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The effect of carbon‐nitrogen coupling on the reduced land carbon sink caused by tropospheric ozone
Author(s) -
Kvalevåg Maria Malene,
Myhre Gunnar
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/grl.50572
Subject(s) - tropospheric ozone , troposphere , environmental science , radiative forcing , atmospheric sciences , ozone , carbon sink , sink (geography) , biosphere , biosphere model , carbon cycle , nitrogen , climatology , climate change , chemistry , meteorology , physics , ecosystem , ecology , geology , oceanography , geography , astronomy , cartography , organic chemistry , biology
Tropospheric ozone is known to have a damaging effect on carbon uptake in the terrestrial biosphere. We show that limitations of available nitrogen for sufficient plant growth reduce the negative impact of tropospheric ozone on carbon uptake in plants, leading to a smaller indirect change in radiative forcing than previously calculated. Transient climate simulations between 1900 and 2004 where plant growth is affected by tropospheric ozone have been performed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Land Model with and without a coupling to the nitrogen cycle. When the land model includes nitrogen limitation on plant growth, the negative effect from tropospheric ozone on carbon uptake in plants is reduced by up to a factor of four compared to model simulation without nitrogen limitation. Only 2–5% of the radiative forcing from CO 2 between 1900 and 2004 can be attributed to the indirect effect of tropospheric ozone which is a factor of six lower than results from previous studies.