The continuous increase in atmospheric [CO 2] is a response to anthropogenic CO2 emission and very likely to impact future developments of ecosystem vegetation composition, which is not only of major importance related to questions concerning sustainable biodiversity preservation, but also of severe significance with respect to peoples protection from climate change effects. The review therefore addresses the response of vegetation in general and of plant functional types in particular towards elevated atmospheric [CO 2], regarding C3 and C4 grasses, trees, shrubs and legumes by analyzing their response with respect to stomatal regulation, transpiration, water use efficiency, soil moisture, reproduction, root to shoot ratio, carbon allocation and fire resistance.
EcoHyD combines a hydrological model with a vegetation model, both specialized for use with savanna ecosystems. Plant functional types have been implemented in a object oriented method to increase the model useability. Parts of the model have been revised and improved. The model was extended to perform simulations with respect to the CO2 concentration scenarios given by the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). Routines for the calculation of stomatal conductance and transpiration in dependency of varying CO2 concentrations have been implemented, based on scientific publications.