DOE-OBER Workshop on Carbon Cycling

& Biosequestration

Joseph Graber

AAAS Science & Technology Policy FellowU.S. Department of Energy

Office of ScienceOffice of Biological & Environmental Research

May 20th, 2008

joseph.graber@science.doe.gov

DOE Office of Science

Mission Challengesfor Biology

Rationale Statement

A major mission of BER research programs focuses on increasing our understanding of carbon cycling in the earth’s marine and terrestrial ecosystems, examining potential means of biological sequestration of carbon, and determining how biological processes that influence carbon cycling and biosequestration are affected by climate change. Of particular interest are the linkage of global biogeochemical processes to genome-based ecophysiology of plant and microbial communities and the potential to enhance carbon biosequestration in ecosystems. These studies will be critical in developing increasingly sophisticated models of global biogeochemical cycling and climate change and will inform potential carbon biosequestration strategies.

Workshop Purpose

• Identify research needs and opportunities for understanding biological carbon cycling and biosequestration

• Provide an assessment of where the science and technology now stand and where barriers to progress might exist

• Describe potential directions for fundamental research that can be pursued to meet these goals

Workshop Organization

• Model: DOE Biomass to Biofuels Workshop

• Life & Medical Sciences Division

– Joe Graber

– Sharlene Weatherwax

– Dan Drell

• Climate Change Research Division– Jeff Amthor– Roger Dahlman

• Mike Knotek & Betty Mansfield

Working Groups

1. Terrestrial Plant Productivity & Biosequestration

2. Biological Cycling of Carbon in Terrestrial Environments

3. Biological Cycling of Carbon in Ocean Environments

4. Effects of Climate Change on Carbon Cycling & Biosequestration

5. Crosscutting Science, Technology, & Infrastructure

Pre-Workshop Development

• Assemble Working Group Co-chairs, Participants– Mix of biologists, ecologists, modelers, etc.

• Conference Calls– Working Group Participants (scoping and discussion)– Working Group Chairs (coordination and integration)

• Workshop Webpage (restricted access)

• Basic Research Need Plans (BRNPs)– short write-ups of key topics, issues, or questions

The Workshop(s)

• Working Groups 1, 2, 4, & 5 (i.e. all terrestrial groups plus crosscutting) met March 4th-6th in Rockville, MD with plenary presentations by:

• Jae Edmonds, PNNL• Scott Denning, Colorado State Univ.

• Working Group 3 (marine carbon cycling) and sub-set of crosscutting participants met March 17th-18th in Denver, CO

• Currently in the process of organizing and integrating output from all working groups and developing workshop report

Working Group 1: Terrestrial Plant Productivity & Biosequestration

Co-Chairs:Stan Wullschleger Oak Ridge Natl. LabDan Bush Colorado State Univ.

Participants:Doug Cook Univ. California – DavisGloria Coruzzi New York Univ.Jonathan Lynch Penn State Univ.Steve Long Univ. Illinois Urbana-ChampaignJocelyn Malamy Univ. ChicagoAlistair Rogers Brookhaven Natl. LabMelinda Smith Yale Univ.Don Ort Univ. Illinois Urbana-ChampaignNate McDowell Los Alamos Natl. LabThomas Mitchell-Olds Duke Univ.

Working Group 1: Terrestrial Plant Productivity & Biosequestration

• Identify basic processes and molecular controls underlying gross primary productivity (GPP), net primary productivity (NPP), and carbon partitioning in plants; assess mechanistic studies that could lead to enhanced carbon biosequestration strategies

• Consider molecular basis of resource acquisition and utilization (e.g. nutrients and water) and interactions between carbon and other resources that are determinative of rate, magnitude, or sustainability of biosequestration

• Assess need for dynamic models of genetic regulatory networks that can inform potential manipulations of GPP/NPP resulting in enhanced carbon biosequestration

• Consider role of genetic variation of plant populations & communities in determining NPP, carbon biosequestration, and ecosystem responses to global climate change

Live Roots and Mycorrhizae

Labile Soil Carbon

Organic Soil Layers

Exudates

Recalcitrant Soil Carbon

Microbes

PhotosynthesisDepends on:Nutrient supplyTemperatureSoil MoistureLightForest Age

BelowgroundAllocationDepends on:Nutrient supplySoil MoistureForest AgeSpecies

AutotrophicRespirationDepends on:AllocationTemperatureSoil MoistureStorage

HeterotrophicRespirationDepends on:AllocationTemperatureSoil MoistureQuality

Dead Roots and Mycorrhizae

CO2

Recent and Older CO2

RecentCO2

Working Group 2: Biological Cycling of Carbon in Terrestrial Environments

Co-Chairs:Don Zak Univ. MichiganMary Firestone Univ. California Berkeley, LBNL

Participants:Josh Schimel Univ. California – Santa CruzTom Schmidt Michigan State Univ.Marcus Kleber Oregon State Univ.Steve Allison Univ. California - IrvineEoin Brodie Lawrence Berkeley Natl. LabSerita Frey Univ. New HampshireMatt Wallenstein Colorado State Univ.Jennifer Pett-Ridge Lawrence Livermore Natl. LabAllan Konopka Pacific Northwest Natl. LabDavid Hibbett Clark Univ.Jason Neff Univ. Colorado - Boulder

Working Group 2: Biological Cycling of Carbon in Terrestrial Environments

• Linkage of metabolic processes of soil microbial communities (i.e. prokaryotes and fungi) to the global carbon cycle, with special attention to integration across genetic, organismal, community, and ecosystem scales

• Need to identify critical characteristics of microbial communities relevant to understanding environmental controls on biogeochemical processes in soil and determine relative value of functional and phylogenetic information

• How does microbial community composition define or constrain function in regard to soil carbon cycling, influence interaction with overlying plant communities, and determine responses to changing environmental variables?

