FACE-MDS: Free-Air CO2 Enrichment Model Data Synthesis
Carbon dioxide (CO2) fertilization of plant growth acts as a brake on increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, slowing the rate of
climate change.
The Free Air CO2 Enrichment Model Data Synthesis project aims to understand the ecological processes that drive this phenomenon. The project generates and analyzes ensembles of model simulations of experiments. We evaluate models, interpret responses observed in experiments, and
synthesize
broader evidence for the CO2 fertilization hypothesis.
| Keywords | carbon cycle, ecosystem experiments, ecosystem models, Free Air CO<sub>2</sub> Enrichment (FACE), model intercomparison |
|---|---|
| TYPE | Project |
Principal Investigator (PI)
Anthony Walker
Lead Institution
Other Collaborators
Boston University
Colorado State
Columbia University
Desert Research Institute
Duke University
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Northern Arizona University
Notre Dame
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Technical University of Munich
University of Bristol
University of Michigan
Western Sydney University
Diagram showing the responses of a general ecosystem to the effects of increased atmospheric CO2. The effects start at the physiological scale on the left side and cascade through ecosystem processes of increasing scale from left to right. Solid arrows represent carbon flows and dashed arrows represent an influence of one process on another. Looped feedbacks through the plant and soil system can be seen. (Image credit: Victor Leshyk and Walker et al., 2021)