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

该项目将估算在大气二氧化碳浓度升高的情况下森林土壤吸收大气碳的长期能力。来自缅因州一所小型本科院校的研究人员将在北卡罗来纳州的杜克森林进行这项研究，那里正在进行杜克FACE（自由空气二氧化碳富集）实验。FACE实验包括在火炬松林中的大片圆形地块上进行大气二氧化碳浓度翻倍的实验。自1996年以来，这些森林地块一直暴露在二氧化碳浓度升高的环境中，在美国国家科学基金会资助的土壤研究过程中，处理工作将继续进行。这组科学家将调查在当前条件下以及在大气二氧化碳浓度加倍的全球项目下控制森林土壤碳储存和转换的过程。研究结果将与森林碳汇的长期可持续性问题有关。此外，这项研究将为鲍登学院生物和化学专业的本科生提供参与重要的跨学科全球变化研究的机会，包括参加国家科学会议的机会。

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.