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Dr. Silvia Caldararu

Dr. Silvia Caldararu

Assistant Professor, Botany

https://plantecomodelling.org/

Biography

Silvia studies how plants are affected by climate change and how this in turn impacts the world's carbon cycle and feeds back to the climate. She uses land surface models to understand current plant and ecosystem observations and make predictions about the future. Silvia completed her PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2013, where she built a global model of leaf phenology. After that, she spent 2 years at Microsoft Research Cambridge in the Computational Ecology lab, looking at general models of crop growth. From 2015 to 2022 she was a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, where she contributed to the QUINCY model and started looking at ecosystem nutrient limitation and effects of elevated CO2 on plant physiology. She joined the college in summer 2022.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

  • Caldararu S., Thum T., Yu L., Zaehle S., Whole"plant optimality predicts changes in leaf nitrogen under variable CO 2 and nutrient availability, New Phytologist, 225, (6), 2020, p2331--2346Journal Article, 2020, DOI
  • Thum T., Caldararu S., Engel J., Kern M., Pallandt M., Schnur R., Yu L., Zaehle S., A new model of the coupled carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles in the terrestrial biosphere (QUINCY v1.0; revision 1996), Geoscientific Model Development, 12, (11), 2019, p4781--4802Journal Article, 2019, DOI
  • Jiang M., Zaehle S., De Kauwe M.G., Walker A.P., Caldararu S., Ellsworth D.S., Medlyn B.E., The quasi-equilibrium framework revisited: analyzing long-term CO2 enrichment responses in plant"soil models, Geoscientific Model Development, 12, (5), 2019, p2069--2089Journal Article, 2019, DOI
  • Caldararu S., Purves D.W., Smith M.J., The impacts of data constraints on the predictive performance of a general process-based crop model (PeakN-crop v1.0), Geoscientific Model Development, 10, (4), 2017, p1679--1701Journal Article, 2017, DOI
  • Caldararu S., Purves D.W., Smith M.J., The effect of using the plant functional type paradigm on a data-constrained global phenology model, Biogeosciences, 13, (4), 2016, p925--941Journal Article, 2016, DOI
  • Caldararu S., Purves D. W., Palmer P. I., Phenology as a strategy for carbon optimality: a global model, Biogeosciences, 11, (3), 2014, p763--778Journal Article, 2014, DOI
  • Caldararu S., Palmer P. I., Purves D. W., Inferring Amazon leaf demography from satellite observations of leaf area index, Biogeosciences, 9, (4), 2012, p1389--1404Journal Article, 2012, DOI
  • Sabot M., De Kauwe M., Pitman A., Medlyn B., Ellsworth D., Caldararu S., Zaehle S., Mu M., Gimeno T., Wujeska-Klause A., Mu M., Yang J., Predicting resilience through the lens of competing adjustments to vegetation function, 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • Lacroix F., Zaehle S., Caldararu S., Schaller J., Stimmler P., Goeckede M., Temporal Disconnect of Seasonal Plant Nutrient Demand and Thaw Depth implies an Increasing Source of N2O in High-Latitude Permafrost Ecosystems , 2022Journal Article, 2022, DOI
  • Jiang M., Caldararu S., Zaehle S., Ellsworth D. S., Medlyn B. E., Towards a more physiological representation of vegetation phosphorus processes in land surface models, New Phytologist, 222, (3), 2019, p1223 - 1229Journal Article, 2019
  • JIang M., Caldararu S., Zhang H., Fleischer K., Crous K. Y., Yang J., De Kauwe M. G., Ellsworth D. S., Reich P. B., Tissue D. T., Zaehle S., Medlyn B.E., Low phosphorus supply constrains plant responses to elevated CO2: a meta†analysis, Global Change Biology, 2020Journal Article, 2020
  • Migliavacca M., et al. incl. Caldararu S., The three major axes of terrestrial ecosystem function, Nature, 598, (7881), 2021, p468 - 472Journal Article, 2021
  • Caldararu S., Thum T., Yu L., Kern M., Nair R., Zaehle S., Long-term ecosystem nitrogen limitation from foliar D15N data and a land surface model, Global Change Biology, 28, (2), 2022, p493 - 508Journal Article, 2022, DOI , URL
  • Caldararu, S., Rolo, V., Stocker, B. D., Gimeno, T. E., Nair, R., Ideas and perspectives: Beyond model evaluation -- combining experiments and models to advance terrestrial ecosystem science, Biogeosciences, 20, 2023, p3637"364Journal Article, 2023, DOI
  • Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems, American Geophysical Union, [Associate editor], 2022Editorial Board, 2022
  • Ecosystem experiments as a window to future carbon, water, and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, (2023), Karin Rebel, Teresa Gimeno, Sönke Zaehle, Silvia Caldararu, Richard Nair, Victor Rolo, Benjamin Stocker, [Guest editor]Journal, 2023
  • Abramowitz G., Ukkola A., Hobeichi S., Cranko P. J., Lipson M., De Kauwe M., Green S., Brenner C., Frame J., Nearing G., Clark, M., Best, M., Anthoni, P., Arduini, G., Boussetta, S., Caldararu, S., Cho, K., Cuntz, M., Fairbairn, D., Ferguson, C. R., Kim, H., Kim, Y., Knauer, J., Lawrence, D., Luo, X., Malyshev, S., Nitta, T., Ogee, J., Oleson, K., Ottlé, C., Peylin, P., de Rosnay, P., Rumbold, H., Su, B., Vuichard, N., Walker, A. P., Wang-Faivre, X., Wang, Y., Zeng, Y, On the predictability of turbulent fluxes from land: PLUMBER2 MIP experimental description and preliminary results, Biogeosciences, 2024, (21), 2024, p5517-5538Journal Article, 2024, DOI , URL
  • Thurner M. A., Caldararu S., Engel J., Rammig A., Zaehle S., Modelled forest ecosystem carbon-nitrogen dynamics with integrated mycorrhizal processes under elevated CO 2, Biogeosciences, 21, 2024, p1391"1410Journal Article, 2024, DOI , URL
  • Nair R., Luo Y., El-Madany T. S., Rolo V., Pacheco-Labrador J., Caldararu S., Morris K. A., Schrumpf M., Carrara A., Moreno G., Reichstein M., Migliavacca M., Nitrogen availability and summer drought, but not N: P imbalance drive carbon use efficiency of a mediterranean tree-grass ecosystem, Global Change Biology, (30), 2024, pe17486Journal Article, 2024, DOI , URL
  • Knauer J., Cuntz M., Smith B., Canadell J. G., Medlyn B. E., Bennett A. C., Caldararu S., Haverd V., Higher global gross primary productivity under future climate with more advanced representations of photosynthesis, Science Advances, 9, (46), 2023, peadh9444-Journal Article, 2023, DOI
  • Sophia, G., Caldararu, S., Stocker, B. D., Zaehle, S., Leaf habit drives leaf nutrient resorption globally alongside nutrientavailability and climate, Biogeosciences, 21, (18), 2024, p4169--4193Journal Article, 2024, DOI , URL
  • Thum, T., Miinalainen, T., Seppala, O., Croft, H., Rogers, C., Staebler, R., Caldararu, S., Zaehle, S., Modelling decadal trends and the impact of extreme events on carbon fluxes in a deciduous temperate forest using the QUINCY model, Biogeosciences, (22), 2025, p1781-1807Journal Article, 2025, DOI , URL
  • Sophia G.,Caldararu S.,Stocker B., Zaehle S., Dynamic nitrogen resorption improves predictions of nitrogen cycling responses to global change in a next generation ecosystem model, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, (18), 2026, pe2025MS005181Journal Article, 2026, DOI , URL
  • Seitz, J., Yajima, M., Zhu, Y., Joseph, L. S. K., Yang, J., Lacroix, F., Luo, Y., Schaumberger, A.. Bahn, M., Zaehle, S. and Caldararu, S., A general physiologically driven representation of leaf turnover in grasslands in the QUINCY land surface model (revision: 974a6b7f), EGUsphere, 2026, 2026, p1--49Journal Article, 2026, DOI , URL
  • Miinalainen, T., Ojasalo, A., Croft, H., Aurela, M., Peltoniemi, M., Caldararu, S. , Zaehle, S., Thum, T., Evaluating the carbon and nitrogen cycles of the QUINCY terrestrial biosphere model using space-born optical remotely-sensed data, Biogeosciences, 22, (22), 2025, p6937--6962Journal Article, 2025, DOI , URL
  • Yajima, M., Seitz, J., Matthaeus, W.J., Girish Nair, G., Daly, L., Caldararu, S., Phenological benchmarking with a land surface model: an in-silico experiment for temperate forests, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences, 2025Journal Article, 2025, DOI , URL
  • Street L.E., Caldararu S., Why are Arctic shrubs becoming more nitrogen limited?, New Phytologist, 233, (2), 2022, p585--587Journal Article, DOI

