Northern Territory University. Completed.
Chen Xiaoyong
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Chen Xiaoyong (right), with Lindsay Hutley,
carrying out fieldwork
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This project quantified the accumulation, allocation,
consumption and transfer of carbon in a tropical savanna ecosystem
near Darwin, in the Northern Territory. The annual input and output
of carbon in the system was calculated to obtain the overall carbon
budget of the ecosystem, through measurements of:
- above-ground biomass of six important trees species of
savannas near Darwin
- below-ground biomass
- relationships between biomass and tree diameter (DBH)
- daily fluxes of CO 2 in both dry and wet
seasons
- annual growth and productivity of savanna trees
- root growth and turnover measurement using root growth
bags
- seasonal changes of fine root growth using root rhizotrons
- seasonal changes of soil respiration
- seasonal patterns of litterfall
- carbon storage in the soil
