HR: 14:40h
AN: B53A-05    [Abstracts]
TI: An Integrated Approach to a Complete Carbon Budget for the Delaware River Basin
AU: * Birdsey, R
EM: rbirdsey@fs.fed.us
AF: USDA Forest Service, 11 Campus Blvd. Ste. 200 , Newtown Square, PA 19073 United States
AU: Jenkins, J
EM: jennifer.c.jenkins@uvm.edu
AF: University of Vermont, 617 Main St., Burlington, VT 05405 United States
AU: Murdoch, P
EM: pmurdoch@usgs.gov
AF: US Geological Survey, 425 Jordan Rd, Troy, NY 12180 United States
AU: Pan, Y
EM: ypan@fs.fed.us
AF: USDA Forest Service, 11 Campus Blvd. Ste. 200 , Newtown Square, PA 19073 United States
AU: Hom, J
EM: jhom@fs.fed.us
AF: USDA Forest Service, 11 Campus Blvd. Ste. 200 , Newtown Square, PA 19073 United States
AB: We combined integrated measurement and monitoring of vegetation, soil, and water with process and empirical models to estimate carbon stocks and dynamics of the Delaware River Basin. Agencies operating in the basin accepted the challenge of designing an integrated monitoring strategy by augmenting existing monitoring systems. Watersheds are logical conceptual units for integrating environmental information on a regional scale, because aquatic systems integrate the biogeochemistry of large areas with well-defined boundaries. Scaling is also possible within watersheds because there is a hierarchical physiography, from small catchments to whole river basins. At the largest scale of the whole river basin, we used remote sensing and data from existing sample plot networks maintained by the USDA Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service. We used estimators from the FORCARB-2 carbon accounting model to estimate basin-wide change in forest carbon stocks. At the smallest scale, we added land and water measurements to existing intensive monitoring sites maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service, and estimated complete land and water carbon budgets. At an intermediate scale, we used remote sensing and intensive sampling of selected small watersheds that had contrasting conditions defined primarily by degree of residential development. At all scales, we used the PnET-CN ecosystem process model to estimate and map biomass and productivity, and the SPARROW empirical model to estimate carbon transport by water. Initial results show that the Basin is a small net carbon sink, although within the basin, southern areas are losing carbon while northern areas are gaining carbon primarily because of land-use change. To extend this work for decision support, we are developing methods to query data and models from these different scales so that estimates can be made for any watershed within the river basin. We are also evaluating the watershed approach to see how well it may complement an airshed approach based on flux towers and ecosystem process models.
DE: 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions (0426, 1610)
DE: 0400 BIOGEOSCIENCES
DE: 3309 Climatology (1616, 1620, 3305, 4215, 8408)
DE: 3322 Land/atmosphere interactions (1218, 1631, 1843)
DE: 4805 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 1615, 4912)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005