Environmental and societal consequences of a possible CO/sub 2/-induced climate change. Volume II, Part 14. Research needed to determine the present carbon balance of northern ecosystems and the potential effect of carbon-dioxide-induced climate change

Technical Report · Fri Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982

OSTI ID:6730815

Miller, P C

Given the potential significance of northern ecosystems to the global carbon budget it is critical to estimate the current carbon balance of these ecosystems as precisely as possible, to improve estimates of the future carbon balance if world climates change, and to assess the range of certainty associated with these estimates. As a first step toward quantifying some of the potential changes, a workshop with tundra and taiga ecologists and soil scientists was held in San Diego in March 1980. The first part of this report summarizes the conclusions of this workshop with regard to the estimate of the current areal extent and carbon content of the circumpolar arctic and the taiga, current rates of carbon accumulation in the peat in the arctic and the taiga, and predicted future carbon accumulation rates based on the present understanding of controlling processes and on the understanding of past climates and vegetation. This report presents a finer resolution of areal extents, standing crops, and production rates than was possible previously because of recent syntheses of data from the International Biological Program and current studies in the northern ecosystems, some of which have not yet been published. This recent information changes most of the earlier estimates of carbon content and affects predictions of the effect of climate change. The second part of this report outlines research needed to fill major gaps in the understanding of the role of northern ecosystems in global climate change.

• Research Organization: San Diego State Univ., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AS01-79EV10019
• OSTI ID: 6730815
• Report Number(s): DOE/EV/10019-14-Vol.2; ON: DE83003154
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
560300 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
CARBON
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
EARTH PLANET
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ECOSYSTEMS
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
GEOGRAPHY
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
MASS BALANCE
NONMETALS
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANETS
RECOMMENDATIONS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SOILS
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS