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National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis

Project Description

Computer models that connect the earth’s climate system with the cycling of carbon between the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere are prominent in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2007. These coupled carbon-climate models are used to predict how human activities will alter the composition of the atmosphere and cause a change in climate. The high profile of this activity makes it especially important that the terrestrial carbon cycle is represented correctly so that we can have confidence in larger-scale model predictions. This working group will advance improvements in how the impact of altered atmospheric CO2 concentration is represented in carbon cycle models. We will use some of the longest and most comprehensive data sets on CO2 impacts on ecosystems from field experiments to provide a standard for evaluating 12 ecosystem process and land surface models. The models, which are being used for predicting terrestrial response to atmospheric and climatic change, will be parameterized with site and weather data from the Duke University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments. We will evaluate the ability of the models to reproduce the measured processes of the carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles of the Duke and Oak Ridge experimental stands and their responses to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration. Similarities and differences among the models and their components will provide guidance for improving all of the models. With the experimental data as a benchmark for model performance, the utility of the models for extrapolation to environmental change questions can be demonstrated with increased confidence. This data-model intercomparison project has the potential to provide better scientific outputs for policy making.
Working Group Participants

Principal Investigator(s)

Richard J. Norby, Paul J. Hanson, Yiqi Luo, Ram Oren, I. Colin Prentice

Project Dates

Start: June 1, 2008

End: June 1, 2010

completed

Participants

Stephen Del Grosso
US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Michael C. Dietze
University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
Paul J. Hanson
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Thomas Hickler
Lund University
Atul K. Jain
University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
Julian Jenkins
University of New Hampshire
David W. Kicklighter
Ecosystems Center
Anthony W. King
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Yiqi Luo
University of Oklahoma
Belinda E. Medlyn
Macquarie University
Richard J. Norby
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Ram Oren
Duke University
William J. Parton
Colorado State University
I. Colin Prentice
University of Bristol
M. Lynn Tharp
COMPSCI Consulting LLC
Peter E. Thornton
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Anthony P. Walker
University of Sheffield
Shusen Wang
Natural Resources Canada
Ying-Ping Wang
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
David Warlind
Lund University
Ensheng Weng
University of Oklahoma
Victoria Wittig
University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
Yuanhe Yang
University of Oklahoma
Sönke Zaehle
Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemisty

Products

  1. Presentations / 2012

    Water use and water use efficiency at elevated CO2: A model-data intercomparison at two contrasting temperate forest FACE sites

  2. Journal Article / 2013

    Forest water use and water use efficiency at elevated CO2: A model-data intercomparison at two contrasting temperate forest FACE sites

  3. Journal Article / 2014

    Where does the carbon go? A model-data intercomparison of vegetation carbon allocation and turnover processes at two temperate forest free-air CO2 enrichment sites

  4. Journal Article / 2015

    Modelling CO2 impacts on forest productivity

  5. Journal Article / 2015

    Using ecosystem experiments to improve vegetation models

  6. Presentations / 2012

    Model synthesis of data from free-air CO2 enrichment experiments

  7. Presentations / 2011

    FACE modelling in Tennessee & North Carolina

  8. Presentations / 2012

    Climatic drivers of variability in the response of NPP to elevated C02: A model-data comparison at two FACE sites in the south eastern US

  9. Presentations / 2013

    A model-data synthesis of ecosystem responses to elevated CO2 at two FACE sites in the south eastern US

  10. Journal Article / 2014

    Comprehensive ecosystem model-data synthesis using multiple data sets at two temperate forest free-air CO2 enrichment experiments: Model performance at ambient CO2 concentration

  11. Presentations / 2010

    How robust are responses of carbon-nitrogen cycle models to increasing atmospheric CO2 and climatic changes?

  12. Journal Article / 2014

    Evaluation of 11 terrestrial carbon-nitrogen cycle models against observations from two temperate Free-Air CO2 Enrichment studies

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