Root zone in the Earth system
Hongkai Gao (East China Normal University)
M. Hrachowitz (TU Delft - Water Resources)
Lan Wang-Erlandsson (Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung, Stockholm University)
Fabrizio Fenicia (Eawag - Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology)
Qiaojuan Xi (East China Normal University)
Jianyang Wu (East China Normal University)
Wei Shao (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology)
Ge Sun (United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service)
Hubert Savenije (TU Delft - Water Resources)
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Abstract
The root zone is a vital part of the Earth system and a key element in hydrology, ecology, agronomy, and land surface processes. However, its definition varies across disciplines, creating barriers to interdisciplinary understanding. Moreover, characterizing the root zone is challenging due to a lack of consensus on definitions, estimation methods, and their merits and limitations. This opinion paper provides a holistic definition of the root zone from a hydrology perspective, including its moisture storage, deficit, and storage capacity. We demonstrate that the root zone plays a critical role in the biosphere, pedosphere, rhizosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and cryosphere of the Earth system. We underscore the limitations of the traditional reductionist approach in modelling this complex and dynamic zone and advocate for a shift towards a holistic, ecosystem-centred approach. We argue that a holistic approach offers a more systematic, simple, dynamic, scalable, and observable way to describe and predict the role of the root zone in Earth system science.
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