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Title: Characteristics of free air carbon dioxide enrichment of a northern temperate mature forest

Journal Article · · Global Change Biology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14786 · OSTI ID:1564278
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [4];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [5];  [2]
  1. Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
  2. Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) University of Birmingham Birmingham UK, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
  3. Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) University of Birmingham Birmingham UK, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham Birmingham UK, Yorkshire Water Bradford UK
  4. Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton NY USA
  5. Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) University of Birmingham Birmingham UK, Department of Agriculture, Science and the Environment School of Medical, Health and Applied Sciences Central Queensland University Rockhampton Qld Australia
+ Show Author Affiliations

In 2017, the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) began to conduct Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) within a mature broadleaf deciduous forest situated in the United Kingdom. BIFoR FACE employs large-scale infrastructure, in the form of lattice towers, forming 'arrays' which encircle a forest plot of ~30 m diameter. BIFoR FACE consists of three treatment arrays to elevate local CO2 concentrations (e[CO2]) by +150 µmol/mol. In practice, acceptable operational enrichment (ambient [CO2] + e[CO2]) is ±20% of the set point 1-min average target. There are a further three arrays that replicate the infrastructure and deliver ambient air as paired controls for the treatment arrays. For the first growing season with e[CO2] (April to November 2017), [CO2] measurements in treatment and control arrays show that the target concentration was successfully delivered, that is: +147 ± 21 µmol/mol (mean ± SD) or 98 ± 14% of set point enrichment target. e[CO2] treatment was accomplished for 97.7% of the scheduled operation time, with the remaining time lost due to engineering faults (0.6% of the time), CO2 supply issues (0.6%) or adverse weather conditions (1.1%). CO2 demand in the facility was driven predominantly by wind speed and the formation of the deciduous canopy. Deviations greater than 10% from the ambient baseline CO2 occurred <1% of the time in control arrays. Incidences of cross-contamination >80 µmol/mol (i.e. >53% of the treatment increment) into control arrays accounted for <0.1% of the enrichment period. The median [CO2] values in reconstructed three-dimensional [CO2] fields show enrichment somewhat lower than the target but still well above ambient. The data presented here provide confidence in the facility setup and can be used to guide future next-generation forest FACE facilities built into tall and complex forest stands.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; SC0016011
OSTI ID:
1564278
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1564279; OSTI ID: 1569550
Report Number(s):
BNL-212169-2019-JAAM
Journal Information:
Global Change Biology, Journal Name: Global Change Biology; ISSN 1354-1013
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 18 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Figures / Tables (16)

Table 1(p. 31)table Table 1
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