RUI: Soil Carbon Sequestration and Turnover after Six Years of CO2 Fumigation at the Duke Forest FACE Experiment

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This project will estimate of the long-term capacity of forest soils to sequester atmospheric carbon under elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Investigators from a small, undergraduate institution in Maine will conduct this research at The Duke Forest in North Carolina where the Duke FACE (Free-Air CO2 Enrichment) experiment is being conducted. This FACE experiment involves experimentally doubling atmospheric CO2 concentrations over large circular plots in a loblolly pine forest. The forest plots have been exposed to elevated CO2 continuously since 1996 and treatments will continue through the course of the NSF-funded soil study. The researchers will investigate processes that control carbon storage and turnover in forest soils under current conditions and under global projects of doubled atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The results will be relevant to the issue of the long-term sustainability of carbon sinks in forests. Additionally, this research will provide opportunities for undergraduate students in biology and chemistry at Bowdoin College to participate in important, interdisciplinary global change research, including opportunities to attend national scientific meetings.