Damian Barrett

Trading Water for Carbon with Biological Carbon Sequestration

Carbon sequestration strategies highlight tree plantations without considering their full environmental consequences. We combined field research, synthesis of more than 600 observations, and climate and economic modeling to document substantial losses in stream flow, and increased soil salinization and acidification, with afforestation. Plantations decreased stream flow by 227 millimeters per year globally (52%), with 13% of streams drying completely for at least 1 year. Regional modeling of U.S. plantation scenarios suggests that climate feedbacks are unlikely to offset such water losses and could exacerbate them. Plantations can help control groundwater recharge and upwelling but reduce stream flow and salinize and acidify some soils.

Decomposition of vegetation cover into woody and herbaceous components using AVHRR NDVI time series

A method is developed to separate Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data into contributions from woody (perennial) and herbaceous (annual) vegetation, and thereby to infer their separate leaf area indices and cover fractions. The method is formally consistent with fundamental linearity requirements for such a decomposition, and is capable of rejecting contaminated NDVI data. In this study, estimates of annual averaged woody cover and monthly averaged herbaceous cover over Australia are determined using Pathfinder AVHRR Land series (PAL) Global Area Coverage (GAC) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) NDVI data from 1981 to 1994, together with ground-based measurements of leaf area index (LAI) and foliage projective cover (FPC).

The effects of elevated [CO2] on the C:N and C:P mass ratios of plant tissues

The influence of elevated CO2 concentration ([CO2]) during plant growth on the carbon:nutrient ratios of tissues depends in part on the time and space scales considered. Most evidence relates to individual plants examined over weeks to just a few years. The C:N ratio of live tissues is found to increase, decrease or remain the same under elevated [CO2]. On average it increases by about 15% under a doubled [CO2]. A testable hypothesis is proposed to explain why it increases in some situations and decreases in others. It includes the notion that only in the intermediate range of N-availability will C:N of live tissues increase under elevated [CO2]. Five hypotheses to explain the mechanism of such increase in C:N are discussed; none of these options explains all the published results. Where elevated [CO2] did increase the C:N of green leaves, that response was not necessarily expressed as a higher C:N of senesced leaves. An hypothesis is explored to explain the observed range in the degree of propogation of a CO2 effect on live tissues through to the litter derived from them. Data on C:P ratios under elevated [CO2] are sparse and also variable. They do not yet suggest a generalising-hypothesis of responses. Although, unlike for C:N, there is no theoretical expectation that C:P of plants would increase under elevated [CO2], the average trend in the data is of such an increase. The processes determining the C:P response to elevated [CO2] seem to be largely independent of those for C:N. Research to advance the topic should be structured to examine the components of the hypotheses to explain effects on C:N. This involves experiments in which plants are grown over the full range of N and of P availability from extreme limitation to beyond saturation. Measurements need to: distinguish structural from non-structural dry matter; organic from inorganic forms of the nutrient in the tissues; involve all parts of the plant to evaluate nutrient and C allocation changes with treatments; determine resorption factors during tissue senescence; and be made with cognisance of the temporal and spatial aspects of the phenomena involved.

Steady state turnover time of carbon in the Australian terrestrial biosphere

The turnover time of terrestrial carbon was estimated using a multiobjective parameterization method that combined data sets of plant production, biomass, litter and soil-C observations in the calibration of a C-cycle model for the Australian continent (VAST1.1; Vegetation and Soil carbon Transfer). The method employed a genetic algorithm to minimize model-data deviations and maximize consistency between estimated model parameters and all available data. Based on the parameterization, the turnover time of biosphere C for Australia was estimated to be 78 years which is longer than global C-turnover estimates (of 26–60 years) due entirely to slower turnover of C in the upper 20 cm of soil. Turnover times of litter and deeper soil-C were similar to global values. By splitting total C in the upper 20 cm between labile and nonlabile fractions (based on published data) the turnover time of the labile pool was at least 44 years which is still longer than global estimates (9–25 years). Longer C-turnover in Australian surface soils was attributed to (1) limited soil moisture slowing decomposition more than net primary production, (2) frequent fires leading to a large fraction of nonlabile charcoal C in soil, and (3) strong adsorbing capacity for organic-C in these highly weathered soils. It was found that >89% of the C flux to the atmosphere from decomposition of organic matter originated from fine litter, coarse woody debris and the upper 20 cm of soil in all biomes.

