Modelling water and 36Cl cycling in a Belgian pine forest

We developed a new 1-dimensional layered water table model based on Darcy and capillarity flow rather than explicitly resolving the highly non-linear Richards equation. We coupled such model to a vegetation model representing a Scots pine in which the equations of xylem and phloem transport, transpiration, translocation and litterfall/organic decomposition are provided. We tested the model against the results of the field study and matched the water fluxes in the steady state to the 36Cl model. The ultimate goal of this work is to integrate the model with a biosphere approach for human impact assessment, developing an assessment tool sufficiently complex to be realistic but sufficiently simple to be practical.