Time: 10:00am, 26th Feb. 2021
Zoom ID: 673 3238 0765
Speaker: Prof. Hanqin Tian, Auburn University
Abstract:
The terrestrial biosphere can release or absorb the greenhouse gases (GHG), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), and therefore has an important role in regulating atmospheric composition and climate. Anthropogenic activities such as land-use change, agriculture and waste management have altered terrestrial biogenic GHG fluxes, and the resulting increases in CH4 and N2O emissions in particular can contribute to climate change. Although the biogenic fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O have been individually measured and simulated by research communities separately, an overall GHG balance of the terrestrial biosphere has not yet been sufficiently investigated. To address this challenge, we have developed a coupled biogeochemical model, the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), to concurrently quantify and attribute the magnitude and spatiotemporal patterns of three major GHGs in the terrestrial biosphere and along the land-ocean aquatic continuum (LOAC), and further constraining these gas budgets by combining atmospheric inversion. Our study indicates that there is an important need toward a concurrent accounting of full GHG budget for addressing biosphere’s role in the Earth’s climate as well as developing effective climate change mitigation strategies.
Biography:
Dr. Hanqin Tian is Solon & Martha Dixon Professor in Global Ecology and Director of International Center for Climate and Global Change Research at Auburn University. His primary research interest focuses on the predictive understanding of biosphere’s roles in global biogeochemical cycles and the Earth’s climate. For the past two decades, he has been leading the development and application of the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), a modeling toolkit for predictive understanding of how Earth’s ecosystems work. His research has resulted in over 300 peer-reviewed journal papers including 20 papers in Nature/Science/PNAS and their sister journals. His pioneering work on the global carbon cycle and greenhouse gas emissions is at the leading edge of the field. He has served on Scientific Steering Committee of the Global Carbon Project (GCP), the APLU’s Board of Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate, Chair of Ecological Society of America’s Asian Ecology Section, etc. Dr. Tian is an Andrew Carnegie Fellow (Brainy Awardee) and elected Fellow of AAAS and AGU.
