Understanding the effects of drought upon carbon allocation and cycling in tropical forest.
Daniel
Metcalfe, University of Edinburgh, U.K., d.b.metcalfe@sms.ed.ac.uk
(Presenting)
Tropical forests form an important component of the global climate system. The drastic rise in atmospheric CO2 since the industrial revolution has been partially offset by an increased rate of carbon accumulation in plants. However, additional global warming and drought may cause large areas of forest to become a net source of CO2. Future climate forecasts depend largely upon the response of forests to climate change, in terms of carbon dynamics. A key uncertainty is how drought will affect the amount and distribution of carbon within ecosystems, and what any changes may mean for the overall flux of CO2 into the atmosphere.
My research aims to quantify the amount of carbon stored in different components of a tropical forest, and the pattern of carbon transfer between components. The effects of drought will be inferred by comparing a one hectare plot where rainfall has been excluded with a similar, but un-droughted, control plot at an undisturbed Amazonian rainforest site. This information will be used to generate a model of ecosystem carbon cycling under droughted and normal conditions. The model results will advance our understanding of the interactions between the terrestrial biosphere and climate, and improve current estimates of future atmospheric CO2 levels.
Submetido por Daniel Metcalfe em 23-MAR-2004
Tema Científico do LBA: CD (Armazenamento e Trocas de Carbono)