1. Disseminating science, research and technology
GHG-EUROPE Greenhouse gas management in
European land use systems
| June 2010: Healthcare |
| October 2011 |

2. Integrating Europe’s
terrestrial climate science
Approaches to climate change in Europe have often focused on a single ecosystem type or land
GHG-EUROPE
use sector, but a major new research project is integrating data streams to analyse the greenhouse
gases (GHGs) balance. Dr Annette Freibauer highlights the project’s achievements to date
Could you outline the project’s main integration of feedbacks with socioeconomic
objectives? changes and EU climate and land use policies.
GHG-Europe seeks to quantify the annual to Can you explain how GHG-Europe quantifies
decadal variability of all three major GHG – the annual to decadal variability of the
carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – in carbon and GHG budgets for terrestrial
terrestrial ecosystems in Europe. We want ecosystems?
to separate the responses of GHG fluxes to
the variability in natural and anthropogenic GHG-Europe will make a step change in
drivers. It is important to know which part of the quantification of the European carbon
the GHG balance can be managed and which and GHG budget in robustness, detail,
part is driven by climate variability. Moreover, comprehensiveness and consistency in time,
the most sensitive and vulnerable carbon pools spatial scales and across ecosystems. This will
and GHG processes and the associated risks be achieved via a systematic, fully integrated
of positive feedbacks with climate change in approach that combines multi-year, multi-
the 21st Century will be identified. The final site observations, a series of models with
output of the GHG-Europe project will be different complexity and process coverage. The
an assessment of the impact of post-2012 models are validated against the observations
strategies and policies on future carbon pools we will be validating and improving a wide and are driven by a new, comprehensive,
and GHG fluxes in Europe, which will also range of sectoral models of agriculture and temporally- and spatially-consistent set of
include economic and societal aspects. forestry, generic ecosystem models and data- driver fields for the period 1900-2010, and
driven approaches with the observations and up to 2100 in scenario mode. Uncertainties
By what means will GHG-Europe improve response functions. are systematically quantified and attributed
the knowledge necessary for the prediction to error types and error propagation through
of terrestrial carbon and GHG budgets across What observations are considered when measurements, space scales and model
Europe? creating the models and how wide ranging parameterisation.
are the sites?
Our predictive capacity relies on the degree What do you hope this project will achieve in
of mechanistic understanding as to how Measurements from more than 40 GHG flux terms of impacting policy making?
ecosystem processes react to changing measurement stations distributed across all
pressures and interacting drivers and how European climatic regions and ecosystems The project results will provide quantitative
much of this knowledge is incorporated in the are recorded in the GHG-Europe database. and qualitative new insights for a better
carbon cycle and GHG models. GHG-Europe is Many more additional flux data are integrated foundation of decisions in the international
fully exploiting the available data streams by from previous European projects such as climate policy negotiations. GHG-Europe will
data synthesis and integration of observations CarboEurope and NitroEurope and national provide the scientific basis for ‘factoring out’
and experiments from past and ongoing efforts. Together with spatial data on climate, natural variability and human management
projects. We are filling gaps in knowledge and soil and land management they provide the effects on the GHG balance, which is at
data by targeted measurements and detailed basis for model validation and integrated the heart of the international climate
studies of land management impacts on GHG assessment. negotiations for the post-Kyoto regime. Thus,
fluxes in regions with specific transitions of we will quantify the possible contribution of
land use type and management intensity We will assess the future vulnerability of agriculture and forestry to mitigate GHGs. The
developing response functions from the carbon pools and risks of positive feedbacks results will also allow robust assessment of the
data synthesis to quantify hotspots and hot in the climate-carbon system. This is achieved consequences of political choices in the post-
moments of GHG emissions which are likely through novel fingerprinting techniques to 2012 negotiations regarding baseline methods
to be inadequately represented in widely identify critical drivers and situations, scenario and accounting rules for C stock changes in the
applied carbon cycle and GHG models. Finally, analyses with biophysical models and the LULUCF sector.
