Carbon (C) is a "benchmark currency" of forest ecology and management. Southern forests play an important role in the global C cycle and forest carbon sequestration is becoming an increasingly important factor when making policy and management decisions. Significant quantities of anthropogenic CO2 are sequestered in above vegetation, belowground living biomass (e.g. roots and microorganisms) and in recalcitrant organic and inorganic carbon in soils. However, the full potential for southern forest to sequester carbon is unknown because of fundamental gaps in understanding of the critical processes and properties regulating carbon transfer and storage at multiple scales (e.g. plant, ecosystem, landscape, and region). A comprehensive understanding of the carbon cycle, one that integrates ecological processes across multiple scales, is vital for the assessment of the current potential of southern forest to sequester carbon as well as to develop management strategies and/or novel techniques that will enhance forest carbon sequestration.

The Southern Forest Research Partnership (SFRP) and USFS Southern Research Station will hold a workshop on the critical processes and properties regulating carbon cycling in southern forests. The goal of this workshop is to bring together scientists from diverse fields to assess the current state of knowledge of the important processes regulating carbon cycling and sequestration in southern forest ecosystems. Of particular interest are the analytical methods, instrumentation, and experimental approaches needed to quantify these critical processes. The output from these discussions should identify important research needs, new experimental approaches, and generate collaborative research efforts that will advance carbon-cycling science in southern forest.

There will be about 20 invited speakers and discussion leaders as well as a poster session. The poster session is open to all participants. The meeting is limited to 80 people. Registration is required for speakers, discussion leaders, and participants.

Workshop Format and Schedule: The workshop will include two-and-a-half days of presentations, discussions, and posters. Presentations will emphasize critical properties and processes regulating carbon cycling and the analytical and experimental approaches for studying these processes at different spatial and spatial-temporal scales (Plant, Ecosystem, Landscape, and Region).

Organizing Committee:
Chris Maier, USDA Forest Service, cmaier@fs.fed.us
Larry Biles, Southern Forest Research Partnership, lbiles@smokey.forestry.uga.edu
Mark Coleman, USDA Forest Service, mcoleman@fs.fed.us
Kurt Johnsen, USDA Forest Service, kjohnsen@fs.fed.us
Tim Martin, University of Florida, tamartin@ufl.edu
Robert Teskey, University of Georgia, teskey@smokey.forestry.uga.edu
Eric Vance, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, evance@ncasi.org

Please direct questions or comments to Chris Maier.