Discovery

In the face of global climate change, world leaders are in need of models that can reliably predict how land use and other human activities affect atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

Previous modeling studies show that due to warming, the soil releases more carbon dioxide through increased decomposition. But models of the carbon cycle have failed to take into account how nitrogen availability influences this equation on the global scale. On the other side, Nitrogen is vital to carbon dioxide uptake in plants, and if the available nitrogen runs out, the plants won’t be able to make use of the added CO2.

So, Researchers at the University of Illinois developed a new model of global carbon and nitrogen cycling. The new model takes into account the role of nitrogen dynamics in influencing the response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change and rising atmospheric carbon dioxide.

“Everything is integrated, not only the nitrogen, carbon and climate, but also we looked at land cover and land use changes”, said Atul Jain, a researchers at University of Illinois. A lot of deforestation and also a forestation and reforestation are going on, and that has a direct effect on the carbon dioxide release or absorption.

The model accounts for different soil and vegetation types, the impact of climate and the inadvertent nitrogen deposition that results from fossil fuel and biomass burning. “Warming temperatures in response to rising carbon dioxide levels could make more nitrogen available”, said Xiaojuan Yang, a doctoral student in Jain’s lab. This factor must also be weighed in any calculation of net carbon dioxide load, she said.

Hopefully, this model will fundamentally transform the understanding of how plants and soils interact with a changing atmosphere and climate.

Adapted from here

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