We request funds for growth chambers and a mass spectrometer to conduct isotopic tracer studies of ecosystem processes. In variety of ecosystems including arctic tundra, California grassland, tropical forests, and temperate and tropical agricultural systems, we will be using 15N and 13C to study a carbon and nitrogen fluxes through ecosystems. The research emphasizes the mechanisms of interaction between carbon and micro-organisms, and the controls over trace gas fluxes which are involved in greenhouse warming and climate change.