CHAMBER MEASUREMENTS (N2O, CH4)
AT FARMLAND SITE, GERMANY

3. GHG-EUROPE
Towards sustainable
management of the
carbon cycle
Levels of GHG emissions in Europe are constantly in flux
because human and natural processes drive the complex eco-
dynamics of the continent. GHG-Europe is a multidisciplinary
project designed to help resolve this urgent question
84 PER CENT of the European landmass is used and have to be accounted for. However, in for decisions on how to manage ecosystems
for agriculture and timber production. Used in reality, soil, climate, land use and management to meet the growing demand for food, feed
this way, it has absorbed 13 per cent of fossil fuel have a complex interrelationship as the roots and bioenergy and at the same time to sustain
emissions over the past decade; this net carbon of biological processes that produce or absorb ecosystem carbon stocks and minimise GHG
‘sink’ is almost entirely mitigated, however, emissions. Project Coordinator of GHG-Europe, emissions,’ she underlines.
by nitrous oxide and methane emissions from Dr Annette Freibauer, observes the complexity
agriculture. The terrestrial biosphere, therefore, of the issue at the heart of the research field:
A COMPREHENSIVE
represents a complex interplay between
AND INTEGRATIVE APPROACH
greenhouse gas (GHG) sinks and sources. As MAINTENANCE
climate change takes effect, this balance will WORK ON AN The project will use measurements from more
become increasingly complicated: growing EDDY FLUX TOWER than 100 continental stations, distributed
demand for food and bioenergy will increase across all European climatic regions, to assess
the production of GHGs, and increasing timber the contribution of different land uses to the
cutting will reduce this GHG sink, yet the sinks and sources of the three most significant
terrestrial biosphere will remain the strongest GHGs – carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and
mechanism we have for absorbing emissions. methane. The consortium’s scientists combine
Quantifying how this interplay operates, and long-term measurements with new initiatives
assessing to what extent GHG fluxes can be to observe emissions in areas which have been
managed, will become ever more vital. GHG- little-researched to date. The team is studying
Europe is a consortium of European climate Mediterranean shrublands which frequently
change scientists which seeks to improve face damage by fire – a situation likely to worsen
understanding of how GHGs are affected by with climate change – along with the heavily
natural and anthropogenic drivers, to assist the “Disentangling how much of the observed GHG under-researched forests of Eastern Europe.
management of European ecosystems in our fluxes are directly human induced by land use Intensive research projects in Finland and the
changing climate. and management, indirectly human induced Alps have been established to observe the
by atmospheric nitrogen deposition, the CO2 effects of climate change on Northern latitude
According to the accounting rules of the Kyoto increase in the atmosphere or climate change, and alpine ecosystems. Europe’s peatlands are
Protocol, GHG emissions from managed land and how much originates from the natural another crucial territory: as the largest carbon
are either treated as natural or human induced ‘background’ processes remains one of the most reservoir in the European biosphere, they are
challenging research questions”. The GHG-
SONIC Europe project aims to address this complicated
ANEMOMETER line of enquiry with new research methodologies
AND OPEN PATH that will attribute GHG fluxes to their drivers
CO2 SENSOR and assess how much of this flux is human-
induced. Ultimately, the task is to determine
how, and to what degree, the carbon cycle and
GHG emissions in terrestrial ecosystems can
be managed. Freibauer explains the aims of the
consortium, which involves scientists from more
than 40 European research institutions: “The
GAS EXCHANGE CHAMBER
objective is to generate the knowledge base

4. INTELLIGENCE PEATLAND SOIL PROFILE
GHG-Europe
GREENHOUSE GAS MANAGEMENT IN
EUROPEAN LAND USE SYSTEMS
OBJECTIVES
To improve understanding and capacity for
predicting the European terrestrial carbon
and greenhouse gas budget.
PARTNERS
highly vulnerable to climate change and land EXAMPLE OF A SOIL CORE
vTI, Germany • LSCE-CEA/CNRS, France management impacts, yet existing information FROM A CLAYEY SITE
• IIASA, Austria • MPI-BGC, Germany • is very uncertain due to poor data integration
UNIABDN, UK • UNITUS, Italy • VUA, and lack of ecosystem models. GHG-Europe
The Netherlands • SDLO, The Netherlands aims to improve knowledge of these critical
• NERC, UK • ETH, Switzerland • ICAS, areas by synthesising and amending existing
Romania • INRA, France • PULS, Poland • research activities in natural, managed and
HWST, Germany • UA, Belgium • CEAM, restored peatlands across Europe.
