QEIB: Collaborative Research: Erosional Removal and Redistribution of Soil Organic Carbon In Upland Ecosystems

本项目测试并探讨了旱地生态系统中土壤侵蚀构成大气二氧化碳可测量和重要汇的假设。这一假设正在流域进行测试，在那里，土壤侵蚀率先前已通过宇宙成因同位素测量确定。在每个现场，研究人员将挖掘大量的土壤剖面，测量它们的总碳储量，计算景观凸部分的碳损失率，并使用扩散建模方法计算凹区域（空心）的碳储量。其他辅助土壤有机质特性（C:N比、N含量和N同位素组成）预计会随着侵蚀而系统变化，将被测量以进一步验证和证实我们的假设。这项工作将解决土壤在全球碳预算中的作用的巨大不确定性之一。这是与Amundson（0129057）的合作提案。

This project tests and explores the hypothesis that soil erosion in upland ecosystems constitutes a measurable and significant sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The hypothesis is being tested in watersheds where soil erosion rates have been previously determined using cosmogenic isotope measurements. At each field site, the researchers will excavate numerous soil profiles, measure their total carbon storage, calculate rates of carbon loss from convex portions of the landscape, and calculate storage in concave areas (hollows), using a diffusion modeling approach. Other ancillary soil organic matter properties (C:N ratio, N content, and N isotope composition) predicted to change systematically with erosion, will be measured to further test and confirm our hypothesis. The work will address one of the great uncertainties about the role of soils in the global carbon budget.This is a collaborative proposal with Amundson (0129057).