 | The Age of Carbon Respired from Terrestrial Ecosystems |
 by Susan Trumbore
Carbon
enters ecosystems through a single process, photosynthesis, and nearly all is
returned to the atmosphere through respiration, some 50-80% of which occurs
below-ground. Soil (belowground) respiration integrates CO2 derived
from C that has resided in the ecosystem for periods of differing duration,
ranging from relatively recent photosynthetic products that fuel root
metabolism, to CO2 derived from decomposition of plant and soil
organic matter that may be decades to centuries old. A comparison of the radiocarbon content of CO2
respired by roots, microbes, and soils with the record of radiocarbon in
atmospheric CO2 allows direct estimation of the mean age of C being
respired [Trumbore 2000; Wang et al. 2000, Cisneros Dozal et al. 2005; Borken
et al. 2005].
Link to Abstract
Link to Slides
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