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USGS Soil Carbon Research

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Soils map of Canada Soil classification map for Canada. Different colors represent different soil types. Click on this image for the Canadian Soil Information System website.  

FIRES-ExB

What is the role of the boreal forest in the global C budget? This question prompted NASA's BOREAS (BOReal Ecosystem Atmosphere Study) and was conceptually extended to address one of the most fundamental processes in boreal forests - wildfire - and its effects on ecosystem dynamics. As a result, the FIRES-ExB project was funded by the NSF Biocomplexity Program (Stith Gower , PI) to study this issue in the region near Thompson, Manitoba. Seven eddy flux towers were set in place to measure energy and carbon dioxide budgets on seven stand ages.

At the USGS, our objective was to quantify carbon inputs, losses, and net accumulation in soil and detritus pools for well- and poorly-drained black spruce forests . In close collaboration with Hugo Veldhuis (Natural Resources Canada) and Susan Trumbore (UC Irvine), we are quantifying:
  1. The consumption of coarse wood inputs and its decomposition over fire cycles (contact K. Manies),
  2. Moss cover and its role in regulating soil moisture and temperature regimes and, in turn, decomposition rates (contact J. Harden)
  3. Important parameters for within-soil process models, including temperature and moisture controls, C stablization mechanisms, and fire. We are developing a multi-pool, layered soil process model to examine the isotopic signatures of soil C pools (12C, 13C, and 14C). We have inverted the model using solid phase isotope samples to determine turnover times and compare modelling results to observed field data (contact J. Harden or J. Neff).


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URL: http://carbon.wr.usgs.gov/canada.html
Page Contact Information: Kristen Manies
Page Last Modified: Monday, 26-Mar-2007 18:18:36 EDT