Projektbeschreibung
Treibhausgasemissionen in den arktischen und borealen Ökozonen
Regionen in hohen Breitengraden wie die arktischen und borealen Ökozonen sind aufgrund der beträchtlichen Kohlenstoffvorräte im Boden, die sie zu Nettoquellen für Treibhausgasemissionen machen, ein Schlüsselelement im Klimawandel. Wissenschaftler haben die Auswirkungen des Klimas während der Vegetationsperiode untersucht, haben jedoch die Tatsache übersehen, dass die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels während der Nicht-Vegetationsperiode besonders stark sind und Änderungen beim Zeitpunkt der Schneeschmelze im Frühling sowie steigende Wintertemperaturen verursachen. Infolgedessen werden Methan-Emissionen (CH4) außerhalb der Vegetationsperiode nicht gemessen, während keine Kenntnisse über Stickstoffoxid-Emissionen (N2O) vorliegen. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt FluxWIN wird die jährliche Größe des CH4- und N2O-Flusses messen, Kontrollen des Flusses außerhalb der Vegetationsperiode ermitteln und bewerten, warum bestehende Muster des CH4-Flusses außerhalb der Vegetationsperiode versagen.
Ziel
The response of the terrestrial biosphere to climate change is still largely unknown and represents a key uncertainty in climate change predictions. High latitude regions, including Arctic and boreal ecosystems, constitute a key component of the earth system due to significant soil carbon stocks. High latitude regions are net sources of greenhouse gases, such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), but there is significant disagreement among flux estimates with further uncertainty due to a rapidly changing environment. Climate change effects are particularly strong during the non-growing season, altering the timing of spring snowmelt, fall freeze-up, and increasing winter temperatures. The changes have significant implications for biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem function across high latitude regions.
Despite growing evidence of the importance of non-growing season greenhouse gas emissions, few measurements have been made in pristine Arctic and boreal ecosystems. Non-growing season CH4 emissions can account for 10-100% of annual CH4 flux, while next to nothing is known about emissions of N2O during this period. Process-based models miss non-growing season emissions of CH4, underestimating them by 67% and annual emissions by 25%. I will use complementary observations (WP1), modelling (WP2), and experiments (WP3) to quantify the annual magnitude of CH4 and N2O flux, identify controls on non-growing season flux, and assess why existing models of CH4 flux fail outside of the growing season. Are environmental conditions so different that existing model parameters fail, or is non-growing season biogeochemistry fundamentally different? The overall impact is to shift the paradigm from “nothing happens outside of the growing season” to “capturing non-growing season processes is key to understanding ecosystem dynamics.” Ultimately, results will provide novel insights into greenhouse gas budgets and transform our understanding of fundamental earth system dynamics.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesmeteorologybiosphera
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryaliphatic compounds
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeochemistrybiogeochemistry
Programm/Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
ERC-STG - Starting GrantGastgebende Einrichtung
27570 Bremerhaven
Deutschland