Conversion of canopy intercepted radiation to photosynthate: review of modelling approaches for regional scales

A fundamental component of most models of terrestrial carbon balance is an estimate of plant canopy photosynthetic uptake driven by radiation interception by the canopy. In this article, we review approaches used to model the conversion of radiation into photosynthate. As this process is well understood at the leaf-scale, the modelling problem is essentially one of up-scaling, to canopy, regional or global scale. Our review therefore focuses on issues of scaling, including model identification, parameterisation and validation at large scales. Four different approaches are commonly taken to modelling photosynthate production at large scales: the maximum productivity, resource-use efficiency, big-leaf, and sun-shade models. Models representing each of these approaches are discussed and model predictions compared with estimates of gross primary productivity derived from eddy covariance data measured above a Sitka spruce forest. The sun-shade model was found to perform best at all time scales considered. However, other models had significant advantages including simplicity of implementation and the ability to combine the model with remotely-sensed information on vegetation radiation interception. We conclude that all four approaches can be successfully used to model photosynthetic uptake and that the best approach in a given situation will depend on model objectives and data availability.

OptIC project: An intercomparison of optimization techniques for parameter estimation in terrestrial biogeochemical models

We describe results of a project known as OptIC (Optimisation InterComparison) for comparison of parameter estimation methods in terrestrial biogeochemical models. A highly simplified test model was used to generate pseudo-data to which noise with different characteristics was added. Participants in the OptIC project were asked to estimate the model parameters used to generate this data, and to predict model variables into the future. Ten participants contributed results using one of the following methods: Levenberg-Marquardt, adjoint, Kalman filter, Markov chain Monte Carlo and genetic algorithm. Methods differed in how they locate the minimum (gradient-descent or global search), how observations are processed (all at once sequentially), or the number of iterations used, or assumptions about the statistics (some methods assume Gaussian probability density functions; others do not). We found the different methods equally successful at estimating the parameters in our application. The biggest variation in parameter estimates arose from the choice of cost function, not the choice of optimization method. Relatively poor results were obtained when the model-data mismatch in the cost function included weights that were instantaneously dependent on noisy observations. This was the case even when the magnitude of residuals varied with the magnitude of observations. Missing data caused estimates to be more scattered, and the uncertainty of predictions increased correspondingly. All methods gave biased results when the noise was temporally correlated or non-Gaussian, or when incorrect model forcing was used. Our results highlight the need for care in choosing the error model in any optimization.

Global atmospheric change effects on terrestrial carbon sequestration: Exploration with a global C- and N-cycle model (CQUESTN)

A model of the interacting global carbon and nitrogen cycles (CQUESTN) is developed to explore the possible history of C-sequestration into the terrestrial biosphere in response to the global increases (past and possible future) in atmospheric CO2 concentration, temperature and N-deposition. The model is based on published estimates of pre-industrial C and N pools and fluxes into vegetation, litter and soil compartments. It was found necessary to assign low estimates of N pools and fluxes to be compatible with the more firmly established C-cycle data. Net primary production was made responsive to phytomass N level, and to CO2 and temperature deviation from preindustrial values with sensitivities covering the ranges in the literature. Biological N-fixation could be made either unresponsive to soil C:N ratio, or could act to tend to restore the preindustrial C:N of humus with different N-fixation intensities. As for all such simulation models, uncertainties in both data and functional relationships render it more useful for qualitative evaluation than for quantitative prediction.With the N-fixation response turned off, the historic CO2 increase led to standard-model sequestration into terrestrial ecosystems in 1995AD of 1.8 Gt C yr−1. With N-fixation restoring humus C:N strongly, C sequestration was 3 Gt yr−1 in 1995. In both cases C:N of phytomass and litter increased with time and these increases were plausible when compared with experimental data on CO2 effects. The temperature increase also caused net C sequestration in the model biosphere because decrease in soil organic matter was more than offset by the increase in phytomass deriving from the extra N mineralised. For temperature increase to reduce system C pool size, the biosphere “leakiness” to N would have to increase substantially with temperature. Assuming a constant N-loss coefficient, the historic temperature increase alone caused standard-model net C sequestration to be about 0.6 Gt C in 1995. Given the disparity of plant and microbial C:N, the modelled impact of anthropogenic N-deposition on C-sequestration depends substantially on whether the deposited N is initially taken up by plants or by soil microorganisms. Assuming the latter, standard-model net sequestration in 1995 was 0.2 Gt C in 1995 from the N-deposition effect alone. Combining the effects of the historic courses of CO2, temperature and N-deposition, the standard-model gave C-sequestration of 3.5 Gt in 1995. This involved an assumed weak response of biological N-fixation to the increased carbon status of the ecosystem. For N-fixation to track ecosystem C-fixation in the long term however, more phosphorus must enter the biological cycle. New experimental evidence shows that plants in elevated CO2 have the capacity to mobilize more phosphorus from so-called “unavailable” sources using mechanisms involving exudation of organic acids and phosphatases.

