NVCL - FACE-MDS: Free-Air CO2 Enrichment Model Data Synthesis

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FACE-MDS: Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment Model Data Synthesis

Carbon dioxide

carbon dioxide (CO2)

An important heat-trapping gas, also known as a greenhouse gas, that comes from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, and natural gas), from wildfires, and natural processes like volcanic eruptions.

Source: NASA Source

(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, carbon cycle The movement and exchange of carbon through living organisms, the ocean, the atmosphere, rocks and minerals, and other parts of the Earth. Source: a student's guide to Global Climate Change Source ecosystem ecosystem A natural community of plants, animals, and other living organisms and the physical environment in which they live and interact. Source: A student's guide to Global Climate Change Source experiments, ecosystem models, Free Air CO<sub>2</sub> Enrichment (FACE), model intercomparison
TYPE	Project

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)

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)

For more information

Anthony Walker
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

https://facedata.ornl.gov/facemds/