Seasonal exchange of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere: extrapolation from site-specific models to regional models

Thesis/Dissertation · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5283001

King, A W

Ecological models of the seasonal exchange of carbon dioxide (CO/sub 2/) between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere are needed in the study of changes in atmospheric CO/sub 2/ concentration. In response to this need, a set of site-specific models of seasonal terrestrial carbon dynamics was assembled from open-literature sources. The collection was chosen as a base for the development of biome-level models for each of the earth's principal terrestrial biomes or vegetation complexes. The primary disadvantage of this approach is the problem of extrapolating the site-specific models across large regions having considerable biotic, climatic, and edaphic heterogeneity. Two methods of extrapolation were tested. The first approach was a simple extrapolation that assumed relative within-biome homogeneity, and generated CO/sub 2/ source functions that differed dramatically from published estimates of CO/sub 2/ exchange. The second extrapolation explicitly incorporated within-biome variability in the abiotic variables that drive seasonal biosphere-atmosphere CO/sub 2/ exchange.

• Research Organization: Tennessee Univ., Knoxville (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5283001
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
AIR-BIOSPHERE INTERACTIONS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON CYCLE
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
EXTRAPOLATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
VARIATIONS