AnaEE PLATFORMS

Together with J. Harte (1995) and B. Kimball (2005), the PLECO group has played a pioneering role in developing infrared (IR) heating systems to simulate climate warming in free-air conditions in the field. Simulating future climates in open air rather than in enclosures avoids artifacts as demonstrated by Ainsworth et al. (2008) for elevated CO2. Over the years, we have continuously improved the 'FATI' (Free-Air Temperature Increase) technique (Nijs et al. 1996, 1997, 2000; De Boeck & Nijs 2011; De Boeck et al. 2017), which now allows us to warm surfaces of 7 m² per plot by more than 8 °C in a manner that incorporates natural feedbacks of the plant community to the atmosphere. By combining infrared heaters with automatic rain-out shelters, drought events and changing precipitation patterns can be imposed as well, which enables us to test heat waves and droughts both as single factors and in combination. The facility (12 plots in total) and our know-how makes us well-positioned to address many questions related to changes in climate extremes and weather patters (e.g. Reynaert et al. 2021).

Climate

Years measured: 29