Objective
The response of tropical forest ecosystems to global climate change and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels remains poorly understood. Despite the important role of tropical forest soils in the global carbon cycle, estimates of the carbon sequestration potential of tropical forests are based primarily on estimates of aboveground production and biomass, because little is known about belowground carbon cycling and how it may be affected by climate change. Primary production in some tropical forests has increased during recent decades, prompting speculation that this will boost carbon sequestration.
However, this response is likely to be limited by nutrient availability. Importantly, greater inputs of readily degradable carbon in leaf litter may accelerate the decomposition of stable soil organic matter, which would greatly reduce the value of the soil as a carbon sink. Improved understanding of the belowground components of the carbon cycle and their interactions with aboveground processes is required to accurately assess the carbon sequestration potential of tropical forest ecosystems.
This project combines litter addition, litter removal, fertilization, and root exclusion treatments to quantify the relative contributions of roots, microbes, and leaf lit ter to soil carbon dioxide efflux. The fate of carbon inputs from decomposing leaf litter will be determined by adding litter that is naturally labelled with 13C and analysing microbial biomass, microbial functional types and soil leachate.
Changes in soil organic carbon composition will be assessed directly using state of the art nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to detect functional groups representing stable and labile structures. The results will provide key information on the response of tropical forest soils to increased primary productivity. This is of high international importance, because such information is required urgently to calibrate models of future global climate change.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture arboriculture
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
- natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2004-MOBILITY-6
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
OIF - Marie Curie actions-Outgoing International Fellowships
Coordinator
CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.