• Are soil microbial processes correctly represented in terrestrial biogeochemical models? Will increased integration of these processes improve predictions of how climate chance will influence soil carbon storage?

Working Group 3: Biological Cycling of Carbon in Ocean Environments

Co-Chairs:Ginger Armbrust Univ. WashingtonScott Elliott* Los Alamos Natl. Lab

Participants:Craig Carlson Univ. California – Santa BarbaraAndy Allen J. Craig Venter Inst.Bob Morris Univ. WashingtonFrancisco ChavezMonterey Bay Aquarium Research Inst.Mick Follows MITCecilia Bitz Univ. WashingtonJean Francois Lamarque Natl. Center for Atmospheric ResearchHeidi Sosik Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.Alex Worden Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Inst.Matt Maltrud Los Alamos Natl. LabGrant Heffelfinger* Sandia Natl LabJim Fredrickson* Pacific Northwest Natl. LabPeter Thornton* Natl. Center for Atmospheric Research

Working Group 3: Biological Cycling of Carbon in Ocean Environments

• Linkage of metabolic processes of marine microbial communities to the global carbon cycle, integrating information across multiple scales of organization

• What are the roles of genomic/metagenomic studies in characterizing photosynthetic and metabolic systems involved in carbon assimilation? How are the massive amounts of data generated best managed, utilized, and integrated into modeling efforts?

• Integration of research on microbial community function with large-scale biogeochemical datasets being generated by ocean time series programs

• Factors effecting the “biological carbon pump”: – availability of iron, phosphorous, nitrogen, and other nutrients, as well as

linkages of relevant biogeochemical cycles– impacts of climate change (warming, ocean acidification, etc.)– connections with terrestrial systems

Working Group 4: Effects of Climate Change on Carbon Cycling & Biosequestration

Co-Chairs:Jim Ehleringer Univ. UtahRich Norby Oak Ridge Natl. Lab

Participants:Peter Thornton National Center for Atmospheric ResearchMike Goulden Univ. California - IrvineBev Law Oregon State Univ.Mac Post Oak Ridge Natl. LabYiqi Luo Univ. OklahomaEvan DeLucia Univ. Illinois Urbana-ChampaignSusan Trumbore Univ. California - IrvineDamon Matthews Concordia Univ.

• Consider potential effects of climate change variables on carbon cycling and storage in terrestrial ecosystems (with special emphasis on less understood biomes)

• Linkage of carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles in determining ecosystem productivity and carbon sequestration potential

• Identify fundamental science questions necessary to evaluate effects of changing land use and disturbance regimes on stability of carbon stocks

• What are the best model structures to reflect carbon processes in ecosystems and how can these be improved to project ecosystem responses to global change?

Working Group 4: Effects of Climate Change on Carbon Cycling & Biosequestration

Atm CO2

Plant

Litter / CWD

Soil Organic Matter

Carbon cycle

Soil Mineral N

N deposition

N fixation

denitrification

N leaching

Nitrogen cycle

respiration

Internal(fast)

External(slow)

mineralization

assimilation

photosynthesis

litterfall & mortality

decomposition

Working Group 5: Crosscutting Science, Technology, & Infrastructure

Co-Chairs:Jim Fredrickson Pacific Northwest Natl. LabScott Elliott Los Alamos Natl. Lab

Circulating Participants:Susannah Tringe Joint Genome Inst., Los Alamos Natl. LabKen Kemner Argonne Natl. LabGrant Heffelfinger Sandia Natl. Lab

“Embedded” Participants:Gloria Coruzzi New York Univ.Nate McDowell Los Alamos Natl. LabJennifer Pett-Ridge Lawrence Livermore Natl. LabAllan Konopka Pacific Northwest Natl. LabPeter Thornton National Center for Atmospheric ResearchYiqi Luo Univ. Oklahoma

• Scientific Issues:– Linkage of genome-based information to function

– Incorporation of experimental data in ecosystem/climate models

– Scaling issues (molecular to ecosystem)

• Technologies & Methodologies– Application of genome-enabled methods to understanding complex environmental

systems– New approaches for in situ monitoring of biological activities– New imaging technologies for monitoring properties and processes

• Data Mining, Integration, & Systems Simulation– Diagnostic, prognostic, and integrated modeling approaches– Necessary analytical tools and cyberinfrastructure– Improved data assimilation techniques to incorporate experimental & observational

data into models

Working Group 5: Crosscutting Science, Technology, & Infrastructure

Oceans

Molecular Disciplines

Functional Disciplines

Systems and Scales of Systems and Scales of Global Carbon CyclesGlobal Carbon Cycles

Terrestrial

Regions

Basins

Ecosystems

Ecosystems

Climate Research

EcosystemsResearch

Molecular Biology

Figure 1

Figure 2

text

Knowledge Integration and Synthesis

Information from genomics level used to Improve mechanistic representation and fill knowledge gaps along critical pathways to Earth System Models (ESM)

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Outcomes

• Currently developing workshop report and executive summary– Organizing and integrating large volume of written material

produced by working groups– Follow-up communication with working group co-chairs and

participants– Target date for report: August 2008