Soil structure is an important omission in Earth System Models

article Soil structure is an important omission in Earth System Models published yes Simone Fatichi author cf8e546b-a9b0-11f0-a43b-aa89ed1b56d6 Dani Or author Robert Walko author Harry Vereecken author Michael H. Young author Teamrat A. Ghezzehei author Tomislav Hengl author Stefan Kollet author Nurit Agam author Roni Avissar author Most soil hydraulic information used in Earth System Models (ESMs) is derived from pedo-transfer functions that use easy-to-measure soil attributes to estimate hydraulic parameters. This parameterization relies heavily on soil texture, but overlooks the critical role of soil structure originated by soil biophysical activity. Soil structure omission is pervasive also in sampling and measurement methods used to train pedotransfer functions. Here we show how systematic inclusion of salient soil structural features of biophysical origin affect local and global hydrologic and climatic responses. Locally, including soil structure in models significantly alters infiltration-runoff partitioning and recharge in wet and vegetated regions. Globally, the coarse spatial resolution of ESMs and their inability to simulate intense and short rainfall events mask effects of soil structure on surface fluxes and climate. Results suggest that although soil structure affects local hydrologic response, its implications on global-scale climate remains elusive in current ESMs. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Springer Nature2020 eng Nature Communications 2041-1723 3198830610.1038/s41467-020-14411-z 11 yes S. Fatichi, D. Or, R. Walko, H. Vereecken, M.H. Young, T.A. Ghezzehei, T. Hengl, S. Kollet, N. Agam, R. Avissar, Nature Communications 11 (2020). Fatichi, S., Or, D., Walko, R., Vereecken, H., Young, M. H., Ghezzehei, T. A., … Avissar, R. (2020). Soil structure is an important omission in Earth System Models. Nature Communications. Springer Nature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z</a> Fatichi, Simone, et al. “Soil Structure Is an Important Omission in Earth System Models.” Nature Communications, vol. 11, 522, Springer Nature, 2020, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z">10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z</a>. Fatichi S, Or D, Walko R, Vereecken H, Young MH, Ghezzehei TA, Hengl T, Kollet S, Agam N, Avissar R. 2020. Soil structure is an important omission in Earth System Models. Nature Communications. 11, 522. Fatichi S, Or D, Walko R, et al. Soil structure is an important omission in Earth System Models. Nature Communications. 2020;11. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z">10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z</a> Fatichi, Simone, Dani Or, Robert Walko, Harry Vereecken, Michael H. Young, Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, Tomislav Hengl, Stefan Kollet, Nurit Agam, and Roni Avissar. “Soil Structure Is an Important Omission in Earth System Models.” Nature Communications. Springer Nature, 2020. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z</a>. S. Fatichi et al., “Soil structure is an important omission in Earth System Models,” Nature Communications, vol. 11. Springer Nature, 2020. 225672026-07-27T12:30:24Z2026-08-06T08:24:35Z