Objective
(A) To assess the impact of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations on the physiology of growth processes in European forest trees.
(B) To develop, parameterize and test models of functional processes at the stand scale that will enable predictions of CO2 and water vapour exchanges of stands in a high CO2 environment.
The growth processes expected to change in an elevated CO2 environment are as follows:
- CO2 assimilation
- Respiration, both growth and maintenance
- Carbon allocation to stem leaves and roots, particularly in relation to nitrogen availability
- Leaf area dynamics
- Root length development and population dynamics
In order to study these processes the following methodology will be used:
i) For cultivation or preconditioning of young trees or parts of older trees in a high CO2 environment
- open top chambers (OTC) - mini greenhouses and environmental tunnels - branch bags on larger trees
ii) For assessment of impact
- growth analysis - CO2 and water vapour exchange with cuvettes in situ - CO2 and water exchange in relation to controlled variables in laboratory systems - isolation of chlorophyll proteins and analysis of Rubisco, cytochrome f and proteins of PS I and PS II using mono- and polyclonal antibodies
iii) For model development
- harmonisation of existing models to run on PC 386 - addition of new routines containing CO2-sensitive pressure points
iv) For model testing
- CO2 and water vapour flux measurements by eddy covariance above stands
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
EH9 3JU Edinburgh
United Kingdom