How much carbon is being taken up and stored by three different ecosystems in the BERMS study area?
Carbon exchange between the atmosphere and the forest are being measured at seven different forest ecosystems near the southern edge of the boreal forest in Saskatchewan. At the mature BERMS sites each of these forest ecosystems is approximately 100 years old and is dominated by one particular tree species. See: Old Aspen, Old Black Spruce and Old Jack Pine. Carbon exchange at the mature aspen site have been measured over 6 complete years. Carbon sequestration was the highest in 1998 mainly due to early and warmer than normal spring. A comparison of three mature forest types in BERMS show that while each ecosystem absorbs similar amounts of carbon (Net Ecosystem Productivity), the magnitudes of gains (photosynthesis) vs losses (respiration) are different for each ecosystem. One of the goals for BERMS is to fine tune these measurements of photosynthesis and respiration in order to get a more accurate picture of net ecosystem productivity (overall carbon gain to the ecosystem). While it
