Martin Heimann What Is the Role of the Eurasian Forests Under a Warming Climate?
Martin Heimann is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, and Honorary Professor at Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena. He is a member of the Academia Europaea and was appointed Guest Professor at the University of Helsinki. Heimann’s research focuses on the biogeochemistry of the global carbon cycle. A major part of his research is dedicated to long-term measurements of biogeochemical changes in the Eurasian forests, and their role in the earth’s climate system. Heimann contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Area of Research
Biogeochemistry
since 2013
Visiting Guest Professor
University of Helsinki, Finland
since 2013
2008-2010
2005
Honorary Professor
Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena)
2004-2006
2003
1998
1985
Senior Research Scientist and Workgroup Leader
Max Planck Society (more details)
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
1982
Research Assistant
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, USA
1982
PhD in Physics
University of Bern (Universität Bern)
1978
Diploma in Physics
University of Bern (Universität Bern)
- Academia Europaea
- Max-Planck-Society for the Advancement of the Sciences
Prizes
- Contribution to the Nobel Peace Prize for IPCC (2007)
- Heinrich-Greinacher-Preis, Heinrich-Greinacher-Stiftung, University of Bern (2006)
© Maximilian Dörrbecker
Max Planck Society
"The Max Planck Society is Germany's most successful research organization. Since its establishment in 1948, no fewer than 18 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists, putting it on a par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. The more than 15,000 publications each year in internationally renowned scientific journals are proof of the outstanding research work conducted at Max Planck Institutes – and many of those articles are among the most-cited publications in the relevant field." (Source)
Institute
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
"The Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena conducts research into global material cycles and the associated chemical and physical processes. Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen are four elements that are crucial to life whose compounds are transported by plants, animals and microorganisms and distributed via the air and water. The scientists in Jena seek to gain a better understanding of the complex interaction between the organisms in the soil and the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, as well as the influence of humans on these natural processes. How do ecosystems react to various climate conditions, land-use practice and species diversity? To this effect, scientists at the Institute compare historical data with current observations from field experiments and measurement campaigns in order to draw conclusions on the future adaptability of organisms. They also work closely with the Max Planck Institutes for Meteorology in Hamburg and Chemistry in Mainz." (Source)
Map
The Eurasian forests are an important component in the earth’s climate system: Forests contain a lot of carbon in the vegetation and in the soil. But their role under warming conditions is still unclear – on the one hand, a higher CO2 level in the air acts like a fertilizer for plants that grow and thus store more CO2 in the form of carbon. On the other hand, microbes that like warmer temperatures bring the soil to decompose faster and release even more CO2 and methane. To monitor long-term biogeochemical changes, a German-Russian research collaboration established an observatory in the Siberian taiga. Since 2006, the regional effects of global warming are studied from the Zotino Tall Tower Observatory. As MARTIN HEIMANN explains in this video, two of the main findings of the long-term measurements are that currently the western Siberian forests store more carbon than they release. However, due to the many bogs the region is also a source of methane, another important greenhouse gas.
LT Video Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10213
The Zotino Tall Tower Observatory (ZOTTO): Quantifying Large Scale Biogeochemical Changes in Central Siberia
- Martin Heimann, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Jan Winderlich, Meinrat O. Andreae, Xuguang Chi, Christoph Gerbig, Olaf Kolle, Karl Kübler, Jost Lavric and Eugene Mikhailov
- Nova Acta Leopoldina NF
- Published in 2014
