Carbon System Flashcards
(21 cards)
Wytham woods
Decidous forest near Oxford
NPP measured in leaves
Removing older trees results in the loss of twice as much carbon
How trees store carbon
-In form of starch in the trunks and roots
-request more carbon than they return to the atmosphere
-48% of carbon stored in leaves and leaf litter
Woodland trust
-2.5% of uk tree cover is ancient woodland
-UK needs 1.5 million ha of additional woodland by 2050 to meet carbon neutral target
Decomposition in tropical rain forest
-Warm, moist climate provides ideal conditions for decomposition to break down organic material
-nutrient levels in soil due to leaching
-rainforest rapidly absorbs nutrients from the soil
Slow carbon cycle
-Carbonation
-Acidic water breaks down rocks
-releasing carbonation solution from rock stores
Lake Nyos
1986
-Carbon release by volcanic activity
-Source of co2 was a balsatic chamber of magma deep beneath cameroon
-leaks into lake Nyos
-water stratified into layers of warmer and colder water
-cold dense water absorbs co2 which is held down by overlying water
Temperate grasslands
-Grasses adapted to droughts
-low biodiversity
-non-coastal regions
- 5 months growing season
Tropical grasslands
- 3-8 month growing season
- wet/dry
Dust bowl
-Priaries of US and Canada by 1935 75% of the land was useless for crops
- 38 dust storms in 1932
-dust clouds raised by 2000 feet
-windblown soil buried abandoned farm houses in 10ft drifts blowing dust as far as Chicago
- low and variable rainfall led to severe droughts in 1900s so no crops leading to soil erosion
-US conservation service 1935
Great pacific garbage patch
Estimated 3x larger than France
Green light for historic treaty
-Global treaty to tackle plastic pollution
-nearly 200 countries agreed
- set rules for production, use and disposal of plastics
Peat formation conditions
Poor drainage, gentle slope, high precipitation and low temperatures
Biological carbon pump
Microscopic organisms photosynthesis take in carbon and turn in carbon matter
Some organisms sequester carbon and turn into hard outer shell
Carbon store in different biomes
TG:
-low biodiversity
-well adpated to droughts
-roots trap moisture
TRF:
-highest NPP
-high rainfall and high temp
-optimum plant growing conditions
Tundra:
-water unavailable to plants as frozen reducing productivity
-only mosses and lichens as temp
Lowland areas
Peatlands Form when ground meets the surface
Valleys
Raised bogs fed by rainwater
Soils saturated
High ground
Blanket peatlands on hill tops
Exploitation of peatlands
Burned peat as fuel
Used in rural areas as source of fuel
In Scotland and Ireland harvested on industrial scale
Peatland in Yorkshire are polluted from Manchester
Moorland burning to encourage new growth of heather
More co2 for the Amazon rainforest
More co2 in the atmosphere created instability in rainforest climate with changes to rainfall and frequent droughts.
More co2 has led to more photosynthesis growing rate has increased
Reaching maturity quicker
Exmoor mires project
Since late 1800s farmers have drained the moorland in upper catchment of the river exe to increase yield
Increasing flow of river exe
Project works to restore peatland by blocking the drainage ditches with peat blocks or moorland bales.
Increased water content and returns the ground to saturated
Fens project
Restoring peat forming vegetation within the reserve by repairing and installing low level clay banks to retain rainwater and managing water tables.
peatland restoration grant of over £1.3 million for natural England
