Determining the potential for soil carbon storage under different fire regimes in drylands

当干扰得到管理时，土壤可能具有巨大的固碳和减缓气候变化的能力。我的目标是了解火灾管理如何在全球范围内影响土壤固碳，通过全球火灾实验网络，开发基于过程的模型，并实施到一个活跃的碳信用市场的基本机制的实验测试。管理火灾状况以促进土壤碳（C）固存的潜力很大，因为火灾每年燃烧地球仪的5%，燃烧面积占全球表层土壤C的70%。超过75%的这些全球火灾驱动的碳排放发生在干旱地区的生态系统，如热带草原，火灾主要是由规定的烧伤，而不是在森林中观察到的不受控制的野火，提供了一个机会，以调整火灾管理，以封存碳。以及如何管理火灾状况以最大限度地提高旱地土壤碳储存量。首先，我将系统地调查15个控制火灾频率30-65年的地点的生态系统碳通量和储存。其次，我将建立一个碳和氮循环模型，并将模型输出与历史模型进行比较，以了解土壤稳定性的变化如何改变火灾对土壤的影响。最后，我将解决应用主题的自然为基础的气候解决方案，以量化潜在的碳存储在牧场改变火灾管理计划。重点将放在北美，因为那里有模型所需的长期和高分辨率数据集，以及与运行碳信用购买计划的行业合作伙伴的持续合作。这三个目标结合起来，旨在实现一个高风险但高回报的目标，即在支持经济发展的同时减缓气候变化。

Soils may contain a vast capacity to sequester carbon and slow climate change when disturbances are managed. I aim to understandhow fire management can impact soil carbon sequestration at the global scale using experimental tests of underlying mechanismsacross a global network of fire experiments, development of process-based models, and implementation into an active carbon-creditmarketplace. Managing fire regimes to promote soil carbon (C) sequestration has the potential to be large, given that fire burns 5% ofthe globe annually and areas that burn account for ~70% of global topsoil C. More than 75% of these global fire-driven C emissionsoccurs in dryland ecosystems such as savannas, where fires are primarily caused by prescribed burns, not uncontrolled wildfiresobserved in forests, offering an opportunity to adjust fire management to sequester C.We will advance our understanding of how fire impacts soil C to understand the role of climate, plant productivity, anddecomposition in regulating fire effects on soils, and how fire regimes can be managed to maximize soil C storage in drylands. First, Iwill systematically survey ecosystem C fluxes and storage across 15 sites that have manipulated fire frequencies for 30-65 years.Second, I will develop a model of C and nitrogen cycling and compare model outputs with historical models to understand howchanges in soil stability modify fire effects on soils. Finally, I will address the applied topic of nature-based climate solutions toquantify potential C storage under altered fire management schemes in rangelands. The focus will be on North America because ofthe long-term and high-resolution datasets necessary for models and an ongoing collaboration with industry partners that runcarbon credit purchasing programs.Combined, the three objectives aim to achieve a high-risk but high-reward goal of slowing climate change while supportingeconomic development.