USGS Soil Carbon Research
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The best time to core wetter sites is in the winter. Click on this picture for a larger versioin. |
Boreal forests contain large carbon reserves that are highly susceptible to changes in climate.
Central to the fate of these C reserves is the interaction between fire occurrence and changes in the surface
layers above the permafrost. At the landscape scale, soil drainage is the intermediary among fire, climate,
and permafrost: wetlands supress fire for all but the most severe drought-seasons while uplands sustain fire-adapted ecosystems and soils.
Because boreal carbon reserves are so large, a shift toward a net carbon source may have important consequences for global climate patterns. Understanding interactions among climatic, hydrologic, and biogeochemical variables will help to assess the state of carbon cycling and its direction of change. We are using process studies and modeling to better document past and present climates (moisture and thermal regimes), fire cycles, and rates of C sequestration. additional information on our Alaska research... |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://carbon.wr.usgs.gov/focal.html
Page Contact Information: Kristen Manies
Page Last Modified: Tuesday, 20-Mar-2007 19:21:38 EDT
