Gross primary productivity and transpiration flux of the Australian vegetation from 1788 to 1988 AD: effects of CO2 and land use change

We present a novel approach to estimating the transpiration flux and gross primary productivity (GPP) from Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, leaf functional types, and readily available climate data. We use this approach to explore the impact of variations in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ([CO₂]) and consequent predicted changes in vegetation cover, on the transpiration flux and GPP. There was a near 1 : 1 relationship between GPP estimated with this transpiration flux approach and that estimated using a radiation‐use efficiency (RUE) approach. Model estimates are presented for the Australian continent under three vegetation–[CO₂] scenarios: the present vegetation and hypothetical ‘natural’ vegetation cover with atmospheric CO₂ concentration ([CO₂]) of 350 μmol mol^?1 (pveg₃₅₀ and nveg₃₅₀), and for the ‘natural’ vegetation with [CO₂] 280 μmol mol^?1 (nveg₂₈₀). Estimated continental GPP is 6.5, 6.3 and 4.3 Gt C yr^?1 for pveg₃₅₀, nveg₃₅₀ and nveg₂₈₀, respectively_. The corresponding transpiration fluxes are 232, 224 and 190 mm H₂O yr^?1. The contribution of the raingreen and evergreen components of the canopy to these fluxes are also estimated.