DOCSLIB.ORG

Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Workshop Report, March 2008

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Workshop Report, March 2008 DOE/SC-108 Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Integrating Biology and Climate Through Systems Science Report from the March 2008 Workshop U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Office of Biological and Environmental Research DOE/SC-108 Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Integrating Biology and Climate Through Systems Science Report from the March 2008 Workshop Workshop Dates: March 4–6 and 17–18, 2008 Report Publication Date: December 2008 U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Office of Biological and Environmental Research Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Workshop Report: http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/carboncycle/ U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Workshop ii Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................................................v Overview ..............................................................................................................................................................................................1 DOE Workshop on Biological Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Research ............................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Accurate Climate Projections, Effective Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies Depend on Understanding the Global Carbon Cycle .......................... 4 Biology’s Critical Role in the Carbon Cycle ................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Ecosystem Response in a Changing Climate ............................................................................................................................................................ 10 Technical Strategy .............................................................................................................................................................................13 Integrated Science for Predicting Carbon Cycle Responses ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Summary of Research Requirements for Biological Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration ...................................................................................... 23 Interdisciplinary Projects and Training .................................................................................................................................................................... 26 Carbon Flows in Ecosystems—Ecosystem Processes .......................................................................................................................27 Plant Productivity, Partitioning, Respiration, Recalcitrance, Plant-Soil Interactions, and Carbon Biosequestration ................................................ 27 Carbon Flows and Stocks in Soils ............................................................................................................................................................................ 33 Controlling Factors of Carbon Recalcitrance and Biosequestration .......................................................................................................................... 47 Ecosystem and Plant Response to Environmental Variables and Climate Change ........................................................................59 Biotic and Abiotic Interactions in Ecosystems ......................................................................................................................................................... 59 Experimental Responses of Different Biomes to Atmospheric and Climatic Change ................................................................................................ 63 Plant-Soil Interactions (Soil Physicochemistry) ...................................................................................................................................................... 65 Ecosystem Dynamics .........................................................................................................................................................................71 Stand Development in Forests: Baseline Maturation and Aging of Ecosystems ....................................................................................................... 71 The Role of Plant-Trait Variation in Ecosystem Response to Chronic Stress Arising from Climate Change ................................................................ 72 Interannual Variability: Episodic Stress ................................................................................................................................................................... 74 Disturbance and the Dynamics of Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration ................................................................................................................. 75 Biogeochemical Cycling of Carbon in Oceans and Climate Change .................................................................................................79 Marine Carbon “Pumps” and Potential Consequences of Climate Change ............................................................................................................... 79 Linking Microbial Community Structure to Biogeochemical Cycling of Carbon in Marine Systems .......................................................................... 83 Interactions Between the Marine Carbon Cycle and Other Relevant Biogeochemical Cycles (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Iron, and Sulfur) .................... 84 Omic and Systems Biology Approaches to Understanding the Marine Carbon Cycle ............................................................................................... 85 Integration of Experiments, Observations, and Modeling Efforts ............................................................................................................................ 86 Integrating Biology and Climate Through Systems Science ...........................................................................................................95 Genomics and Systems Biology .............................................................................................................................................................................. 95 Knowledge Integration and Synthesis with Biogeochemical Models .................................................................................................................... 