PROGRAM TITLE: 	Assessment of Biospheric Carbon Pools and Fluxes 
ACTIVITY STREAMS: 	Assessments, Processes, Modeling 
SCIENCE ELEMENT: 	Biogeochemical Dynamics 
BUDGET LINE ITEM: 	EPA, ORD, Stratospheric Modification, 
GlobalĘClimate

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

SCIENTIFIC MERIT: This program assesses the potential to manage 
forests, agricultural soils and marine ecosystems to sequester atmospheric 
carbon. Changes in climatic, biologic and human management influences on 
biospheric carbon pools and fluxes are considered. System boundaries for 
these assessments include both biologic/ecological and economic/market 
system components, and their interactions. Thus, the cost effectiveness of 
management options are assessed, including secondary effects on markets 
and ecological resources. State-of-science assessments and management 
focused assessments are produced in support of domestic policy analysis and 
IPCC and FCCC assessment needs. Data synthesis and analysis is combined 
with mechanistic model development and application to assess the 
carbon sequestration potential for boreal, temperate and tropical forest 
biomes/regions in key nations and globally; North American and global 
agricultural soils; and for marine phytoplankton. The impact 
of human influences that conserves, sequesters, or uses terrestrial carbon 
pools are emphasized. The effect on global carbon pool sizes of conventional 
and alternative management practices are assessed.

STAKEHOLDERS: Research relationships have been developed with 
scientists at DOE, NOAA, USDA, USGS, and many university laboratories 
and NGOs (eg, IGBP). Formal linkages have been established with 
government agencies of Brazil, Canada, Ghana, Mexico, Thailand, Russia and 
the EC. Close linkages with USG agency policy analysts function 
synergistically to provide economic analysis and policy scenario input and 
receive assessment results output.

POLICY RELEVANCE: Products directly contribute to WG I, II, and III IPCC 
1995 Assessment, the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), 
and to the development of the US National Action Plan under the FCCC. 
This work assists in the development of U.S. climate change policies, and is 
promoting the development of such policies in other countries. The 
mitigation and adaptation sections of the 1998(?) IPCC Assessment is targeted 
to receive major products from this work. It contributes to the achievement 
of the following USGCRP milestones: 

ASSESSMENT; 1991-1995 Milestone: Response of atmospheric carbon 
pool size to terrestrial ecosystem management calculated; 1996-2000 
Milestone: Integrated international assessments of global change continued; 

PROCESS STUDIES; Greenhouse Gases, Terrestrial Sources/Sinks: 
Human Influenced and Natural, 1991-1995 Milestone: Carbon content and 
CO2 fluxes quantified for vegetation and soil of representative forest, 
grassland, and agroecosystems; 1996-2000 Milestones: Carbon content of 
vegetation and soil quantified for boreal temperate and tropical biotic 
zones,and Role of iron in oceanic productivity and carbon sequestration 
determined; 

MODELING; Greenhouse Gases, 1991-1995 Milestone: Terrestrial model for 
carbon developed; 1996-2000 Milestone: Dynamic global carbon models 
developed.

PROGRAM CONTACT:   Peter Breedlow, U.S. EPA, 200 SW 35th Street, 
Corvallis, OR  97333, (503) 754-4634