A Synergistic Approach of Using Fluxes, Isotopes and Models to Partition Plant and Soil Contributions to Ecosystem Exchange of CO2 and H2O

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Terrestrial ecosystems play a central role in the cycling of carbon (C) and water (H2O) on Earth, yet the quantification of the biological and physical controls over the rates and magnitudes of C and H2O movement into and out of the plants and the soils within any particular ecosystem are largely unknown. The proposed research will, for the first time, combine a set of proven methods that will afford a better understanding of the biophysical controls on whole-ecosystem C and H2O exchange. These methods will permit the partitioning of the various fluxes amongst those related to plant photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration versus soil-related fluxes from microbial and root respiration and evaporation. This information is needed for the development and validation of models aimed at extrapolating fluxes in both space and time and for predicting how ecosystems will respond to increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and more water limitation in the future.