Northern Territory University. Completed.
Carbon balance of a tropical savanna in the Northern Territory
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Chen Xiaoyong (right), with Lindsay Hutley, carrying out fieldwork
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This project quantified the accumulation, allocation, consumption
and transfer of carbon in a tropical savanna ecosystem near Darwin,
in the Northern Territory. The annual input and output of carbon in
the system was calculated to obtain the overall carbon budget of
the ecosystem, through measurements of:
- above-ground biomass of six important trees species of
savannas near Darwin
- below-ground biomass
- relationships between biomass and tree diameter (DBH)
- daily fluxes of CO
2
in both dry and wet seasons
- annual growth and productivity of savanna trees
- root growth and turnover measurement using root growth bags
- seasonal changes of fine root growth using root rhizotrons
- seasonal changes of soil respiration
- seasonal patterns of litterfall
- carbon storage in the soil
