Critical Zone Observatories quantifying the chain of impact

between geosphere and biosphere

Steve Banwart, U. Sheffield, UK

SoilTrEC: Soil Transformations in European CatchmentsFP7 Large Integrating Project

Summary of the Talk

• Overview of Critical Zone Science• The soils research exemplar: SoilTrEC project• International developments in Critical Zone science

Earth’s Critical Zone

“Real progress will required problem focused, multidisciplinary field work in natural observatories where detailed, long-term observations can be made using a variety of disciplinary tools.” (US National Academy of Science Report, BROES, 2001)

The approach to observation is motivated by:

• hypothesis testing, • process understanding across temporal and spatial scales• mathematical model development, • Utilising multiple sensor and sampling methods,• Often high-density instrument arrays,• Time series/real time measurements of coupled process dynamics, • Combining large data sets with numerical simulation

Critical Zone Observatory Program

Coupled Process Dynamics Across Spatial and Temporal Scales

Soil profile

Molecular

Watershed

Basin

Grain

CZOs are magnets for multidisciplinary research

• Soil Science• Physical Geography• Hydrology• Molecular Ecology• Microbiology• Geochemistry• Engineering• Computer Science• Economics• Management Science• Sociological Sciences• … and many others

The Perfect StormIn March 2010, the UK Chief Scientist stated that humanity faced a perfect storm

of converging challenges within the next 40 years.• Increase in population to over 9.3 billion by 2050.• Doubling in demand for food• Doubling in demand for fuel• More than 50% increase in demand for clean water• … all while mitigating and adapting to the impacts of global climate change.

During recent weeks several of these projections have been updated.• Human population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050• Greenhouse gas levels for N2O and CH4 have just exceeded previous records• CO2 levels are increasing faster at the moment than in previous years• Agricultural yields are projected to decrease overall due to insufficient water

The Storm is growing in intensity

Critical Zone Observatories are international focal points for basic science, testbeds for interdisciplinary solutions, and incubators for commercial innovation.

Research challenges:• Hindcasting to understand change• Forecasting to find solutions• International integration to match the urgency

The Chain of Impact

Earth’s Critical Zone: the architecture Treetop to Bedrock

• Food and fibre production• Filtering water• Transforming nutrients• Carbon storage• Biological habitat• Gene pool

Soil Ecosystem Services - the heart of Earth’s Critical Zone

EU Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection, EC (2006) outlines policy to address threats to soil services.

Critical Zone ServicesThe Chain of Impact

Food and fibre production

Carbon Storage Nutrient Transformation

Filtering Water

Biological HabitatGene Pool

Parent Material – forming soil

Baseflow to rivers

Attenuating contaminantsStoring and transmitting water

Storing and transmitting heatRepository for hazardous wastesPhysical scaffold for landscapes

GHGs and Climate Regulation

Critical Zone Observatories

Banwart et al. (2011). Vadose Zone Journal, CZO special issue, 10, 974–987 .

Damma Glacier CZOSwitzerland

PI: S.M Bernasconi, ETH and the BigLink Project Team

Fuchsenbigl CZO, AustriaPIs: Winfried Blum, Georg Lair, BOKU

Lysina CZO, Czech RepublicEven-Aged Norway SprucePlantation at Lysina

PIs: Martin Novak, Pavel KramCzech Geological Survey

Koiliaris CZO, CretePI: Nik Nikolaidis, TUC

Earth’s Critical Zone: the services

Mass and energy flows deliver goods and services:• filtration of water• new soil• food, fuel, fibre• transformation of nutrients and pollutants• thermal energy• carbon storage• waste isolation• scaffold for landscapes

Data collection and analysis of CZO soilsSmall Plot Experiments Laboratory experiments

Biodiversity,Food web dynamics, Life cycle analysis

Modelling

Plant, Weathering, Aggregate formation (PROSUM,

CAST, ForSAFE)

Watershed Hydrology and transport (SWAT-ICZ)

Hydrology,Nutrient dynamics,Reactive transport

(HYDRUS, CAST)

Upscaling with GIS (GEOSTATISTICS)

Evaluation of soil ecosystem services, life cycle and

monitory value

Spatial Scale

1D-Integrated Critical Zone (ICZ) Model

Modelling Structure in SoilTrEC

Nikolaidis N. and Bidoglio G., Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, in press.

Carbon Amendments – Soil Fertility and Structure

Slide courtesy of Nikolaos Nikolaidis, Technical U. Crete

1D-ICZ Model – C/N/P and Soil Structure ModuleSimulation of 2 year of Compost Addition

Carbon sequestration Water Stable Aggregates – soil fertility

Porosity & Bulk Density– soil structure

Slide courtesy of Nikolaos Nikolaidis, Technical U. Crete

1D-ICZ Model – Plant Module Results

Biomass Production

Slide courtesy of Nikolaos Nikolaidis, Technical U. Crete

Soil Function Status of Koiliaris CZO

Carbon Sequestration Water Filtration and Transformation

Soil Function Status of Koiliaris CZO

Biomass Production Biodiversity

Soil Threats – Erosion at Koiliaris CZO

SWAT Model Simulations

Soil Sustainability – by design

• Design of land use through computational simulation• Model of soil processes embedded within Critical Zone process model• Parameterisation via web-accessible GIS• Scenario analysis for mitigation of/adaptation to environmental change• Valuation of full range of critical zone services

Nature

Nature, 474, 151-152, 9 June, 2011

International CZO Networksc$100M in new funding committed for CZO research worldwide since 2008

• NSF CZO programme• EC SoilTrEC project• French Network of River Basins• German AquaDiva Project• German Helmholtz Centres TERENO network of CZOs• 2014 workshop in Perth, Australia on CZOs for the Southern Hemisphere• Interest from China in a programme of Critical Zone research

International Steering CommitteeSteve Banwart, Jerome Gaillardet, Marty Goldhaber, Sue Trumbore, Don Sparks

Project and network collaboration on:• Shared sites and data• Numerical simulation approaches• PhD and post-doc training

Site Network on Environmental Gradients

CZOs to Focus International Science

H1: CZ ecosystem services will be particularly vulnerable to extreme events; droughts, heat waves and floods.

Real-time monitoring of critical zone processes with forecasting simulations within heavily instrumented CZOs

H2: Climate and land use gradient experiments today can shed light on ecosystem services response to future environmental and social change.

Study CZ ecosystem services on a climate gradient from equatorial Africa to Artic Europe and along a land use gradient within climate zones.

Global Experimental DesignCZO Networks along gradients of climate

Map from World Climate. http://www.climate-charts.com/index.html

Global Experimental Design

CZO Networks along gradients of land use

Map from: UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands

International CZO Research Agenda

Available as download from

www.czen.org

NGL - Food for Thought• AquaDiva CZ biosphere project

– Linking above- and below- ground biodiversity– Prof Kirsten Kuesel, University of Jena

• “Drill the Ridge” deep CZ exploration– October 2013 workshop in Denver, USA– Define the lower boundary of CZ– Rock mass interaction with water circulation– Linking technology development to basic science– Prof. Cliff Reibe, U. Wyoming

• NGL pioneered this science 20 years ago• NGL globally leading science strengths in deep CZ exploration• NGL technology leaders in deep CZ exploration

END