HR: 14:55h
AN: B33F-06 INVITED [Abstracts]
TI: Historical Land Use Change Impacts in the Great Plains
AU: * Parton, W
EM: billp@nrel.colostate.edu
AF: Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-
1499, United States
AU: Gutmann, M
EM: gutmann@umich.edu
AF: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, The University of Michigan
PO Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, United States
AU: DelGrosso, S
EM: Steve.DelGrosso@ARS.USDA.GOV
AF: Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-
1499, United States
AU: DelGrosso, S
EM: Steve.DelGrosso@ARS.USDA.GOV
AF: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture - ARS, 2150 Centre Avenue
Building D, Suite 100, Fort Collins, CO 80526-8119, United States
AU: Adler, P
EM: paul.adler@ars.usda.gov
AF: Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit
USDA-ARS, Building 3702, Curtin Road, University Park, PA 16802-3702, United States
AB:
Human activity and climate change have had a big impact on the ecosystem dynamics of managed and
unmanaged terrestrial systems. The impact of human activities and climatic changes have been observed using
numerous field experiments and computer models are capable of simulating the impact of climatic and land use
changes on terrestrial systems. This talk will demonstrate how human land use changes during the last 150
years in the US Great Plains have altered carbon balance and trace gas fluxes for the region. DayCent model
results suggest the 30 to 50% of the soil carbon has been lost from the soils and N2O fluxes have been
increased 10 to 50% for different parts of the region. Plant production has also been greatly changes with
decreases occurring in the dryland cropping systems and increases associated with irrigated cropping systems.
The talk will also project the potential future impact of biofuel production cropping systems on US Agricultural
systems. Biofuel cropping systems have the potential to alter ecosystem dynamics of agricultural systems in both
positive and negative ways. Conversion of existing agricultural land into biofuel production systems generally has
a positive impact of reducing net greenhouse gas fluxes, however, conversion of conservation reserve program
land and undisturbed natural systems into biofuel production systems can greatly reduce the potential positive
impact of biofuel systems on reducing greenhouse gas fluxes.
DE: 0400 BIOGEOSCIENCES
DE: 0414 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0793, 1615, 4805, 4912)
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting