The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a $3.2 million grant to a group of scientists from Florida State University (FSU), the Georgia Institute of Technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Arizona to study the status of carbon stored in peatlands, which are at risk of carbon release because of climate change; a recent FSU news release said.
The FSU team seeks to understand the connection between methane and carbon dioxide production in peatlands that may be readily incorporated into climate models to more accurately forecast future warming. The funding will be a three-year grant supporting research at the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) facility in northern Minnesota.
“The amount of carbon that is stored in peatlands is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” Jeff Chanton; research team member, Robert O. Lawton distinguished professor and John Widmer Winchester professor of Oceanography; said in the release. “As the climate warms, there is concern about what is going to happen to these large carbon reservoirs that are held on the surface of the Earth. Will they continue to store carbon or are they going to release carbon?”
Rachel Wilson; a research scientist in FSU’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science and principal investigator for the FSU research team; also commented on the importance of the project.
“Building off Alexandra Cory’s work, this project will help us understand how different types of phenolics affect the belowground carbon cycle by directly inhibiting microorganisms or altering the availability of easily decomposed organic matter,” she said in the release. "This is a great opportunity to work at a world-class experimental facility and collaborate with over a dozen other institutions, all working toward understanding the whole ecosystem effect of climate change.”
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm took to social media about the project.
“Our goal at @ENERGY is to make sure that every community has the resources they need to meet the climate and energy challenges specific to them and their region,” she said in a recent tweet. “Great to see this partnership taking place in Florida.”
