Project > Structure

Project structure

Soil process studies (WP1)

The goal of this WP is to study a set of processes affecting SOC dynamics in future climate. The WP will largely build upon existing experimental data from the involved groups and from the literature, which will be synthesized with respect to SOC stabilization and destabilization algorithms. Hence, WP1 aims to provide novel and/or alternative algorithms or relations to be included and tested in the model development and the relevant data summaries for model parameterization in WP5 and WP6.

Specifically, WP1 will

  • provide information on the amount of SOC protected by mineral-organic binding or by sub-surface energy limitation in the EME’s (WP2).
  • provide a set of equations that could be incorporated in the models to include these two stabilization processes explicitly in the models (WP5).
  • determine the temperature- and moisture responses of these SOC stabilization and reactivation mechanisms (model parameters for WP5)
  • assess the effects of repeated climate extremes on SOC turnover. Are they additive? Do acclimatory reactions buffer the response? Or do thresholds exist above which the response becomes non-linear?

participants in WP1

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Network of Ecosystem Manipulation Experiments (WP 2)

The overall objective of WP2 is to make available the latest and collect new experimental data on whole- ecosystem responses to warming, changed precipitation patterns and increasing CO2 concentrations from European ecosystem manipulations in a consistent way.

In particular, WP2 will

  • access a network of 12 Ecosystem Manipulation sites (EMEs) across Europe where the effects of extreme weather conditions are evaluated experimentally through direct treatments
  • integrate past, current and future data from experimental sites into an harmonised project database allowing the use of models for extensive validation
  • Acquire novel information on C-flows in selected experimental treatments through a cross-cutting activity involving novel methodologies to trace (label) and follow the fate of Carbon

participants in WP2

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Long Term Carbon Measurements and Climate (WP 3)

The overall goal of WP3 is to exploit existing complementary carbon-cycle related data sets and provide harmonized high-quality long-term observations for understanding how the carbon function of ecosystems responds to climate variability and to extreme events from intra-annual to decadal time-scales.

To this end, WP3 will

  • collect existing long term data, harmonize, complete or extend them if necessary
  • analyze the variability in the data and identify regional hot-spot / processes of the ecosystems response to climate
  • work with modelers so that these data can be assimilated into models to improve their predictive capacities.

Whenever possible, data with full European coverage are collected. In cases where this was not practical, only regional dataset are analyzed at country scale using dense networks of high quality long term measurements.

participants in WP3

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Data infrastructure and model support (WP 4)

The goal of this work package is to create the interface between the data collections and the modelling and data mining activities. Data collection, quality control, technical standardization and harmonization together with detailed metadata preparation and uncertainty quantification will be the main activities. All the information will be available inside the project through a database interface.

participants in WP4

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Model-data integration (WP 5)

The goal of this work package is to organize an optimal use of the data from WPs1-3 for model structural development and parameterization within a Bayesian framework resulting in models and parameterizations with maximum consistency of theory and data at different scales, and with well-defined uncertainties.

In detail, WP5 will

  • provide sectoral (BasFor, PaSim, Sundial) and generic (ORCHIDEE, LPJmL, JSBACH, CLM) models which store our process understanding on the one hand but are also to be consistent with observations at different scales on the other hand (testing and improvement of existing models). These models will be delivered to WP6 for model experiments and scenarios.
  • analyse and propagate uncertainties between the different WPs, from data-analysis to model parameterisation and model application.
  • perform an integrated analysis of both data-driven and model-based spatio-temporal patterns of carbon fluxes and pools, and related uncertainties for contribution to carbon vulnerability analysis in WP7.

participants in WP5

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Model experiments and scenario analysis (WP 6)

The aim of this work package is to provide spatially explicit emission scenario based projections of the European terrestrial carbon cycle and associated uncertainties by applying the improved and calibrated models of WP5 driven by regional and global climate scenarios, as the major basis for the vulnerability synthesis in WP7.

  • determine suitable scenarios of future climate variability and extreme events, and spatial datasets to allow impacts on terrestrial carbon and ecosystem services to be examined at pan-European scale
  • determine which climate drivers (and their interactions) will be important for different carbon pools (vegetation, soils etc.), at different sites representing different ecosystems (grass, cropland, forest), in different regions of Europe, by using the optimized suite of sectoral and generic models developed in WP5 applied at site and European level.
  • determine where and when critical ecosystem services (and which carbon pools, vegetation, soils etc.) will be vulnerable in the future, by using the optimized suite of sectoral and generic models to examine the impact of future climate variability / extreme on ecosystem C fluxes and pools, especially on soil carbon (including erosion)
  • provide data to be used in WP7 to assess the vulnerability of different European carbon pools and sectoral ecosystem services to future climate variability and extreme events

participants in WP6

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Carbon vulnerability synthesis (WP 7)

In this work package we aim at providing an integrated assessment of the vulnerability of the European carbon cycle to climate change and extreme events based on the scientific and quantitative basis created in the observational and modelling work packages.

WP7 will

  • provide an assessment of the vulnerability of the carbon cycle to climate change and extreme events by sector and ecosystem type
  • calculate the probability of different reductions of the European terrestrial carbon sink conditional on emission scenarios, as a map and for the whole continent
  • develop an indicator that shows the additional emission reduction commitment necessary when a full-carbon accounting approach is adopted for long-term emission goals.
  • develop recommendations to reach the ‘2°C-guardrail’ from a European perspective

participants in WP7

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Dissemination and Policy interaction (WP 8)

This work package is going to ensure efficient bi-directional communication between the project and European stakeholders concerning the needs and the implications of the results obtained in CARBO-Extreme. This work package will also broadly communicate and distribute results of the project via briefings, brochures, workshops and internet platforms.

participants of WP8

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Coordination (WP 9)

Within CARBO-Extreme a separate work package (WP9) is dedicated to the overall organization, management and administration of the project. The Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany (MPI-BGC), is in charge of this work package for the comprehensive project management.

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