Research Expertise

My research focuses on process based mathematical models of terrestrial ecosystems, which are a component of the Earth System Models used to create future climate predictions. My specific interest is in including more ecological and physiological realism in such models, while still keeping the implementation simple enough that it is computationally tractable at global scales and usable in a world of limited data. Such ecologically realistic models reduce the uncertainty in the future carbon cycle and potentially allows us to predict linkages between ecosystem carbon storage and terrestrial biodiversity. I am one of the main developers of the QUINCY model which was built with the specific aim to allow such new, more realistic process representation to be easily built and tested. QUINCY is now used successfully across research teams in four countries, with various scientific focuses ranging from Arctic ecosystems to impacts of extreme events. QUINCY is incorporated into the ICON Earth System Model and will produce simulations for the next IPCC report.

  • Title
    Climate+
    Summary
    Funding Agency
    SFI
    Date From
    January 2024

Recognition

  • Reviewer for multiple scientific journals (including Nature Climate Change, Nature Communications, Earth Futures, Biogeosciences, New Phytologist, Journal of Ecology) ongoing
  • Steering committee member for DAFM-funded CALMS project 2025-present
  • External examiner for masters by research thesis for the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork 2025
  • Associate Editor for Journal of Advances in Modelling Earth Systems (JAMES) 2022-present