Biocomplexity: Carbonshed Studies of Carbon Sequestration in Complex Terrain

生物复杂性：复杂地形碳汇的碳棚研究

• 批准号: 0321918
• 负责人: Russell Monson
• 金额: $ 199.98万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-01-01 至 2009-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0321918&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Biocomplexity; Carbonshed; Studies; Carbon; Sequestration

0321918MonsonRecent estimates that regionalize the US carbon sink suggest that a significant fraction is inthe Western US, in ecosystems that occur in hilly to mountainous regions. We have usedsatellite data and ecosystem models to show that Western US montane regions contributedisproportionately to the US carbon sink; we estimated that 25 to 50% of the total continental UScarbon sink, and up to 75% of Western US carbon sink occurs in mountainous terrain. Ourability to validate these predictions with measurements, or to build on them with improvedmechanistic models, is limited. Although the scaling of biogeochemical processes waspioneered in mountain watersheds, recent research has focused more on the "tower footprint"paradigm than the watershed approach; unfortunately, our current capabilities with tower-basedmeasurements are not adequate to develop accurate mass balance predictions in complextopography, and this has diminished efforts to understand biogeochemical fluxes in themountains. In this proposal, we develop a "carbonshed" approach for the study of theecosystem carbon balance of montane landscapes. We define a carbonshed within the samecontext as a watershed - a mountainous tract in which the slopes and valleys cause complextopographic patterns, which directly influence the drainage and accumulation of CO2, as well aspatterns in the redistribution of energy and water, which indirectly influence the exchange of CO2across the landscape. We make the case that the carbonshed scale is crucial for linking local,ecosystem-level CO2 fluxes to regional, landscape-level CO2 fluxes.In this proposal, we present a plan to measure carbonshed CO2 fluxes in the Front Range ofthe Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Recognizing that direct measurement of carbon budgetsusing atmospheric techniques will be impossible in complex landscapes, we focus on modeldataintegration, using measurements to calibrate and constrain models, and models tointerpolate observations. Recognizing also that carbon and water exchange are closely coupled,especially in this semi-arid Western environment, we focus on linking carbon and watermeasurements. We will challenge process models with measurements at multiple time andspace scales, utilizing seasonal to interannual flux measurements, carbonshed scale campaignsto scale up (10's of km), and regional (1000's of km) airborne measurements. Large fires in2002 will allow us to make airborne measurements of carbon dynamics in recently burnedsystems, a unique test of the upscaling of fluxes in disturbance-based models. The project'smodeling will use a coupled ecosystem-atmosphere model, allowing simulated fluxes to betranslated into concentration patterns for comparison to surface and airborne observations.The proposal addresses the intellectual merit criteria by 1) identifying a new phenomenon incarbon science: the tendency for carbon sinks to develop in high-relief ecosystems, as a result ofthe interaction of climate with land use patterns, 2) proposing innovative and cross-disciplinarymethods to measure this phenomenon, and 3) assembling a team including biophysicists,meteorologists, ecologists and educators to study this problem.Broader ImpactsThe studies will provide training opportunities for two graduate students and two,postdoctoral students. The funded activities will serve as the catalyst to develop a new courseon human-environment coupling that will include an analysis of the combined roles of land usehistory, water resources, fire suppression and biophysical controls over carbon in the mountains.The research will support a significant K-12 and teacher training program coordinated by theUniversity of Colorado CIRES Office of Education and Outreach. The proposed research willcontribute to scientific infrastructure by adding a greatly enhanced carbon cycle instrumentalcapability to the NSF Facilities at NCAR ATD, which are available to the general scientificcommunity. Additionally, a greatly improved 4-dimensional model for analyzing regional carbonsink activity will be made available to the general scientific and public policy communities for usein analyzing US carbon sinks and their relevance to global carbon cycle issues.

[03:32 . 1918]最近对美国碳汇区域化的估计表明，很大一部分在美国西部，在丘陵和山区的生态系统中。我们利用卫星数据和生态系统模型表明，美国西部山区对美国碳汇的贡献不成比例；我们估计，美国大陆碳汇总量的25%到50%，以及美国西部碳汇的高达75%发生在山区。我们用测量来验证这些预测，或者用改进的机械模型来建立这些预测的能力是有限的。虽然生物地球化学过程的尺度化是在山区流域中首创的，但最近的研究更多地集中在“塔足迹”范式上，而不是流域方法；不幸的是，我们目前基于塔的测量能力不足以在复杂地形中开发准确的质量平衡预测，这减少了了解山区生物地球化学通量的努力。在这个建议中，我们开发了一个“碳棚”方法来研究山地景观的生态系统碳平衡。我们将碳棚定义为一个分水岭——一个山坡和山谷形成复杂地形模式的山地，直接影响二氧化碳的排放和积累，以及能量和水的再分配模式，间接影响二氧化碳在整个景观中的交换。我们认为，碳棚尺度对于将局部生态系统水平的二氧化碳通量与区域景观水平的二氧化碳通量联系起来至关重要。在本提案中，我们提出了一项测量科罗拉多州落基山脉前山脉碳棚二氧化碳通量的计划。认识到使用大气技术直接测量碳收支在复杂景观中是不可能的，我们将重点放在模型数据整合上，使用测量来校准和约束模型，使用模型来插值观测。我们也认识到碳和水的交换是紧密耦合的，特别是在半干旱的西部环境中，我们将重点放在将碳和水的测量联系起来。我们将用多个时间和空间尺度的测量来挑战过程模型，利用季节到年际通量测量、碳棚尺度运动（10公里）和区域（1000公里）航空测量。2002年的大火将使我们能够对最近燃烧的系统中的碳动力学进行空中测量，这是对基于扰动的模型中通量升级的独特测试。该项目的建模将使用一个耦合的生态系统-大气模型，允许将模拟的通量转化为浓度模式，以便与地面和空中观测结果进行比较。该提案通过以下方式解决了智力价值标准：1)确定碳科学中的一个新现象：由于气候与土地利用模式的相互作用，碳汇在高海拔生态系统中发展的趋势；2)提出创新和跨学科的方法来测量这一现象；3)组建一个包括生物物理学家、气象学家、生态学家和教育工作者在内的团队来研究这一问题。更广泛的影响这些研究将为两名研究生和两名博士后提供培训机会。这些资助的活动将作为开发一门关于人与环境耦合的新课程的催化剂，该课程将包括分析土地利用历史、水资源、灭火和对山区碳的生物物理控制的综合作用。这项研究将支持一项重要的K-12和教师培训计划，该计划由科罗拉多大学CIRES教育和推广办公室协调。拟议的研究将通过大大增强NCAR ATD的NSF设施的碳循环仪器能力，为科学基础设施做出贡献，这些设施可供一般科学界使用。此外，一个大大改进的用于分析区域碳汇活动的四维模型将提供给一般科学和公共政策团体，用于分析美国碳汇及其与全球碳循环问题的相关性。