Comparing Coastal and Inland Woodlands: Identifying how Temperature Fluctuations and CO2 Concentration Rates are Connected to Altitude and the Presence of Bodies of Water

Greenhouse gases have increased over the past several decades, contributing to a much broader concern over the extent and impact of global warming. Environmental measures have been taken on a small scale across the North American continent to reduce the impact of greenhouse gases and the resultant heat magnified by the atmosphere. Thus, this research collected information on greenhouse gas indicators, namely CO2 concentration fluxes and air temperature, to locate more volatile sites and regions around the United States. NEON (the National Ecological Observatory Network) collects data on the eddy covariance of its terrestrial sites across the United States, a measurement of how an ecosystem “breathes”. This project investigates geographic connections between measures of air temperature and CO2 concentration rates of change across regionally similar sites, focusing particularly on two terrestrial sites: the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), a coastal woodland, and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), an inland deciduous forest. Data analysis found that although there was no substantial difference in air temperatures between the sites, there were definitive deviations in CO2 fluxes at the SCBI and SERC sites. The low altitude of the coastal SERC site was likely impactful in the regulation of CO2 fluxes, as bodies of water tend to act as effective carbon sinks. With this information, measures can be taken to address vulnerable climatic regions.