U.S.-New Zealand Cooperative Research: The Contribution of Woody Tissue Respiration to the Carbon Balance of Forest Ecosystems

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0205121GriffinThis award supports Dr. Kevin Griffin of Columbia University for a three-year collaborative research project with Dr. David Whitehead of Landcare Research Institute and Dr. Matthew Turnbull of the University of Canterbury, both in New Zealand. The research will assess the contribution of woody tissue respiration to the carbon balance in a forest ecosystem. Objectives include 1) making continuous real time measurements of respiration from stems, branches and roots for periods of days to weeks under field conditions, 2) determining the processes influencing wood respiration by monitoring responses to natural environmental variability in different forested ecosystems, and 3) quantitatively describing these responses for use in a model to estimate ecosystem carbon balance. Understanding the processes that regulate the carbon balance of forest ecosystems is a critical issue in predicting how forests will impact the atmospheric carbon dioxide balance in the future. This collaboration brings together the efforts of international laboratories that have complementary expertise and research facilities. The project will also enhance the international research competence of the American graduate student who will participate in the research in New Zealand.