Seminar on Landscapes in a Carbon Focused World 26 October 2012
SIANI, Focali & Naturskyddsföreningen organized a one-day seminar in Gothenburg.
Summary: Forests are discussed as important globally widespread carbon sinks in the terrestrial landscape and it has recently been postulated that this view is valid for forests of all ages. However, this approach is inadequate to assess the carbon and greenhouse has (GHG) balances from the total forested landscape since transport of carbon from land to water and subsequent GHG emissions from aquatic habitats are typically not considered. Inland waters contribute large amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and are important for the global warming potential. These findings indicate a disproportionate aquatic impact on the overall terrestrial GHG balance relative to the small freshwater surface area.In order to challenge the current view of the continental carbon or GHG sink a national Formas project LAGGE was started, with its main field activities during 2012-2013. With the hypothesis that the GHG sink is smaller than currently believed, the main objective is to quantify GHG balances at the landscape scale in forested regions that include land-atmosphere, land-water, and water-atmosphere exchange.
Leif Klemedtsson is heading the Gothenburg Greenhouse Gas Group (G4). G4 conducts flux measurements from tundra, peat, agriculture and forestlands, process studies, modelling followed by ecosystem analysis in order to find mitigation strategies. He is the coordinator for the LAGGE project.