere for longwave radiation on the temperature and distribution of daisies on Daisyworld is examined. A numerical simulation of the two-dimensional Daisyworld model shows that the two species of daisies are unable to adapt to the climate change caused by an intensifying greenhouse effect and thus become extinct.