A critical overview of model estimates of net primary productivity for the Australian continent

Net primary production links the biosphere and the climate system through the global cycling of carbon, water and nutrients. Accurate quantification of net primary productivity (NPP) is therefore critical in understanding the response of the worlds ecosystems to global climate change, and how changes in ecosystems might themselves feed back to the climate system.

Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations increase wheat root phosphatase activity when growth is limited by phosphorus

Wheat seedlings were grown in solution culture under adequate and limited phosphorus treatments at current ambient and elevated (approximately 2× ambient) CO2 concentrations. Acid phosphomonoesterase (‘phosphatase’) activity of root segments was measured using p-nitrophenyl phosphate as substrate. When plant growth was P-limited, elevated CO2 concentrations increased phosphatase activity more than at ambient CO2. This result (1) was evident when expressed on a unit root dry weight or root length basis, indicating that increased root enzyme activity was unlikely to be associated with CO2-induced changes in root morphology; (2) occurred when plants were grown aseptically, indicating that the increase in phosphatase activity originated from root cells rather than root- associated microorganisms; (3) was associated with shoot P concentrations below 0.18%; (4) occurred only when wheat roots were grown under P deficiency but not when a transient P deficiency was imposed; and (5) suggest that a previously reported increase in phosphatase activity at elevated CO2 by an Australian native pasture grass (Gifford, Lutze and Barrett 1996; Plant and Soil 187, 369–387) was also a root mediated response. The observed increase in phosphatase activity by plant roots at elevated CO2, if confirmed for a wide range of field pasture and crop species, is one factor which may increase mineralisation of soil organic P as the anthropogenic increase of atmospheric CO2 concentrations continues. But, whether a concomitant increase in plant uptake of P occurs will depend on the relative influence of root and microbial phosphatases, and soil geochemistry in determining the rate of mineralisation of soil organic P for any given soil.

Modelling the potential for prescribed burning to mitigate carbon emissions from wildfires in fire-prone forests of Australia

Prescribed fire can potentially reduce carbon emissions from unplanned fires. This potential will differ among ecosystems owing to inherent differences in the efficacy of prescribed burning in reducing unplanned fire activity (or ‘leverage’, i.e. the reduction in area of unplanned fire per unit area of prescribed fire). In temperate eucalypt forests, prescribed burning leverage is relatively low and potential for mitigation of carbon emissions from unplanned fires via prescribed fire is potentially limited. Simulations of fire regimes accounting for non-linear patterns of fuel dynamics for three fuel types characteristic of eucalypt forests in south-eastern Australia supported this prediction. Estimated mean annual fuel consumption increased with diminishing leverage and increasing rate of prescribed burning, even though average fire intensity (prescribed and unplanned fires combined) decreased. The results indicated that use of prescribed burning in these temperate forests is unlikely to yield a net reduction in carbon emissions. Future increases in burning rates under climate change may increase emissions and reduce carbon sequestration. A more detailed understanding of the efficacy of prescribed burning and dynamics of combustible biomass pools is required to clarify the potential for mitigation of carbon emissions in temperate eucalypt forests and other ecosystems.