Report of a workshop on climate feedbacks and the role of peatlands, tundra, and boreal ecosystems in the global carbon cycle.

摘要

A workshop held in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, assembled leading North American researchers to discuss recent research results and accomplish three goals: (1) estimate, given current knowledge, the net flux of carbon cycle gases between northern ecosystems and the atmosphere under projected climates for atmospheric CO(sub 2) concentrations approaching 580 ppmv; (2) determine the key uncertainties in such a calculation and the short-term research necessary to significantly reduce these uncertainties; and (3) identify long-term research objectives that will increase our confidence in the accuracy of carbon cycle gas flux estimates in northern ecosystems. The research summaries included studies to (1) understand the relationships between climate, direct effects of increased CO(sub 2), nutrient cycling and organic matter production and accumulation in peatland, tundra, and boreal ecosystems; and (2) extend current experimental methods of using remote sensing for the difficult task of extrapolating stand or subsystem processes over regional or global scales. 169 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.