CAREER: Ecosystem Responses to Rising Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change: Feedbacks through the Nitrogen Cycle

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Abstract00-92642HungateCAREER: Ecosystem responses to rising CO2 and climate change: Feedbacks through the nitrogen cycleScientists now agree that concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are increasing, and that this is causing temperatures to rise around the globe. Yet, how these changes will affect ecosystems, particularly processes that occur below ground, is not at all well understood. Nitrogen is required by plants, and both rising CO2 and climate warming could profoundly alter rates of nitrogen cycling in ecosystems and the ability of plants to acquire the nitrogen they need. For example, both warming and rising CO2 could change the way water moves through ecosystems, and thereby alter the process of decomposition through which soil microorganisms make nitrogen available to plants. This CAREER project combines research on how rising CO2 and warming will affect nitrogen cycling in soil, education of undergraduate and graduate students about the significance of these issues, as well as efforts to convey the findings of this research project to the public.