Pacific Region RCSD Projects & Activities (PAWS) Worksheet
Form used for a entering PAWS into Piko (Worsheet Version April 27 2012)
Acronym
Name/Title
Impacts of Rising Mean Annual Temperature on Terrestrial Carbon Cycling in Model Forests
Capability Area: Understanding Climate Variability and Change
Understanding Climate Variability and Change
Observing Systems, Data Stewardship, Data Services
Operational Products and Services
Research/Development
Historical Observations (hindcasts/climatologies)
Projections (modeling and downscaling)
Training and Capacity Building, Education, Outreach
Best Practices/Guidance
Decision Support Tools
Essential Climate Variable/Parameter
Atmospheric:
Surface (e.g., temp, precip, wind)
Upper-Air
Composition
Oceanic:
Surface (e.g., SST, SSH, salinity, ocean color)
Sub-surface (e.g., temp, salinity, nutrients, carbon, phytoplankton)
Terrestrial:
(e.g., surface water, glaciers and ice caps, land cover, biomass)
Time Frame
Seasonal (outlook)
Intra-annual to Decadal
Multi-decadal (scenarios)
Capability Area: Understanding Climate Impacts and Informing Adaptation
Understanding Climate Impacts and Informing Adaptation
Climate Impacts
Observing Systems, Data Stewardship, Data Services
Research/Development
Historical Observations (hindcasts/climatologies)
Projections (modeling and downscaling)
Climate Adaptation
Training and Capacity Building, Education, Outreach
Best Practices/Guidance
Decision Support Tools
Policies and Legislation
Assessment and Evaluation
Sector
Public Health and Safety
Fresh Water Resources
Energy
Transportation/Communication and Commerce
Community Planning and Development
Social and Cultural Resources
Agriculture and Fisheries
Recreation and Tourism
Ecosystems
Other
Status
Completed
Ongoing
Planned
Proposed
Focus Area
Fresh Water Resources and Drought
Coastal Inundation/Sea Level Rise, Extreme Weather, and Community Resilience
Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems
Region/Locale
Central North Pacific
State of Hawaii
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Pacific Remote Islands
Western North Pacific
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)
Guam
Republic of Palau
Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI)
Other Western North Pacific
South Pacific
American Samoa
Australia
Cook Islands
Fiji
French Polynesia
Kiribati
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea (PNG)
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Other South Pacific
Pacific Basin
Global
Description
Carbon storage in the terrestrial biosphere exceeds that in the atmosphere by a factor of four, and represents a dynamic balance among carbon input, allocation, and loss. This balance is being altered by climate change, with important implications for terrestrial carbon storage and, hence, atmospheric CO2 levels and global climate. However, the response of terrestrial carbon cycling to warming remains poorly quantified, especially in the tropics. This is particularly important because tropical forests account for a ~40% of global terrestrial carbon storage and ~35% of global terrestrial productivity and, as such, tropical forests play a very important role in regulating global climate. This study is examining how rising mean annual temperature will impact carbon input, allocation, loss, and storage in native Hawaiian wet forests along a 5.2°C mean annual temperature gradient. Results from the research along this model ecological gradient will enhance capacity to predict how terrestrial ecosystems, in particular tropical forests, will respond to warming over the next century.
Objectives/Outcomes
We are estimating carbon input (net photosynthetic carbon gain, or ‘gross primary production’ (GPP)), carbon loss (soil respiration and aboveground plant respiration), carbon partitioning (fraction of GPP that goes towards production vs. respiration in foliage, aboveground wood, and belowground), and ecosystem carbon storage (live aboveground and belowground biomass, forest floor, coarse woody debris, and mineral soil organic matter to ~1 m depth). This research is being conducted in nine permanent tropical montane wet forest plots that are arrayed across a 5.2°C mean annual temperature gradient (13.0-18.2°C) in the Hawaii Experimental Tropical Forest (State of Hawaii, DLNR) and the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish and Wildlife Service) on the windward slope of Mauna Kea Volcano, Island of Hawaii.
Lead Agencies, Institutions and Organizations
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management - University of Hawaii at Manoa, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry - USDA Forest Service
Contacts(names, emails)
Creighton Litton, litton@hawaii.edu Christian Giardina, cgiardina@fs.fed.us
Partnering Agencies, Institutions, and Organizations
USFWS, Hawaii DLNR, Department of Global Ecology - Carnegie Institution, Hawaii EPSCoR, Northern Arizona University, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Kupu – Hawaii Youth Conservation Corps, University of Washington, Gary Braasch Environmental Photography
Required Resources
Leverage of Existing Support The establishment of our model temperature gradient, measurement of C input, allocation, loss and storage over the past four years, and purchase and installation of climate stations, taken together, represent a significant investment (>$1,000,000) to support the research described here. All together, funding for this work has totaled ~$1,100,000, and this research has been supported by the National Science Foundation-Ecosystem Science Cluster ($161,800), the National Science Foundation-Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR REAP; $25,000), the USDA McIntyre-Stennis Program ($132,265), the USDA Hatch Program ($189,680), the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station ($420,000), the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station ($120,000) and Northern Arizona University ($45,000).
Projected Timelines
08/01/2008 - Ongoing
Feedback Mechanisms and Evaluation Measures
Url
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/littonc/research.html
Worksheet
PnA_TCCMF.doc
Keywords
Understanding Climate Variability and Change Research/Development Training and Capacity Building, Education, Outreach Surface (e.g., temp, precip, wind) (e.g., surface water, glaciers and ice caps, land cover, biomass) Intra-annual to Decadal Understanding Climate Impacts and Informing Adaptation Climate Impacts Research/Development Climate Adaptation Training and Capacity Building, Education, Outreach Assessment and Evaluation Policies and Legislation Agriculture and Fisheries Ecosystems Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems Ongoing State of Hawaii Central North Pacific Global