Linking Top-down and Bottom-up Approaches to Quantifying Terrestrial Sources and Sinks of Carbon Using Satellite, Atmospheric, Ecosystem and Historical Data

Principal Investigator: Dr. DeFries

This project integrates a number of complementary approaches to understanding current sources and sinks of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere.  By merging information on carbon sources and sinks related to land use change, CO2 fertilization, N fertilization, fire suppression, and climate variability, we are assembling the elements necessary to test hypotheses about the role of each and the way those roles have changed through time.  Partitioning current sources and sinks among mechanisms is a critical prerequisite to projecting the future dynamics of the terrestrial carbon cycle.