101 Crosscutting Issues, Measurement Methods, and Strategies ................................................................................................................................. 107 Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Workshop Participants and Agendas ................................................................................113 Glossary............................................................................................................................................................................................117 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................................................................125 Acronyms and Abbreviations .....................................................................................................................................Inside back cover Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Workshop U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science iii U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Workshop iv E Executive Summary XECUTIVE ne of the most daunting challenges facing science in the 21st Century is to predict how Earth’s ecosystems will respond to global climate change. The global carbon cycle plays a central role in regulating atmospheric Ocarbon dioxide (CO ) levels and thus Earth’s climate, but our basic understand­ S 2 ing of the myriad of tightly interlinked biological processes that drive the global U M M A R Y carbon cycle remains limited at best. Whether terrestrial and ocean ecosystems will capture, store, or release carbon is highly dependent on how changing climate conditions affect processes performed by the organisms that form Earth’s bio­ sphere. Advancing our knowledge of biological components of the global carbon cycle is thus crucial to predicting potential climate change impacts, assessing the viability of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and informing relevant policy decisions. Global carbon cycling is dominated by the paired biological processes of pho­ tosynthesis and respiration. Photosynthetic plants and microbes of Earth’s land­ masses and oceans use solar energy to transform atmospheric CO2 into organic carbon. The majority of this organic carbon is rapidly consumed by plants or microbial decomposers for respiration and returned to the atmosphere as CO2. Coupling between the two processes results in a near equilibrium between photo­ synthesis and respiration at the global scale, but some fraction of organic carbon also remains in stabilized forms such as biomass, soil, and deep ocean sediments. This process, known as carbon biosequestration, temporarily removes
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Probing the Changing Redfield Ratio of Phytoplankton
    Probing the Changing Redfield Ratio of phytoplankton Supervisory Team Rosalind Rickaby www.earth.ox.ac.uk/people/rosalind-rickaby Katsumi Matsumoto www.esci.umn.edu/people/katsumi-matsumoto Key Research Question What controls the Redfield Ratio amongst algae? Overview under different conditions of Fe and C availability In 1934, Alfred Redfield made the notable to test the hypothesis that it is the nutrient observation that the relative ratios of C:N:P of efficiency of photosynthesis that dictates the C:N organic matter appeared to be constant throughout ratio of organic matter. the surface oceans, and also matched the Applicants would ideally have a background in dissolved ratios of those nutrients (C106N16P1). Biology/Chemistry/Earth Sciences or The Redfield ratio is fundamental in dictating the Environmental Sciences. strength of the biological sequestration of carbon, and the amount of oxygen that is used for respiration hence is an intimate control on the biotic feedback of phytoplankton on future climate. Despite efforts to understand the co-evolution of Methodology these ratios between the phytoplankton and the Methods to be used will include: Phytoplankton seawater from experimental, field observations Culture and sterile techniques, EA IRMS, and modelling efforts, there is still no mechanistic Spectrophotometry, and Microscopy. understanding of what drives the enormous variability seen across different phytoplankton lineages with various environmental conditions (Garcia et al., 2018). References & Further Reading Nature Geoscience
    [Show full text]
  • The Risks of Large-Scale Biosequestration in the Context of Carbon Dioxide Removal Globalforestcoalition.Org/Risks-Of-Large-Scale-Biosequestration
    Read the full working paper: The risks of large-scale biosequestration in the context of Carbon Dioxide Removal globalforestcoalition.org/risks-of-large-scale-biosequestration Background photo: Ben Beiske/Flickr The Paris Agreement and support for The negative ecological and social Governance is key! bioenergy and monoculture tree Plantations often impacts of monoculture tree In principle, addressing climate change through biosequestration requires multi-scale replace natural forests, such as governance options that succeed in translating a global environmental policy objective into local plantations this palm oil plantation in Peru. plantations action. But global actors like transnational corporations, international financial institutions and Mathias Rittgerott/Rainforest Rescue powerful, hegemonic governments have far more political and economic power than local The Paris Agreement has set an ambitious target If implemented at the scales envisaged, both BECCS and afforestation rightsholder groups like women and Indigenous Peoples. These global actors have an economic of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. will require vast areas of land for the establishment of industrial interest in relatively cheap or even commercially profitable forms of biosequestration, and large- But the explicit reference to achieving "a monoculture tree plantations. One estimate suggests that using scale monocultures of trees and other crops tend to qualify well in that respect. These actors will balance between anthropogenic emissions BECCS to limit the global temperature rise to 2°C would require crops subsequently be inclined to use arguments that align their economic interests with a discourse of by sources and removals by sinks of to be planted solely for the purpose of CO2 removal on up to 580 global biosphere stewardship, claiming large-scale biosequestration is one of the few remaining greenhouse gases" has put a strong focus million hectares of land, equivalent to around one-third of the current options to effectively address climate change.
    [Show full text]
  • Protect Us from Climate Change
    INTRODUCTION This project documents both the existing value and potential of New England’s working forest lands: Value – not only in terms of business opportunities, jobs and income – but also nonfinancial values, such as enhanced wildlife populations, recreation opportunities and a healthful environment. This project of the New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF) is aimed at enhancing the contribution the region’s forests can make to sustainability, and is intended to complement other efforts aimed at not only conserving New England’s forests, but also enhancing New England’s agriculture and fisheries. New England’s forests have sustained the six-state region since colonial settlement. They have provided the wood for buildings, fuel to heat them, the fiber for papermaking, the lumber for ships, furniture, boxes and barrels and so much more. As Arizona is defined by its desert landscapes and Iowa by its farms, New England is defined by its forests. These forests provide a wide range of products beyond timber, including maple syrup; balsam fir tips for holiday decorations; paper birch bark for crafts; edibles such as berries, mushrooms and fiddleheads; and curatives made from medicinal plants. They are the home to diverse and abundant wildlife. They are the backdrop for hunting, fishing, hiking, skiing and camping. They also provide other important benefits that we take for granted, including clean air, potable water and carbon storage. In addition to tangible benefits that can be measured in board feet or cords, or miles of hiking trails, forests have been shown to be important to both physical and mental health. Beyond their existing contributions, New England’s forests have unrealized potential.
    [Show full text]
  • Drought and Ecosystem Carbon Cycling
    Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 151 (2011) 765–773 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Agricultural and Forest Meteorology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agrformet Review Drought and ecosystem carbon cycling M.K. van der Molen a,b,∗, A.J. Dolman a, P. Ciais c, T. Eglin c, N. Gobron d, B.E. Law e, P. Meir f, W. Peters b, O.L. Phillips g, M. Reichstein h, T. Chen a, S.C. Dekker i, M. Doubková j, M.A. Friedl k, M. Jung h, B.J.J.M. van den Hurk l, R.A.M. de Jeu a, B. Kruijt m, T. Ohta n, K.T. Rebel i, S. Plummer o, S.I. Seneviratne p, S. Sitch g, A.J. Teuling p,r, G.R. van der Werf a, G. Wang a a Department of Hydrology and Geo-Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU-University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands b Meteorology and Air Quality Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands c LSCE CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Orme des Merisiers, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France d Institute for Environment and Sustainability, EC Joint Research Centre, TP 272, 2749 via E. Fermi, I-21027 Ispra, VA, Italy e College of Forestry, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5752 USA f School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, EH8 9XP Edinburgh, UK g School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK h Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, PO Box 100164, D-07701 Jena, Germany i Department of Environmental Sciences, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, PO Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands j Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstraße 27-29, 1040 Vienna, Austria k Geography and Environment, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA l Department of Global Climate, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • Revisiting the Sulfur-Water Chemical System in the Middle Atmosphere of Venus Wencheng Shao, Xi Zhang, Carver Bierson, Therese Encrenaz
