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Project title

The impact of climate and land use change on soil respiratory fluxes

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

University College Dublin (UCD)

Lead Applicant

Bruce Osborne

Project Abstract

Information on changing patterns of carbon sequestration associated with land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) are required for reporting purposes to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto protocol. Fluxes of carbon dioxide from soils forms a fundamentally important component of the terrestrial carbon cycle, however changing patterns of soil respiration associated with changing climate and land use are at present, poorly understood. The impact changing patterns of precipitation and evapotranspiration will have on carbon turnover in soils and vegetation are largely unknown. Also, future predictions of the influence of land use change on soil carbon need to account for changes in climate. This project proposes to investigate the impact of climate and land use change on respiratory fluxes from forest soils, in particular this project aims to;? Quantify the impact of climate and land use change on soil respiration fluxes from Sitka spruce forestry on a mineral soil.? Quantify the impact of climate and land use change on soil respiration fluxes from Sitka spruce forestry on an organic soil.? Quantify the impact of interannual climate change on forest soil respiratory fluxes.? Partition soil respiratory fluxes into autotrophic and heterotrophic components.? Improve forest soil GHG models to include the influence of land use change, stand age and climatic variability.

Grant Approved

�80,000.00

Research Hub

Climate Change

Research Theme

Ireland's Future Climate, its Impacts, and Adaptation Options

Start Date

01/11/2008

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/10/2011