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Focus 1:
Ecosystem Physiology and Global Change
link
to the Focus 1 webpage
[Leader: James
Ehleringer]
[Officer: Diane Pataki]
The primary aim of Focus 1 is to
understand and model the effects of global change on primary
ecosystem processes such as the exchange of carbon, water
and trace gases with the atmosphere, element cycling and
storage, and biomass accumulation or loss. A central thesis
is that the ways in which ecosystems function - their
physiology - will be strongly affected by the combined and
interactive suite of atmospheric and climatic changes, such
as elevated CO2, temperature, N deposition, and
changes in precipitation. The analysis will also take into
account land-use practices that change species composition
and land cover, and thus impact on ecosystem
processes.
Activity
1.1: Ecosystem Response to Elevated CO2 and
Temperature
[Leader: Christian Körner]
Objective
To determine the ecosystem-level responses to increasing
levels of atmospheric CO2 and air temperature,
and their interactions with dynamic resources, especially
nitrogen and water; and the suite of feedbacks that
structure and regulate ecosystems, including changes in
nutrient cycling, water availability and relations with
other ecosystem components (e.g., herbivory and
decomposition).
Task 1.1.1: Elevated
CO2 Impacts on Ecosystem Function, including
Interactions with Temperature and Nutrient Changes
[Richard Norby]
Task 1.1.2: Increasing
Temperature and its Impact on Ecosystem Functioning,
especially on Carbon Flux [Lindsey Rustad and Gaius
Shaver]
Activity
1.2: Terrestrial Ecosystem
Biogeochemistry
[Leader: David Schimel]
Objective
To understand and predict the constraints that the nitrogen
and phosphorus cycles place on the terrestrial carbon cycle,
and how these constraints affect the ability of the
terrestrial biosphere to absorb carbon from the
atmosphere.
Task 1.2.1: Nutrient
Constraints on Organic Matter Accumulation in Terrestrial
Ecosystems [Peter Högberg]
Task 1.2.2: Global Patterns of
Litter Chemistry and Decomposition [Cheryl
Palm]
Activity
1.3: Effect of Changes in Vegetation on Carbon, Water, and
Energy Fluxes
[Leader: James Ehleringer]
Objective
To improve understanding of the ecological processes that
control carbon, water, and energy fluxes between the
terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere, with particular
emphasis on root distributions and dynamics, and on
below-ground processes in general.
Task 1.3.1: Root Distributions
and Carbon and Water Fluxes [Robert
Jackson]
Task 1.3.2: Ecological Controls
on Biosphere-Atmosphere CO2 and H2O
Fluxes [Riccardo Valentini]
Task 1.3.3: Stable Isotope
Integration of CO2 and H2O Fluxes
[James Ehleringer]
Activity
1.4: Integrating Activities
[Leader: Louis Pitelka]
Objective
To ensure that the results from the other three Activities
of Focus 1 are effectively synthesized and incorporated into
patch, regional, and global models.
Task 1.4.1: Integrating
Ecosystem Physiology into Regional and Global Ecosystem
Models [Christopher Field]
Task 1.4.2: Synthesis and
Analysis of Experimental Data [Louis
Pitelka]
[Focus
2] [Focus
3] [Focus
4]
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