Characteristics of Land-Atmosphere Water Fluxes for Diverse Plant Functional Types in the FLUXNET Network

We used the FLUXNET database to quantify the relative contribution of biological and physical factors that control seasonal evaporation for a range of plant functional types. With meteorological and evaporative flux measurements, we performed a sensitivity analysis of Penman-Monteith equation with respect to surface resistance, aerodynamic resistance, available energy, and vapor pressure deficit in each PFT on an annual scale. Each PFT showed distinct seasonal sensitivity of ET on each variable. The sensitivity of ET on length of growing season varies depending on each PFT. The mechanisms that control different sensitivity of ET on length of growing season are discussed.