CARBOMONT: Effects of Land-Use Changes on Sources, Sinks and Fluxes of Carbon in European Non-Forest Mountain Areas

CARBOMONT was launched to quantify the annual carbon balance and its variability in major European non-forest mountain ecosystems, and how it is affected by land use and different climatic conditions. The network of 23 study sites connects four regional transects covering different natural and socio-economic driving forces, each study site being representative for the respective mountain region. The transect covers a latitudinal and altitudinal range from 42 to 68° N and 360 to 1900 m a.s.l., respectively. Two ecosystem types differing in land use are investigated at each site, with an eddy covariance system deployed at one of the two ecosystem types. A number of CARBOMONT study sites are situated in vicinity of long-term flux sites in adjacent forest ecosystems. This allows a comparison of carbon sequestration between the investigated non-forest and forest ecosystems.