Spain • UHEL, Finland • BFW, Austria •
FEM, Italy • DTU, Denmark • ECN, The A major concern of the GHG-Europe project is
this integration of existing projects and climate
Netherlands • EFI, Finland • FMI, Finland • JR,
models, since previous estimates of the European
Austria • APB, Italy • RUG, The Netherlands • GHG balance have tended to concentrate on
SLU, Sweden • SYKE, Finland • UCD, Ireland either carbon or nitrogen and often only one
• FLD-UCPH, Denmark • UIBK, Austria • ecosystem type or land use sector. Freibauer either cancel out when integrating over large
UNIBO, Italy • UGR, Spain • WUR, The explains the consortium’s approach: “There is scales, or they contribute to large-scale biases”.
Netherlands • UNIUD, Italy • UHEI-IUP, no single methodology to quantify GHG fluxes The GHG-Europe project uses an integrated
Germany • CNR, Italy • CTFC, Spain • UCLM, at all relevant spatial and temporal scales. Only approach to consistently upscale from site to
Spain • CNRM, France • PIK, Germany an integrative, comprehensive approach that regional to continental scale, and is developing a
combines the advantages of all approaches leads methodology to quantify this error in upscaling
FUNDING to robust annual to decadal GHG balances from and downscaling.
ecosystem level to the European continent”. The
EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) –
project will analyse a wealth of experimental
contract no. 244122 data, long-term observations of carbon dioxide,
THE CARBON CYCLE
MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE
CONTACT nitrous oxide and methane fluxes, meteorological
observations and land use information, using The ultimate goal of the GHG-Europe project
Dr Annette Freibauer a range of advanced data mining techniques is to determine how, and to what degree,
Project Coordinator and state-of-the-art modelling approaches. It the carbon cycle and GHG emissions in
synergises with existing European projects such terrestrial ecosystems can be managed. The
Johann Heinrich von Thuenen Institute of as NitroEurope IP, which analyses nitrogen and management challenge is to keep GHG fluxes
Agricultural Climate Research nitrous oxide budgets, CARBO-Extreme which across ecosystems, regions and continents
Bundesallee 50 looks at the effects of climate variability and in balance, and to undertake climate change
D-38116 Braunschweig extremes particularly on soil carbon, and CC- mitigation strategies where appropriate.
Germany TAME which develops tools for assessing EU Freibauer explains what these might be: “In
policy effects on land use. croplands and grasslands soil carbon can be
T +49 531 596 2634 managed by adequate amounts of organic
E annette.freibauer@vti.bund.de GHG-Europe follows a strict systematic amendments, residue management and in
protocol to unite and harmonise data, and will particular by maintaining permanent grasslands
www.ghg-europe.eu
provide the fullest-possible picture to date of which sequester soil carbon. Sustainable forest
the European biosphere’s balance of GHGs. management ensures high carbon stocks over
ANNETTE FREIBAUER is vice head of Knowledge sharing is the key, according to forest rotation periods. Substitution effects,
the vTI-Institute of Agricultural Climate Freibauer: “The intensive integration of the eg. when wood replaces energy-intensive
Research. Her research focuses on soil GHG-Europe project with researchers outside products or fossil energy, can override the
carbon and GHG dynamics in different land the project and the readiness of the European mitigation potential of carbon storage in forest
use systems (agriculture/forestry). She is a scientists to share data, analysis tools and ecosystems, particularly at longer time-scales”.
member of the IPCC and advises on policies models, is a real strength”. Clearly, the land use sector must contribute
regarding greenhouse gas mitigation in the its share to reducing GHG emissions, but the
A project with such an ambitious remit – in biodynamics of ecological systems interact
agricultural and forestry sector.
both the scale and the integrated nature of with climate change in ways that are currently
its approach – is naturally not without its not fully understood; as Freibauer observes:
challenges. Translating local observations to “This makes climate change mitigation
continental scales is one such challenge, as measures in agriculture, forestry and other
Freibauer observes: “Scaling site observations land uses more complicated and uncertain
to regions or continents, eg. with the help of than in any other sector”. In attempting to
remote sensing and models, requires a careful improve our understanding of how natural
analysis of their representativeness for these and anthropogenic drivers contribute to GHG
larger areas. Particularly important is the spatial emissions – and in elucidating the ways in which
scale of coherence in the error of the model used ecosystems respond to them – the GHG-Europe
for upscaling: depending on this scale, errors can project will help to clarify that uncertainty.