The main objective of the Action was to quantify, through experimentation and modelling, carbon storage in European grassland ecosystems and to identify the mechanisms controlling carbon allocation in plants and soils of grasslands. This quantification allows an assessment of the contribution that European grasslands make to the total biosphere sinks for carbon under different forms of management in a changing environment. Management variables included nutrient inputs, and cutting or grazing practices and land use changes. Environmental trends included increasing atmospheric CO2, O3 and reactive nitrogen (NOx,NH3), rising temperature and changed patterns of rainfall.
This Action undertook quantifiable assessment of the ability of grasslands in Europe to sequester carbon and gave an indication of the long-term stability of the sequestered carbon. The results can help formulate land management policy to optimize the capacity of grasslands as carbon sinks. The Action also improved understanding of the carbon storage and circulation in plants and solids, and efficient mechanisms for its control.
A variety of scientific publications resulted from the Action’s activities.
