For those of you who still trying to decide which session to submit your AGU abstract to I encurage you to consider this one (especially if you are using stable isotopes and are working in mountainous systems). We had a great oral and poster session last year on a similar topic.
B41: The World Is Not Flat: Isotopic Tools for Understanding Mountainous Terrain Description: Mountains cover twenty percent of the earth’s surface, including much of the western United States. They contain many of the world’s most productive ecosystems and provide essential ecosystem services (e.g., as “water towers” to lower-lying, urban areas). However, we have a very poor understanding of ecological processes in mountainous areas, especially as they relate to climate. The reasons for this are two- fold. First, ecological processes differ distinctly in mountainous terrain compared with “flat ground." These differences result partly from downslope movement of sediments and partly from rapid gravitational drainage of water and cold air. Second, many of the large-scale integration tools available for ecosystem studies, including especially flux measurements, are difficult to employ in complex terrain. It is sobering to consider that sites selected for the entire Ameriflux network, and more recently for NEON core sites, have been biased deliberately in favor of flat terrain. What else can we use as integrative measurements of ecosystem function in the mountains? Stable isotope measurements can integrate over space and time. For example, isotopic composition of stream water provides information on hydrologic processes over entire watersheds. In addition, the isotopic composition of dissolved ions in the water provides new opportunities to assess biogeochemical cycles upslope. Recent studies have demonstrated that a similar approach may be applied to nocturnal cold-air drainage systems, focusing on the carbon isotope composition of respired CO2 collected from the upslope airshed. These integrative measurements provide new opportunities to parameterize and test simulation models in the absence of eddy-flux data. This session welcomes contributions that discuss isotopic tools for the analysis of ecosystem processes in mountainous terrain.
