Landscape Controls on Carbon Export

Increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide pose a threat to today's ecosystems. Regardless of the potential linkages to global temperatures, increased atmospheric CO₂ stands to modify important ecological processes, such as plant productivity, that can control ecosystem structure and function. A central atmospheric-land-ocean connection in global and regional carbon budgets is riverine carbon export and the subsequent export of atmospherically derived terrestrial CO₂ to coastal systems.

The main research question of this CAREER proposal is "how will contemporary riverine carbon export rates and the transport of atmospheric CO₂ to rivers respond to environmental change"?

The proposed work will utilize watershed approaches including field and modeling components to research the mechanisms and feedbacks between land-cover, land-use, climate, terrestrial productivity and carbon export in United States watersheds.

A conceptual model of controls on watershed chemistry in Ohio.

Collaborators: USGS, Bill Sobczak

Funding: NSF, CAREER: The Lateral Transport of Watershed Atmospheric Carbon by Rivers