Michigan Tech Receives $3 Million for
Study of Greenhouse-Gas Effects on Forests
HOUGHTON--Researchers at Michigan
Technological University have received nearly $3 million in federal funds
to continue their study of the effects of two greenhouse gases on northern
forests.
The three-year, $2.98-million
grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental
Research supports research led by Drs. David Karnosky and Kurt Pregitzer,
of Michigan Tech's School of Forestry and Wood Products. In cooperation
with colleagues from several agencies and universities, they are exposing
large, open-air plots of forestland in northern Wisconsin to elevated
levels of ozone and carbon dioxide. Major funding for the project has
also been provided by the USDA Forest Service.
Worldwide, the amount of of
carbon dioxide has been rising throughout the atmosphere for many decades,
while ozone is a more regional pollutant. And while the individual effects
of these gases on trees have been well studied (for example, carbon dioxide
enhances growth while ozone suppresses it), how forests respond to a mix
of the two gases has been unknown.
Since the study began in 1998,
researchers have discovered significant differences in how various tree
species respond to the two-gas cocktail, and even differences between
trees of the same species but with a different genetic makeup. They have
also observed changes ranging from the molecular level up to the entire
forest ecosystem. Their findings may help scientists predict what forests
will look like 50 or 100 years from now.
"Concentrations of both
carbon dioxide and ozone are increasing because of energy production,
and are expected to continue increasing for at least several decades,"
said Dr. Jeffrey Amthor, the director of DOE's Program for Ecosystem Research.
"This experiment is reducing uncertainty about changes in the productivity
and ecology of hardwood forests in the Great Lakes region caused by these
changes in atmospheric chemistry. . . . This work is contributing directly
to the Department of Energy's mission on environmental change research.
. . .
"In essence, it is a window
into the future."
The project, known by the acronym
Aspen FACE, involves more than 50 scientists in eight different countries
and may have global implications.
"This is perhaps the most
comprehensive study anywhere of the potential consequences of atmospheric
change," said Dave Shriner, assistant director of the USDA Forest
Service's North Central Station, located near the Aspen FACE site. "The
knowledge gained through this experiment could have a major impact on
future policy decisions relating to climate change, as well as for ozone
pollution."
Dr. Glenn Mroz, dean of the
School of Forestry and Wood Products, praised the researchers' efforts.
"They have shown compelling and irrefutable evidence of the impact
of greenhouse gases on aspen and birch forests," he said. "We
are extremely proud of their efforts."
Other researchers involved
in the project are Don Zak of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor,
Rick Lindroth of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, J. G. Isebrands
and Mark Kubiske of the US Forest Service, Kevin Percy of the Canadian
Forest Service, George Hendrey of Brookhaven National Laboratory and Mike
Miller of Argonne National Laboratory.
2/21/02--MTN009
