Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Recent field studies have reported anomalous CO2 uptake using eddy‐covariance techniques in arid and semiarid ecosystems. The rates of CO2 uptake are incompatible with changes in situ of organic carbon pools. Here, I examine several potential mechanisms of abiotic CO2 uptake in arid and semiarid soils: atmospheric pressure pumping, carbonate dissolution, and percolation of soil water through the vadose zone. Each mechanism is deemed inadequate to explain the observations of the eddy‐covariance systems, which must now be questioned for their accuracy in desert ecosystems.
Source: Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13336
Author: William H. Schlesinger
Institutions: Duke University, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2346546693