    Revisiting the Sulfur-Water Chemical System in the Middle Atmosphere of Venus Wencheng Shao, Xi Zhang, Carver Bierson, Therese Encrenaz To cite this version: Wencheng Shao, Xi Zhang, Carver Bierson, Therese Encrenaz. Revisiting the Sulfur-Water Chemi- cal System in the Middle Atmosphere of Venus. Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, Wiley- Blackwell, 2020, 125 (8), pp.e06195. 10.1029/2019JE006195. hal-03250477 HAL Id: hal-03250477 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03250477 Submitted on 11 Jun 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Copyright RESEARCH ARTICLE Revisiting the Sulfur‐Water Chemical System 10.1029/2019JE006195 in the Middle Atmosphere of Venus Key Points: Wencheng D. Shao1 , Xi Zhang1 , Carver J. Bierson1 , and Therese Encrenaz2 • We found that there is no bifurcation behavior in the 1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, 2LESIA, Observatoire de sulfur‐water chemical system as previously claimed Paris, PSL University, CNRS, Sorbonne University, University Sorbonne Paris City, Meudon, France • The observed SO2‐H2O anticorrelation can be explained by the sulfur‐water chemistry with Abstract Sulfur‐water chemistry plays an important role in the middle atmosphere of Venus.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea Gigas) in the UK: Economic, Legal and Environmental Issues Associated with Its Cultivation, Wild Establishment and Exploitation
    The Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) in the UK: Economic, Legal and Environmental Issues Associated with its Cultivation, Wild Establishment and Exploitation Report for the Shellfish Association of Great Britain Final: August 2012 The Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) in the UK: Economic, Legal and Environmental Issues Associated with its Cultivation, Wild Establishment and Exploitation Prepared by: Centre for Conservation Ecology & Environmental Science Bournemouth University Christchurch House Talbot Campus Fern Barrow Poole Dorset BH12 5BB ABP Marine Environmental Research Ltd Quayside Suite Medina Chambers Town Quay Southampton Hampshire SO14 2AQ Jhc research Prospect Cottage Happy Bottom Corfe Mullen Dorset BH21 3DP Plymouth University Centre for Marine and Coastal Policy Research Plymouth University Reynolds Building Drake Circus Plymouth PL4 8AA Suggested Citation: Herbert, R.J.H., Roberts, C., Humphreys, J. and Fletcher, S., 2012. The Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) in the UK: Economic, Legal and Environmental Issues Associated with its Cultivation, Wild Establishment and Exploitation. Report for the Shellfish Association of Great Britain. (i) The Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) in the UK: Economic, Legal and Environmental Issues Associated with its Cultivation, Wild Establishment and Exploitation Summary Introduction and Methods 1. This paper presents an independent review of current economic, legal and environmental issues pertaining to the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) industry in the UK. The study was commissioned by the Shellfish Association of Great Britain (SAGB) and a steering group consisting of industry members and regulatory agencies. The study draws on evidence from comparable temperate regions around the world where Pacific oysters are grown and from UK and European stakeholders, industry, growers and regulators.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2012.11628V3 [Astro-Ph.EP] 26 Jan 2021
    manuscript submitted to JGR: Planets The Fundamental Connections Between the Solar System and Exoplanetary Science Stephen R. Kane1, Giada N. Arney2, Paul K. Byrne3, Paul A. Dalba1∗, Steven J. Desch4, Jonti Horner5, Noam R. Izenberg6, Kathleen E. Mandt6, Victoria S. Meadows7, Lynnae C. Quick8 1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA 2Planetary Systems Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA 3Planetary Research Group, Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA 4School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA 5Centre for Astrophysics, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia 6Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA 7Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA 8Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA Key Points: • Exoplanetary science is rapidly expanding towards characterization of atmospheres and interiors. • Planetary science has similarly undergone rapid expansion of understanding plan- etary processes and evolution. • Effective studies of exoplanets require models and in-situ data derived from plan- etary science observations and exploration. arXiv:2012.11628v4 [astro-ph.EP] 8 Aug 2021 ∗NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow Corresponding author: Stephen R. Kane, [email protected] {1{ manuscript submitted to JGR: Planets Abstract Over the past several decades, thousands of planets have been discovered outside of our Solar System. These planets exhibit enormous diversity, and their large numbers provide a statistical opportunity to place our Solar System within the broader context of planetary structure, atmospheres, architectures, formation, and evolution.
