The biosphere and global biogeochemical cycles

Friedlingstein, P., Fung, I., Holland, E., John, J., Brasseur, G., Erickson, D. and Schimel, D. On the contribution of CO2 fertilization to the missing biospheric sink. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 9, 541-556. 

The soil may represent a thin film on the surface of the Earth, but the importance of soils in global biogeochemical cycles arises from their role as the interface between the Earth, its atmosphere, and the biosphere. All terrestrial biological activity is founded upon soil productivity, and the weathering of rocks that helps to maintain atmospheric equilibrium occurs within soils. Soils provide the foundation for key aspects of global biogeochemical cycles. 

Schindler, D. W. and Bayley, S. E. (1993). The biosphere as an increasing sink for atmospheric carbon Estimates from increased nitrogen deposition. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 7,717-733. 

Table 3.3. Reservoirs and fluxes of carbon as CO2 in the biosphere in a simulation model of the global biogeochemical cycle of carbon dioxide as shown in Figure 3.6.

Ciais P., Friedlingstein P., Schimel D. S., and Tans P. P. (1999) A global calculation of the 8 C of soil respired carbon implications for the biospheric uptake of anthropogenic CO2. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 13(2), 519—530. 

Kaplan J. O., Prentice I. C., and Buchmann N. (2002) The stable carbon isotope composition of the terrestrial biosphere modelling at scales from the leaf to the globe. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 16(4), 1060. 

L. J., and Wittenberg U. (2001) Carbon balance of the terrestrial biosphere in the twentieth century Analyses of CO2, climate and land use effects with four process-based ecosystem models. Global Biogeochem. Cycles 15,183-206. 

Increases in the atmospheric concentration of long-lived greenhouse gases since the preindustrial era have led to a climate forcing of about 2.5 W m - (IPCC, 1996). The interannual variability in this trend is not well understood and involves complex interactive processes between the atmosphere, the ocean, and the continental biosphere. Coupled earth system models with a detailed representation of global biogeochemical cycles will help address these issues. 

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