MacResearch

A while back we posted here about the efforts of Ben Bond-Lamberty to model carbon balance in Canadian forests with OpenMacGrid. That study has now borne fruit, with a letter discussing the findings appearing in the journal Nature.

Nature's press release summarizes the research:

Carbon balance in the Canadian boreal forest is driven primarily by fire
disturbance rather than by climate change, according to modelling
research in Nature this week. The researchers claim that overall changes
in climate have not yet been felt in this large boreal region, and that
variations in the landscape carbon balance and vegetation dominance have
so far been largely driven by increases in fire frequency.

Ben Bond-Lamberty and colleagues use a process model with three
competing vegetation types to examine the effects of climate, carbon
dioxide concentrations and fire disturbance on a large area of Canadian
boreal forest. They report that the carbon balance between 1948 and 2005
was driven largely by changes in fire disturbance. More frequent and
larger fires in the late twentieth century resulted in deciduous trees
and mosses increasing production at the expense of coniferous trees.
They also find that poor soil drainage decreased the variability of the
landscape carbon balance, suggesting that increased climate and
hydrological changes do have the potential to affect disproportionately
the carbon dynamics of these areas.

Ben's research is a prime example of how OpenMacGrid can be used for serious research. If you have CPU cycles to spare, why not donate them to the grid by connecting up an Xgrid agent. And if you have a good idea for a research proposal yourself, submit it for consideration. You could be submitting jobs to OpenMacGrid in a matter of days.

Carbon balance of central Canada in
2005, as modeled by Bond-Lamberty et al., with yellow-red-green-blue
indicating the continuum between carbon sources and sinks. The boreal
forest is shown in light green over an NDVI composite image. White circles
indicate 1989 wildfires and the subsequent regrowth. Illustration by Scott
D. Peckham.