The GHG-Europe project aims to improve our understanding and capacity for predicting the European terrestrial carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) budget. It concentrates on the terrestrial ecosystems in EU 27 plus Switzerland and in six data-rich European regions. Models applied are calibrated by multi-site observations. Research includes CO2, CH4 and N2O in forests, croplands, grasslands, shrublands, peatlands and soils. Via an integrated approach, GHG Europe scales up consistently from local to regional and continental scale via scale dependent error propagation and systematic quantification of uncertainties, model validation at different scales and top-down verification by atmospheric inversion models. At regional and European scale lateral C transport by land use, trade and rivers is included.
The future vulnerability of carbon pools and risks of positive feedbacks in the climate-carbon system are assessed by scenario analyses with biophysical models and by integrating feedbacks with socio-economic changes and EU climate and land use policies. GHG-Europe uses a bidirectional interaction with stakeholders to provide regular and timely scientific advice targeted to the emerging needs of the UNFCCC process and for implementing post-2012 climate commitments in Europe.
EFI’s contribution to the project is related to forest management and its implications on the forest carbon balance in Europe. EFI leads a task to produce maps of forest types and changes in age-class distribution from 1950 to present. Historical harvest and disturbance data should also be reported. Scenario projections into the future will highlight the effect of alternative forest management scenarios on the future forest resource projections and the forest carbon balance.
More info on the project website: http://www.ghg-europe.eu/ (last visited 5.7.2018)