Poster, 39th annual conference of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Bayreuth: 2009-09-14 - 2009-09-18
Abstract:
Grassland in low mountain ranges is increasingly considered as an important carbon storage. The behaviour of this storage as well as carbon fluxes between atmosphere, biosphere and soil are to be investigated especially under extreme weather conditions, which are expected to occur naturally during the two year period of research. FORKAST project serves the evaluation of climatic impacts on ecosystems and adaptation strategies. The subproject TP5 concentrates on a better understanding of organic matter input into the soil by green plants and on evaluating the prospects of carbon sequestration. Micrometeorological flux measurement techniques (eddy covariance and relaxed eddy accumulation) and tracing of the 13C transport in plant and soil, based on 13C pulse labelling, help to achieve these objectives. Afterwards comparison of the different approaches and extrapolation of the results on other grassland sites is intended. We expect plant specific changes in photosynthetic activity and modified assimilate translocation characteristics from the leaves into roots and soil. Detailed information about the reaction of different plant species allows predicting the stability and resilience of plant species composition in grasslands, under the influence of extreme climate conditions. After all, the final step is the development of adequate adaptation strategies.