Collaborative Research: Interactions Among Global Change Stressors in Northern Fens: Atmospheric CO2, Temperature, and Nitrogen Deposition

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This project will investigate how increased atmospheric CO2, warmer climatic conditions, and changing soil moisture will influence ecosystem processes, nutrient cycling and the carbon balance (net uptake or loss of CO2) in northern peatlands at a research site in northern Minnesota. This is a collaborative project between investigators at the University of Minnesota-Duluth (PI: J. Pastor) and the University of Oregon (PI: S. Bridgham). This team will work closely with Dr. Patrick Megonigal (Smithsonian Environment Research Center, Edgewater MD) who has requested support from the US DOE Biological and Environmental Research Program to construct and operate a FACE (Free-Air CO2 Enrichment) ring at the research site. This NSF-DOE will investigate processes that control carbon storage and turnover in peatlands under current conditions and under a projected doubling of atmospheric CO2 and warming of north temperate and boreal peatlands. The results will be relevant to the issue of the long-term sustainability of peatlands as carbon sinks. Additionally, this research will provide opportunities for undergraduate researchers, graduate students and post doctoral to participate in interdisciplinary global change research.