Breakout Session II -Disturbance monitoring and

assessment for C-cycle science

Thanks to

Rappoteur: Kirsten Barrett

~ 35-40 participants

In the context of CarboNA, how is disturbance defined?

A disturbance is an event or process external to a system that results in a significant redistribution of carbon between its major reservoirs. While much attention is paid to disturbances that are episodic and short-term in nature (e.g., fire, forest clearing, insect outbreaks, hurricane damage), there are longer-term disturbances whose impacts may be particularly important to the carbon cycle. These include permafrost warming and longer-term shifts in climate that are resulted in forest dieback.

In the context of this definition, in many areas land management practices regulate disturbance regimes that effect carbon cycling. Like natural disturbances, land management practices have both short-term and long-term consequences. Understanding these consequences provide the basis to develop and implement policies to mitigate the impacts of disturbance on the atmospheric carbon budget

Live biomass

Dead woody debris

Surface organic matter

ATMOSPHERE

Mineral soil

Anthropogenic

TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS

FW AQUATICSYSTEMS

MARITIMESYSTEMS

FW sediments SW sediments

Floods

Fire

Logging

Ways to classify disturbances

1. Forcing process resulting in the disturbance

2. How the disturbance results in transfers of carbon between pools

3. Biome or system in which the disturbance occurs

4. Time period over which the disturbance occurs

Carbo NA Disturbance Synthesis

• Goal - Generate the Missing Chapter 16 of the SOCCR Report - The Role of Disturbance in the North American Carbon Budget

Synthesis Elements1. Review the role of disturbance in the NA carbon budget2. Evaluate how major forest-disturbances (forest clearing,

fire, insects, storms) have impacted the NA carbon budget over the 2000-2005 time period in order to provide inputs to other ongoing synthesis activities

3. Assess the current status of modeling the impacts of disturbance on carbon cycling

4. Assess the current status of monitoring disturbance and its impacts, with a focus on remote sensing products

5. Identify key areas where disturbances have the potential to significantly impact the carbon cycle in the future

6. Provide recommendations for the New Carbon Cycle Science Plan

7. Develop plan for providing inputs for other synthesis activities

Timeline/Outcomes of Synthesis Effort

1. Generate synthesis white paper by 1 April2. Organize working groups focused on the synthesis elements by

mid-April3. Overview paper presented at the CarboNA special session of the

Spring Joint Assembly (May 2009)4. Provide recommendations to the Carbon Cycle Science Plan

Working Group (June 2009)5. Organize special session at the Fall AGU Meeting to present the

results of the synthesis efforts (Dec)1. Oral sessions focused on the synthesis elements2. Poster papers presenting results that support synthesis efforts

6. Generate manuscripts summarizing the synthesis findings to be submitted to a special issue of a journal – special issue would also contain papers on disturbance research from CarboNA (Jan-Mar 2010)

7. Develop plan for providing inputs for other synthesis activities (Feb 2010)

Those interested in joining this synthesis activity please contact

Eric Kasischke

University of Maryland

ekasisch@umd.edu