Office of Biological and
Environmental Research Weekly Report
December 8, 2008
Novel Relationship Between Nitrogen and Albedo
(Solar Radiation Reflectance) in Forests.
A positive
correlation between the uptake of nitrogen and carbon by leaves has been recognized
for some time. However, in a study published this week in the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences, scientists report that this relationship also
holds for whole forest canopies and that both variables are strongly related to
canopy albedo (the fraction of solar radiation that
is reflected). This suggests that nitrogen levels in forests can influence
Earth's climate in ways that have not previously been recognized. The article
reports that forests with high levels of foliar nitrogen reflect more solar
radiation and absorb more CO2 than forest with lower nitrogen levels.
They also discovered that variation in forest canopy nitrogen can be accurately
detected using satellites, making it possible to continuously track these
global-scale effects of forests on the Earth's climate system. Significant
data for these analyses was provided by DOE-funded AmeriFlux
sites.
Reference: S.V. Ollinger,
A.D. Richardson, M.E. Martin, D.Y. Hollinger, S. Frolking,
P. B. Reich, L.C. Plourde, G.G. Katul,
J.W. Munger, R. Oren, M-L. Smith, K.T. Paw U, P. V. Bolstad, B.D. Cook, M.C. Day, T.A. Martin, R.K. Monson, and
H.P. Schmid (2008) Canopy nitrogen, carbon assimilation, and albedo
in temperate and boreal forests: Functional relations and potential climate feedbacks.
ww.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0810021105
Media Interest: No
Contact: Mike Kuperberg/Jeff Amthor/
Meeting to Build
Connections between
Media Interest: No
Contact: Bob Vallario, SC 23.1 (301) 903-5758
Intersection of Climate Change Integrated Assessment and Game Theory Methodologies. In the recently published book, Strategic Bargaining and Cooperation in Greenhouse Gas Mitigations, DOE sponsored researcher Zili Yang (SUNY Binghamton) incorporates various game-theoretic solution concepts into a well-known integrated assessment model of climate change, the RICE model (developed by William D. Nordhaus and Yang). Yang compares the results of both game-theoretic and conventional solutions of the RICE model. Supported through extensive numerical analysis, Yang demonstrates that this new coupled modeling approach provides deeper and more meaningful insight into decision strategies and human and institutional behaviors that may ultimately govern domestic and international negotiations on mitigation strategies and stabilization levels. It provides the added advantage of linking these behaviors and possible negotiating outcomes to climate change consequences as they unfold over time.
Reference: Strategic
Bargaining and Cooperation in Greenhouse Gas Mitigations: An Integrated Assessment Modeling Approach, Zili Yang, The
MIT Press, November 2008
Media Interest: No
Contact: Bob Vallario, SC 23.1, (301) 903-5758