    [Show full text]
  • Forestry As a Natural Climate Solution: the Positive Outcomes of Negative Carbon Emissions
    PNW Pacific Northwest Research Station INSIDE Tracking Carbon Through Forests and Streams . 2 Mapping Carbon in Soil. .3 Alaska Land Carbon Project . .4 What’s Next in Carbon Cycle Research . 4 FINDINGS issue two hundred twenty-five / march 2020 “Science affects the way we think together.” Lewis Thomas Forestry as a Natural Climate Solution: The Positive Outcomes of Negative Carbon Emissions IN SUMMARY Forests are considered a natural solu- tion for mitigating climate change David D’A more because they absorb and store atmos- pheric carbon. With Alaska boasting 129 million acres of forest, this state can play a crucial role as a carbon sink for the United States. Until recently, the vol- ume of carbon stored in Alaska’s forests was unknown, as was their future car- bon sequestration capacity. In 2007, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act that directed the Department of the Inte- rior to assess the stock and flow of carbon in all the lands and waters of the United States. In 2012, a team com- posed of researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Ser- vice, and the University of Alaska assessed how much carbon Alaska’s An unthinned, even-aged stand in southeast Alaska. New research on carbon sequestration in the region’s coastal temperate rainforests, and how this may change over the next 80 years, is helping land managers forests can sequester. evaluate tradeoffs among management options. The researchers concluded that ecosys- tems of Alaska could be a substantial “Stones have been known to move sunlight, water, and atmospheric carbon diox- carbon sink.
    [Show full text]
  • Enhancing the Natural Sulfur Cycle to Slow Global Warming$
    ARTICLE IN PRESS Atmospheric Environment 41 (2007) 7373–7375 www.elsevier.com/locate/atmosenv New Directions: Enhancing the natural sulfur cycle to slow global warming$ Full scale ocean iron fertilization of the Southern The CLAW hypothesis further states that greater Ocean (SO) has been proposed previously as a DMS production would result in additional flux to means to help mitigate rising CO2 in the atmosphere the atmosphere, more cloud condensation nuclei (Martin et al., 1990, Nature 345, 156–158). Here we (CCN) and greater cloud reflectivity by decreasing describe a different, more leveraged approach to cloud droplet size. Thus, increased DMS would partially regulate climate using limited iron en- contribute to the homeostasis of the planet by hancement to stimulate the natural sulfur cycle, countering warming from increasing CO2. A cor- resulting in increased cloud reflectivity that could ollary to the CLAW hypothesis is that elevated CO2 cool large regions of our planet. Some regions of the itself increases DMS production which has been Earth’s oceans are high in nutrients but low in observed during a mesocosm scale CO2 enrichment primary productivity. The largest such region is the experiment (Wingenter et al., 2007, Geophysical SO followed by the equatorial Pacific. Several Research Letters 34, L05710). The CLAW hypoth- mesoscale (102 km2) experiments have shown that esis relies on the assumption that DMS sea-to-air the limiting nutrient to productivity is iron. Yet, the flux leads to new particles and not just the growth of effectiveness of iron fertilization for sequestering existing particles. If the CLAW hypothesis is significant amounts of atmospheric CO2 is still in correct, the danger is that enormous anthropogenic question.
    [Show full text]
  • Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Integrating Biology and Climate Through Systems Science March 2008 Workshop Report
    Carbon Cycling and Biosequestration Integrating Biology and Climate through Systems Science March 2008 Workshop Report http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/carboncycle/ ne of the most daunting challenges facing science in processes that drive the global carbon cycle, (2) achieve greater the 21st Century is to predict how Earth’s ecosystems integration of experimental biology and biogeochemical mod- will respond to global climate change. The global eling approaches, (3) assess the viability of potential carbon Ocarbon cycle plays a central role in regulating atmospheric biosequestration strategies, and (4) develop novel experimental carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and thus Earth’s climate, but our approaches to validate climate model predictions. basic understanding of the myriad tightly interlinked biologi- cal processes that drive the global carbon cycle remains lim- A Science Strategy for the Future ited. Whether terrestrial and ocean ecosystems will capture, Understanding and predicting processes of the global carbon store, or release carbon is highly dependent on how changing cycle will require bold new research approaches aimed at linking climate conditions affect processes performed by the organ- global-scale climate phenomena; biogeochemical processes of isms that form Earth’s biosphere. Advancing our knowledge ecosystems; and functional activities encoded in the genomes of of biological components of the global carbon cycle is crucial microbes, plants, and biological communities. This goal presents to predicting potential climate change impacts, assessing the a formidable challenge, but emerging systems biology research viability of climate change adaptation and mitigation strate- approaches provide new opportunities to bridge the knowledge gies, and informing relevant policy decisions. gap between molecular- and global-scale phenomena.
