HR: 0830h
AN: B51D-0990    [PDF]
TI: Soil Carbon Sequestration After Six Years of Experimental CO2 Enrichment at the Duke Forest
AU: * Lichter, J
EM: jlichter@bowdoin.edu
AF: Bowdoin College, Biology Department 6500 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011 United States
AU: Barron, S
EM: sbarron@bowdoin.edu
AF: Bowdoin College, Biology Department 6500 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011 United States
AU: Irving, K
EM: kirving@bowdoin.edu
AF: Bowdoin College, Biology Department 6500 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011 United States
AU: Roberts, M
EM: mrobert2@bowdoin.edu
AF: Bowdoin College, Biology Department 6500 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011 United States
AU: Finzi, A
EM: finzi@bu.edu
AF: Boston University, Department of Biology, Boston, MA 02215 United States
AU: Schlesinger, W H
EM: schlesin@bowdoin.edu
AF: Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Durham, NC 27708 United States
AB: Over the first six years of the Duke Forest Free-air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiment the forest floor under the elevated CO2 treatment accumulated more carbon than did the control at a steady rate of ~50 g m-2 yr-1. However, there were no detectable changes in the carbon content of the mineral soil. Increased carbon inputs to the forest floor associated with CO2-enhanced primary productivity entirely account for this increase in forest-floor carbon content, suggesting that the rate of gross decomposition has not changed under the treatment. Estimates of gross decomposition are consistent with this result. These findings suggest that the CO2-induced productivity enhancement may be sustained over the long term. However, estimates of steady-state soil carbon pools based on the results of the first six years of the experiment show that less than 1 Pg of additional carbon could be expected to be sequestered in forest soils in the eastern U. S. in response to CO2 fertilization.
DE: 0400 Biogeosciences
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical processes (4805)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting