CARBOMONT: Effects of land-use changes on sources, sinks and fluxes of carbon in European mountain areas

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 01.0319-1

Key words (English)

Carbon; land-use change; moutain;
Environmental Protection; Forecasting; Meteorology; Resources of the Sea; Fisheries

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: EVK2-2001-00125

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.4a.2 Global change, climate and biodiversity

Short description (English)

See abstract

Partners and International Organizations (English)

Coordinator: University of Innsbruck (A)

Abstract (English)

In support of the Kyoto Protocol, CARBOMONT aims to quantify and understand the sources, skins and flues of carbon and their variability in non-forest European mountain ecosystems in different land use. CARBOMONT will be carried out in 9study sites along a European transect from 42-68° Northern latitude. In each study site differently managed and abandoned ecosystems will be investigated in a comparative manner, focussing on carbon sequestration and flux partitioning. Interactions between the carbon and nitrogen cycle will be analysed as far as carbon flux rates and source/sink relationships are concerned. Experimental results will be incorporated into process-oriented ecosystem and landscape scale carbon balance models. These will be applied to analyse how contrasting policy scenarios, as defined by focus groups set up at each site, may alter ecosystem and landscape carbon sequestration.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 01.0319-1