    [Show full text]
  • The Need for Fast Near-Term Climate Mitigation to Slow Feedbacks and Tipping Points
    The Need for Fast Near-Term Climate Mitigation to Slow Feedbacks and Tipping Points Critical Role of Short-lived Super Climate Pollutants in the Climate Emergency Background Note DRAFT: 27 September 2021 Institute for Governance Center for Human Rights and & Sustainable Development (IGSD) Environment (CHRE/CEDHA) Lead authors Durwood Zaelke, Romina Picolotti, Kristin Campbell, & Gabrielle Dreyfus Contributing authors Trina Thorbjornsen, Laura Bloomer, Blake Hite, Kiran Ghosh, & Daniel Taillant Acknowledgements We thank readers for comments that have allowed us to continue to update and improve this note. About the Institute for Governance & About the Center for Human Rights and Sustainable Development (IGSD) Environment (CHRE/CEDHA) IGSD’s mission is to promote just and Originally founded in 1999 in Argentina, the sustainable societies and to protect the Center for Human Rights and Environment environment by advancing the understanding, (CHRE or CEDHA by its Spanish acronym) development, and implementation of effective aims to build a more harmonious relationship and accountable systems of governance for between the environment and people. Its work sustainable development. centers on promoting greater access to justice and to guarantee human rights for victims of As part of its work, IGSD is pursuing “fast- environmental degradation, or due to the non- action” climate mitigation strategies that will sustainable management of natural resources, result in significant reductions of climate and to prevent future violations. To this end, emissions to limit temperature increase and other CHRE fosters the creation of public policy that climate impacts in the near-term. The focus is on promotes inclusive socially and environmentally strategies to reduce non-CO2 climate pollutants, sustainable development, through community protect sinks, and enhance urban albedo with participation, public interest litigation, smart surfaces, as a complement to cuts in CO2.
    [Show full text]
  • 1-3: Biogeochemical Cycles and Ecosystem Homeostasis
    1-3: Biogeochemical cycles and Ecosystem homeostasis:……….…………………Week 4 For a full understanding of ecosystem functions , we need some knowledge of the quantitative and energetic pathways within an ecosystem . A brief consideration of the cyclic passage of the key elements ( such as carbon , hydrogen , oxygen , nitrogen , phosphorus, and sulfur ) between the living and nonliving components of the ecosystem , is a logical starting point toward this understanding . Carbon cycle : Carbon is a key element in all organic material . Carbon exists in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide , which is the form required in the photosynthesis ( Fig .4 ) . From plants , organic carbon may go into animals , and from either plants or animals it may re-enter the atmosphere as CO2 through respiration and decomposition . Carbon tied up in hard parts of some animals , such as shells , will remain for a long time as marine deposits of animal inorganic carbonates . Limestone can result from marine deposits of animal inorganic carbonates as well as from inorganic precipitation of carbonates in water . These carbonates in limestone can then return to the carbon cycle only very slowly through a process of erosion and dissolution . Carbon may also in the form of organic deposits in coal and petroleum until released in burning . Fig . 4 : Carbon cycle - 9 - Nitrogen cycle : Nitrogen is an essential element of all protoplasm , particularly proteins . The atmospheric form of the free nitrogen must be fixed to NH3 or NO3 which can be utilized by plants(Fig.5). Nitrogen fixation is accomplished by bacterial action of both free – living soil bacteria such as Azotobacter and Clostridium and symbiotic bacteria such as Rhizobium living in root nodules of leguminous plants .
    [Show full text]