Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Forage and Range Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #160839
Title: SCALING UP OF CO2 FLUXES TO ASSESS CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN RANGELANDS OF CENTRAL ASIA

Author
item WYLIE, BRUCE - USGS EROS DATA CNTR
item GILMANOV, TAGIR - SOUTH DAKOTA ST UNIV
item Johnson, Douglas
item SALIENDRA, NICANOR - UTAH STATE UNIV
item LACA, EMILIO - UNIV OF CALIFORNIA
item TIESZEN, LARRY - USGS EROS DATA CNTR

Submitted to: Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/29/2003
Publication Date: 1/23/2004
Citation: Wylie, B.K., Gilmanov, T.G., Johnson, D.A., Saliendra, N.Z., Laca, E.A., Tieszen, L.L. 2004. Scaling up of co2 fluxes to assess carbon sequestration in rangelands of central asia. Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts.

Interpretive Summary: Qualification of carbon budgets is important to both developing and developed countries for scientific and economic reasons. A better understanding of carbon sinks and sources combined with possible incentives through carbon crediting and improved land management may help to partially offset atmospheric CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Flux towers were established in the Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan and were used to measure local carbon exchanges into and out of the atmosphere. To quantify regional carbon balances, these localized measurements need to be scaled up to regional and ultimately global scales. We developed light-response functions of CO2 fluxes using photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and other micrometeorological factors measured at 20-minute intervals from the flux towers. Net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) was partitioned into gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re). We used the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) remotely sensed from satellites to account for the temporal and spatial dynamics of photosynthetic activity. The utility of using remote sensing data and other spatial environmental data sets to estimate and map regional NEE, GPP, Re and their temporal dynamics will be discussed.

Technical Abstract: Quantification of carbon budgets is important to both developing and developed countries for scientific and economic reasons. A better understanding of carbon sinks and sources combined with possible incentives through carbon crediting and improved land management may help to partially offset atmospheric CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Flux towers were established in the Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan and were used to measure local carbon exchanges into and out of the atmosphere. To quantify regional carbon balances, these localized measurements need to be scaled up to regional and ultimately global scales. We developed light-response functions of CO2 fluxes using photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and other micrometeorological factors measured at 20-minute intervals from the flux towers. Net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) was partitioned into gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re). We used the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) remotely sensed from satellites to account for the temporal and spatial dynamics of photosynthetic activity. The utility of using remote sensing data and other spatial environmental data sets to estimate and map regional NEE, GPP, Re and their temporal dynamics will be discussed.