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Leaf study could produce better global warming models Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com January 18, 2007 A new study on rotting leaves could produce more accurate climate models say researchers writing in the January 19 issue of the journal Science The Long-Term Inter-site Decomposition Experiment, involving 21 field sites from seven biomes from tundra to tropical rainforests, found that the processes of leaf decomposition and nitrogen release are relatively simple. The dominant drivers of nitrogen release were the initial concentration of nitrogen and the remaining mass of the leaf and root litter, while the rate of decomposition was influenced by temperature and moisture. The fastest rates of decomposition occurred in tropical rainforests where nutrients are rapidly cycled.
"The most important component of this study is that we've developed a generic global law that can predict large-scale patterns in litter mass decay rates and nitrogen release from litter," said William Parton, senior research scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University and co-lead author of the study. "There are a lot of global nutrient cycling models out there, but the model we've developed is based on only two parameters, and thus is more scientifically elegant and more widely applicable than the models currently being used." The researchers say that their work will help climatologists better forecast climate change by helping them better predict the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere from decomposing forest litter.
"The debate is whether the enhanced litter decay rate from warming will also increase the release of carbon from ecosystems," added Parton. "When you increase litter decomposition rates, you are enhancing carbon dioxide release to the atmosphere. Our study provides algorithms to better predict the rates of these processes under a wide range of conditions." This article is based on a news release from Colorado State University and the University of California-Berkeley. Comments? News options Liquid error: Template not found languages/english/includes/x/_65.liquid
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