Principal Investigator

Graham D Farquhar Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University

Project Title

Constraining terrestrial carbon fluxes with carbon dioxide and oxygen isotopes

Brief Description for General Publications

Oxygen isotopes in CO2 can be used to obtain a better understanding of biospheric carbon fluxes, which must be understood in order to predict vegetation and climate change in response to anthropogenic greenhouse forcing. The main objective of this project is therefore to improve understanding of carbon flow in the biosphere, by enhancing a global model of oxygen isotopes in CO2 through improved descriptions of plant and soil processes, and incorporation of additional processes and complementary tracers. The ability to track oxygen isotopes will strictly constrain gross carbon fluxes and will substantially reduce the uncertainty in inferred carbon sources and sinks, thus greatly improving predictions of climate change and variability.