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Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive description of the newest version of the Dynamic Global Vegetation Model with managed Land, LPJmL4. This model simulates – internally consistently – the growth and productivity of both natural and agricultural vegetation in direct coupling with water and carbon fluxes. These features render LPJmL4 suitable for assessing a broad range of feedbacks within, and impacts upon, the terrestrial biosphere as increasingly shaped by human activities such as climate change and land-use change. Here we describe the core model structure including recently developed modules now unified in LPJmL4. Thereby we also summarize LPJmL model developments and evaluations (based on 34 earlier publications focused e.g. on improved representations of crop types, human and ecological water demand, and permafrost) and model applications (82 papers, e.g. on historical and future climate change impacts) since its first description in 2007. To demonstrate the main features of the LPJmL4 model, we display reference simulation results for key processes such as the current global distribution of natural and managed ecosystems, their productivities, and associated water fluxes. A thorough evaluation of the model is provided in a companion paper. By making the model source code freely available at a Gitlab server, we hope to stimulate the application and further development of LPJmL4 across scientific communities, not least in support of major activities such as the IPCC and SDG process.