Multiple Session Announcements and Calls for Abstracts - AGU Fall Meeting

Date

27 June 2011

Multiple Session Announcements and Calls for Abstracts
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting
5-9 December 2011
San Francisco, California

Abstract Submission Deadline for all Sessions:
Thursday, 4 August 2011

H49 - Moving Towards a Unified Threshold-based Hydrological Theory
B21- Causes and Consequences of Changes in Treeline
B40 - Improving Predictions of the Global Carbon Cycle and Climate
in Earth Models: New Mechanisms, Feedback Sensitivities, and
Approaches for Model Benchmarking
B55 - Multi-trophic Level Response to Climate Change in the Arctic
Tundra Ecosystem

H49 - Moving Towards a Unified Threshold-based Hydrological Theory

Organizers of Session H49, "Moving Towards a Unified Threshold-based
Hydrological Theory," announce a call for abstracts. The session will be
convened at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, 5-9
December 2011 in San Francisco, California.

Many theories fail to explain runoff variation because landscape
heterogeneity and hydrologic connectivity are not adequately considered.
Rainfall and storage thresholds have been proposed to explain complex
rainfall-runoff behavior but hydrologists still need to agree on how to
quantify critical conditions where catchments transition between
distinct hydrological functions.

Organizers welcome papers that suggest methods for detecting thresholds
and incorporating them into model structures; examine how thresholds
interact across scales; compare threshold-driven catchment functions
across different land use and climatic conditions; and address reasons
why threshold behaviors might not occur in certain environments.

The abstract submission deadline for this and all other sessions is
Thursday, 4 August 2011 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. To submit
an abstract, you must enter the first author's current AGU member ID and
password at: http://agu-fm11.abstractcentral.com/.

For further information, please contact:
Genevieve Ali
Email: g.ali [at] abdn.ac.uk

Claire Oswald
Email: claire.oswald [at] utoronto.ca

Christopher Spence
Email: chris.spence [at] ec.gc.ca

B21 - Causes and Consequences of Changes in Treeline

Organizers of Session B21, "Causes and Consequences of Changes in
Treeline," announce a call for abstracts. The session will be convened
at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, 5-9 December 2011
in San Francisco, California.

Treeline positions are of fundamental importance to carbon cycling and
surface energy budgets in high elevation and high latitude landscapes.
Considerable uncertainty remains about the causes of treeline position,
the fate of treelines in a changing climate and the feedback
implications of treeline shifts for regional and global climates. The
objectives of this session are to bring together researchers with a
shared interest in treeline and to highlight recent research in arctic
and alpine settings.

Organizers invite contributions from researchers working on any aspect
of treeline, with a particular emphasis on studies that examine the
biotic and abiotic controls on treeline position and the implications of
changes in treeline position.

For further information, please contact:
Paddy Sullivan
Email: paddy [at] uaa.alaska.edu

B40 - Improving Predictions of the Global Carbon Cycle and Climate
in Earth System Models: New Mechanisms, Feedback Sensitivities, and
Approaches for Model Benchmarking

Organizers of Session B40, "Improving Predictions of the Global Carbon
Cycle and Climate in Earth System Models: New Mechanisms, Feedback
Sensitivities, and Approaches for Model Benchmarking," announce a call
for abstracts. The session will be convened at the American Geophysical
Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, 5-9 December 2011 in San Francisco, California.

Global climate-carbon cycle feedbacks are poorly quantified and
potentially large, and these feedbacks strongly influence predictions of
future atmospheric CO2 concentrations. This session focuses on
identification and quantification of feedback sensitivities; new
biogeochemical and biogeophysical mechanisms affecting carbon, nitrogen,
and nutrient cycles; systematic approaches for Earth System Model (ESM)
evaluation and benchmarking via comparison with contemporary
observations; and analysis of biosphere dynamics and responses in
Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) model results.

For further information, please contact:
Forrest M. Hoffman
Email: forrest [at] climatemodeling.org

Atul K. Jain
Email: jain1 [at] uiuc.edu

Wilfred M. Post
Email: wmp [at] ornl.gov

James T. Randerson
Email: jranders [at] uci.edu

B55 - Multi-trophic Level Response to Climate Change in the Arctic
Tundra Ecosystem

Organizers of Session B55, "Multi-trophic Level Response to Climate
Change in the Arctic Tundra Ecosystem," announce a call for abstracts.
The session will be convened at the American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Fall Meeting, 5-9 December 2011 in San Francisco, California.

Evidence accumulating from many disciplines shows that the Arctic is
currently undergoing a warming trend and multiple models predict this
warming will continue. As highlighted by the Arctic Climate Impact
Assessment (ACIA), climate change responses across trophic levels are
understudied in arctic systems compared to in others.

Organizers welcome studies that consider the cascade of changes that are
triggered, either directly or indirectly, by arctic warming; and in
particular studies focused on the impact of changing seasonality on
cross-trophic level dynamics. Empirical studies based on field
observations and experiments, as well as those based in either
terrestrial or aquatic habitats are all welcome.

For further information, please contact:
Natalie Boelman
Email: nboelman [at] ldeo.columbia.edu