The IPCC Meeting on Terrestrial Carbon Stocks concluded in 2003 that “The scientific community cannot currently provide a practicable methodology that would factor out direct human-induced effects from indirect human-induced and natural effects for any broad range of LULUCF activities and circumstances.” Ten years after this statement this session aims to collect new insights into the human fingerprint on greenhouse gas fluxes in ecosystems, landscapes and regions. How strong is the direct human impact of present management and land use history versus indirect human effects like nitrogen deposition and elevated CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and the natural variability of greenhouse gas fluxes driven by interannual climate variation? Presentations should address managed terrestrial systems, changes in management practices or effects of past and recent trends in management like intensification of croplands and grasslands, changing forestry practices and the recent emergence of bioenergy crops. Regional studies including the lateral exchange of carbon and nitrogen and systems analysis such as farm gate balances of greenhouse gases are also welcome.

The session is co-sponsored by the EU FP7 Collaborative Project GHG-Europe (GA no. 244122).