Ecosystem-Atmosphere Carbon Dioxide Fluxes for Canadian Forests and Peatlands.
Hank
A
Margolis, Fluxnet-Canada, Laval University, Hank.Margolis@sbf.ulaval.ca
(Presenting)
The potential importance of the biosphere to climate change is highlighted by the fact that annual C fluxes from terrestrial ecosystems are an order of magnitude greater than fossil fuel emissions. Canada's vast land area encompasses more than 45% of the North American continent, indicating that Canada plays a significant role in the continental carbon cycle.
By March 2007 the Fluxnet-Canada Research Network will have been in operation for five years and conducted carbon flux measurements at a total of 36 network or associated sites along an east-west continental transect. Year-round measurements of the net exchange (flux) of C, water and energy between these sites and the atmosphere will have been made at 26 of these sites, while the other ten sites will have been measured periodically during the growing season. The network studies a) the relationship between the inter-annual variability of C fluxes and climate, b) the effect of disturbance on C fluxes, c) the relationship between ecosystem productivity and net C fluxes, and (d) ecosystem and climate models that allow extrapolation in space and time. The knowledge gained from these studies will allow us and others to provide better estimates of the potential for C uptake, emission and long-term sequestration by Canadian forests and peatlands. We will present key results from the network.