Influence of vegetation spatial structure on growth and water fluxes of a mixed forest: Results from the NOTG 3D model

In this study, NOTG was parameterized for the Font-Blanche forest and two five-year simulations were made using either the full 3D representation, or a simplified 1D representation. Comparison of model outputs against observations at the tree, soil, and ecosystem scales, showed a much better accuracy when using the 3D representation. This illustrates the dependence of plant and ecosystem function to the above- and below-ground spatial structures, and the usefulness of such detailed models when dealing with structurally complex ecosystems.