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Center for Terrestial Ecosystem Carbon (968 words) |
 | The basic carbon cycle of life is: (1) the conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide to carbohydrates by photosynthesis in plants; (2) the consumption and oxidation of these carbohydrates by animals and microorganisms to produce carbon dioxide and other products; and (3) the return of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. |
| As the carbon cycle undergoes shifts and fluxes through the eons, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere tends to increase or decrease to buffer the changes. |
| The total amount of carbon stored as soil organic carbon is roughly equal to the sum of the amount in the atmosphere plus the amount existing in plant and animal life combined. |
| Soil CO2 Flux Data (FIFE) (3877 words) |
| The flux of the carbon dioxide from the surface of the soil is an important component of the carbon budget of a prairie ecosystem. |
| The goal of this investigation was to characterize fluxes of carbon dioxide from the surface of the soil for a representative portion of the FIFE study area. |
| This soil surface flux of carbon dioxide may be 1/4 to 1/2 the magnitude of the mid-day canopy photosynthetic rate, and when integrated over a 24-hour period it may be an even larger fraction of the total carbon dioxide flux. |
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