Neubauer, Scott C.
Megonigal, J. Patrick
Article History
Received: 6 January 2015
Accepted: 15 March 2015
First Online: 16 May 2015
Change Date: 24 July 2019
Change Type: Correction
Change Date: 24 July 2019
Change Type: Correction
Change Details: In our 2015 paper, we dropped the e(������dt/��) term from Equations (1) and (2) when an ecosystem removed CH4 or N2O from the atmosphere, reasoning that greenhouse gases that are not in the atmosphere cannot undergo atmospheric oxidation or photolysis. The flaw in this logic is that the uptake of greenhouse gases by an ecosystem has the effect of reducing the pool of bulk atmospheric greenhouse gases and, consequently, lowering the decay rate of those gases. This violates our implicit assumption that the pool of bulk atmospheric greenhouse gases is in steady state and not affected by the ecosystem. To account for this, the e(������dt/��) term needs to remain in the model, with the result that the exact same equation is used when an ecosystem exhibits sustained greenhouse gas emissions or uptake. We thank Paavo Ojanen for bringing this error to our attention.
Change Details: In our 2015 paper, we dropped the e(������dt/��) term from Equations (1) and (2) when an ecosystem removed CH4 or N2O from the atmosphere, reasoning that greenhouse gases that are not in the atmosphere cannot undergo atmospheric oxidation or photolysis. The flaw in this logic is that the uptake of greenhouse gases by an ecosystem has the effect of reducing the pool of bulk atmospheric greenhouse gases and, consequently, lowering the decay rate of those gases. This violates our implicit assumption that the pool of bulk atmospheric greenhouse gases is in steady state and not affected by the ecosystem. To account for this, the e(������dt/��) term needs to remain in the model, with the result that the exact same equation is used when an ecosystem exhibits sustained greenhouse gas emissions or uptake. We thank Paavo Ojanen for bringing this error to our attention.