Are the baseline control spaces at the BIFoR Free Air Carbon Enrichment experiment being polluted?

Harper, Nicholas John ORCID: 0009-0009-4184-297X (2024). Are the baseline control spaces at the BIFoR Free Air Carbon Enrichment experiment being polluted? University of Birmingham. M.Sc.

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Abstract

The Free Air Carbon Enrichment (FACE) experiments such as the one at the Birmingham Institute of Forest research (BIFoR), have emerged as a crucial tool for assessing the potential impacts of environmental increases in carbon dioxide (CO\(_2\)) concentrations on forests/woodlands of the future. Underpinning the BIFoR enrichment experiment there are two distinct levels of ambient control: the ambient blower spaces (ones with towers, pipework, and blowers) and the ambient undisturbed spaces (no infrastructure). By comparing the CO\(_2\) concentrations together with the plant growth responses across, enhanced, blower, and undisturbed spaces, an improved understanding of future temperate woodland ecosystems can be predicted.
A critical aspect of the FACE methodology lies in its controlled approach, separating enhanced, blower, and undisturbed spaces. While previous studies have concentrated on the enhanced and blower spaces, this research focuses on the undisturbed spaces. A measurement system was designed and implemented within the three undisturbed spaces at BIFoR and used to examine – for the first time – the potential migration of the treatment CO\(_2\) from the enhanced spaces into the undisturbed spaces. In addition, the data from the new system can be used to ascertain whether the ambient blowers are mixing the respired CO\(_2\), lowering the measured ambient CO\(_2\) concentration and therefore the enhanced spaces setpoint.
This study examined more than one million CO\(_2\) concentrations measured within the undisturbed spaces at the BIFoR, FACE experiment, during the spring, summer of 2022. The results provide evidence that the undisturbed spaces are largely unaffected by CO\(_2\) from the enhanced areas. For technical reasons summarised in this thesis, it was not possible to come to a firm conclusion about the effect of the blowers in the ambient spaces; this remains a question for further research. Overall, the study’s outcomes reinforce the robustness of the design of the FACE experiments. The data provides an important baseline, supporting and underpinning other experiments taking place at BIFoR FACE.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Sc.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Sc.

Supervisor(s):