HR: 0830h
AN: B31E-0354 [PDF]
TI: A model simulation of carbon dioxide and stable carbon isotope exchange between the atmosphere and
terrestrial biosphere: Is the terrestrial d13C discrimination effect decreasing?
AU: * Ito, A
EM: itoh@jamstec.go.jp
AF: Frontier Research System for Global Change, 3173-25 Showa-machi,
Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, 236-0001
Japan
AB:
Terrestrial ecosystems exchange a huge amount of carbon with the atmosphere, causing seasonal, interannual, and even
long-term variability in atmospheric CO2 concentration. They also affect stable carbon isotope composition of atmospheric
CO2, because of photosynthetic discrimination against heavier stable carbon isotope (13C). In this study,
atmosphere-biosphere exchange of CO2 was simulated with a process-based terrestrial carbon cycle model (Sim-CYCLE), including
stable carbon isotopic features. The fractionation factor is affected by a couple of factors: photosynthetic pathway
(C3/C4), stomatal gas diffusion, and recycling of respired CO2 within canopy. A long-term simulation from AD 1901 to 2000
suggested that average discrimination effect would be -16.5 per mill, including -1.8 per mil by canopy recycling. Apparently,
C3 species had larger (more negative) discrimination effects than C4 species. It was remarkable that the discrimination
factor became gradually small (less negative), from -16.65 per mill in 1900s to -16.40 per mill in 1990s. The decline of the
discrimination effect was mainly attributable to stomatal response to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration, reducing the
ratio of intercellular (Ci) to ambient CO2 concentration (Ca). This stomatal response exceeded the competitive responses of
C3/C4 composition and canopy recycling, both of which lead to larger discrimination effects. Importantly, the temporal change
in the discrimination factor could induce an isotopic disequilibrium of the atmosphere-biosphere CO2 exchange, in addition
to the disequilibrium induced by fossil fuel combustion (13C Suess effect). Including this factor, isotope-based analyses of
the global carbon budget would be more or less amended.
DE: 0400 Biogeosciences
DE: 1851 Plant ecology
DE: 3322 Land/atmosphere interactions
DE: 4806 Carbon cycling
DE: 4870 Stable isotopes
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting