Project Funding: 2008 - 2011

NRA: 2007 NASA: Carbon Cycle Science   

Funded by USDA, NASA

Abstract:
The overall goal of the proposed research is to analyze the impacts of disturbances from insects and fire on the terrestrial carbon budget for the forested ecoregions of Canada, Alaska and the western U.S. This goal addresses Theme 2 - Regional Scale Studies of the Carbon Cycle Science task of NASA ROSES NNH07ZDA001N, and specifically focuses on carbon cycling in high northern latitude regions. The following objectives will be addressed: (1) Develop a consistent bottom-up methodology to estimate carbon consumed during fires; (2) modify a process-based dynamic vegetation/biogeochemistry model to more accurately depict fuel consumption during fires, mortality from fires and insect disturbance, effects of climate and insects on net primary production, and forest succession as a function of disturbance type and severity; and (3) assess the effects of fire/insect disturbance on terrestrial carbon cycling in the boreal and western temperate forests of North American using different modeling approaches. These objectives will be met through using satellite-derived information on the spatial and temporal characteristics of disturbance and recovery after disturbance as inputs for the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM). We will use satellite information products to map vegetation/fuel types, burned area, seasonality of fires, estimating fire severity, and mapping patterns of vegetation recovery after disturbance. We will update TEM to more accurately depict fuel consumptions in the forest types found in the study region, to account for tree mortality and variations in NPP induced by fire and insects, and to reflect variations in post-fire successions that are caused by disturbance severity. We will then use TEM to assess the impacts of disturbance in forests on terrestrial cycling. We will compare the carbon estimates generated by TEM to MODIS NPP estimates (MOD17A3) and those from the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) CBM-CFS3 model to better understand uncertainties of the different modeling approaches. Our project will include collaborations with CFS scientists working on modeling of the carbon cycle, as well as scientists from the USGS and USFS who have expertise and field observations of fuel consumption during fires. The project will aid in the implementation of the Joint North American Carbon Program through the continuation of existing joint research activities between U.S. and Canadian scientists, and reduce terrestrial carbon cycle uncertainties in a significant region of the Northern Hemisphere.

Publications:

French, N. H. F., de Groot, W. J., Jenkins, L. K., Rogers, B. M., Alvarado, E., Amiro, B., de Jong, B., Goetz, S., Hoy, E., Hyer, E., Keane, R., Law, B. E., McKenzie, D., McNulty, S. G., Ottmar, R., Perez-Salicrup, D. R., Randerson, J., Robertson, K. M., Turetsky, M. 2011. Model comparisons for estimating carbon emissions from North American wildland fire. Journal of Geophysical Research. 116. DOI: 10.1029/2010JG001469

Goetz, S. J., Bond-Lamberty, B., Law, B. E., Hicke, J. A., Huang, C., Houghton, R. A., McNulty, S., O'Halloran, T., Harmon, M., Meddens, A. J. H., Pfeifer, E. M., Mildrexler, D., Kasischke, E. S. 2012. Observations and assessment of forest carbon dynamics following disturbance in North America. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 117(G2). DOI: 10.1029/2011JG001733

Kasischke, E. S., Hoy, E. E. 2011. Controls on carbon consumption during Alaskan wildland fires. Global Change Biology. 18(2), 685-699. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02573.x

Kasischke, E. S., Loboda, T., Giglio, L., French, N. H. F., Hoy, E. E., de Jong, B., Riano, D. 2011. Quantifying burned area for North American forests: Implications for direct reduction of carbon stocks. Journal of Geophysical Research. 116(G4). DOI: 10.1029/2011JG001707

Kasischke, E. S., Turetsky, M. R., Kane, E. S. 2012. Effects of trees on the burning of organic layers on permafrost terrain. Forest Ecology and Management. 267, 127-133. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2011.12.009

Loboda, T. V., Hoy, E. E., Giglio, L., Kasischke, E. S. 2011. Mapping burned area in Alaska using MODIS data: a data limitations-driven modification to the regional burned area algorithm. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 20(4), 487. DOI: 10.1071/WF10017

Turetsky, M. R., Kane, E. S., Harden, J. W., Ottmar, R. D., Manies, K. L., Hoy, E., Kasischke, E. S. 2010. Recent acceleration of biomass burning and carbon losses in Alaskan forests and peatlands. Nature Geoscience. 4(1), 27-31. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1027

Veverica, T. J., Kane, E. S., Kasischke, E. S. 2012. Tamarack and black spruce adventitious root patterns are similar in their ability to estimate organic layer depths in northern temperate forests. Canadian Journal of Soil Science. 92(5), 799-802. DOI: 10.4141/CJSS2011-111

Yuan, F., Yi, S., McGuire, A. D., Johnson, K. D., Liang, J., Harden, J. W., Kasischke, E. S., Kurz, W. A. 2012. Assessment of boreal forest historical C dynamics in the Yukon River Basin: relative roles of warming and fire regime change. Ecological Applications. 22(8), 2091-2109. DOI: 10.1890/11-1957.1

2015 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

• Influence of Fire Frequency on Carbon Consumption in Alaskan Black Spruce Forests   --   (Elizabeth E Hoy, Tatiana Loboda, Merritt R. Turetsky, Kirsten Barrett, Eric S. Kasischke)   [abstract]

2013 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)

• Vulnerability and resiliency of Alaskan black spruce forests to increased fire activity during the 2001 to 2010 time period   --   (Eric S. Kasischke, Merritt R. Turetsky, Kirsten Barrett, Evan S Kane, Elizabeth E Hoy, Tatiana Loboda, Shenoy Aditi)   [abstract]

2010 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)

• Fire-climate controls on secondary succession in Alaskan black spruce forests   --   (Eric S. Kasischke, Kirsten Barrett, Laura L. Bourgeau-Chavez, Jill J. Johnstone, Elizabeth E. Hoy, Aditi Shenoy, Matthew Borr)   [abstract]

2008 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Posters

• Improved estimates of carbon emissions from the 2004 Alaska wildfires   --   (Eric S. Kasischke, Elizabeth Hoy, Merritt R. Turetsky, Nancy H.F. French, Bill de Groot, Evan S. Kane, Jennifer Harden)   [abstract]
• A dynamic soil layer model for assessing the effects of wildfire on high latitude terrestrial ecosystems   --   (Shuhua S. Yi, A. David McGuire, Eric S. Kasischke)   [abstract]   [poster]

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):

• NASA Terrestrial Ecology (TE) Project Profile
• North American Carbon Program (NACP) Project Profile