Publication Abstracts
Webber et al. 2025
Webber, H., D. Cooke, C. Wang, S. Asseng, P. Martre, F. Ewert, B. Kimball, G. Hoogenboom, S. Evett, A. Chanzy, S. Garrigues, A. Olioso, K.S. Copeland, J.L. Steiner, D. Cammarano, Y. Chen, M. Crépeau, E. Diamantopoulos, R. Ferrise, L. Manceau, T. Gaiser, Y. Gao, S. Gayler, , T. Hunt, G. Jégo, G. Padovan, E. Pattey, D. Ripoche, A. Rodríguez, M. Ruiz-Ramos, V. Shelia, A.K. Srivastava, I. Supit, F. Tao, K. Thorp, M. Viswanathan, T. Weber, and J. White, 2025: Wheat crop models underestimate drought stress in semi-arid and Mediterranean environments. Field Crops Res., 332, 110032, doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110032.
Under climate change and increasingly extreme weather, projections of water demand and drought stress from process-based crop models can inform risk management and adaptation strategies. Previous studies investigating maize crop models demonstrated considerable error in the simulation of water use, and no similar evaluation of wheat crop models exists. The aims of this study were to (1) evaluate wheat crop models' performance in reproducing observed daily evapotranspiration (ET) for Mediterranean and semi-arid environments, and (2) identify factors and processes associated with model error and uncertainty. These were assessed with an ensemble of wheat crop models for two experiments, one conducted in Bushland, Texas, USA (three seasons, deficit and full irrigation) and another in Avignon, France (four rainfed seasons) with winter bread and durum wheat, respectively. Models were calibrated with all observed data for crop growth. The model ensemble median underestimated water use in all environments evaluated, suggesting a systematic bias. The relative error in underestimating daily ET was constant across levels of atmospheric evaporative demand; therefore, the absolute error was greater for days with larger evaporative demand. This implies errors in the soil water balance increase more rapidly under high evaporative demand conditions. Using a potential versus reference crop evapotranspiration approach did not explain relative model performance. However, the sensitivity analysis indicated that simulation of atmospheric evaporative demand terms explained much more uncertainty in seasonal water use than terms related to soil depth or root growth. Errors in simulated leaf area index were associated with errors in daily simulated ET, but the relationship varied with the growth stage. Collectively, the results suggest the need to improve simulation of atmospheric ET demand to avoid underestimating projected impacts of drought or required water resource availability for viable production systems.
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BibTeX Citation
@article{we06400u,
author={Webber, H. and Cooke, D. and Wang, C. and Asseng, S. and Martre, P. and Ewert, F. and Kimball, B. and Hoogenboom, G. and Evett, S. and Chanzy, A. and Garrigues, S. and Olioso, A. and Copeland, K. S. and Steiner, J. L. and Cammarano, D. and Chen, Y. and Crépeau, M. and Diamantopoulos, E. and Ferrise, R. and Manceau, L. and Gaiser, T. and Gao, Y. and Gayler, S. and Guarin, J. R. and Hunt, T. and Jégo, G. and Padovan, G. and Pattey, E. and Ripoche, D. and Rodríguez, A. and Ruiz-Ramos, M. and Shelia, V. and Srivastava, A. K. and Supit, I. and Tao, F. and Thorp, K. and Viswanathan, M. and Weber, T. and White, J.},
title={Wheat crop models underestimate drought stress in semi-arid and Mediterranean environments},
year={2025},
journal={Field Crops Research},
volume={332},
pages={110032},
doi={10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110032},
}
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RIS Citation
TY - JOUR ID - we06400u AU - Webber, H. AU - Cooke, D. AU - Wang, C. AU - Asseng, S. AU - Martre, P. AU - Ewert, F. AU - Kimball, B. AU - Hoogenboom, G. AU - Evett, S. AU - Chanzy, A. AU - Garrigues, S. AU - Olioso, A. AU - Copeland, K. S. AU - Steiner, J. L. AU - Cammarano, D. AU - Chen, Y. AU - Crépeau, M. AU - Diamantopoulos, E. AU - Ferrise, R. AU - Manceau, L. AU - Gaiser, T. AU - Gao, Y. AU - Gayler, S. AU - Guarin, J. R. AU - Hunt, T. AU - Jégo, G. AU - Padovan, G. AU - Pattey, E. AU - Ripoche, D. AU - Rodríguez, A. AU - Ruiz-Ramos, M. AU - Shelia, V. AU - Srivastava, A. K. AU - Supit, I. AU - Tao, F. AU - Thorp, K. AU - Viswanathan, M. AU - Weber, T. AU - White, J. PY - 2025 TI - Wheat crop models underestimate drought stress in semi-arid and Mediterranean environments JA - Field Crops Res. JO - Field Crops Research VL - 332 SP - 110032 DO - 10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110032 ER -
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