Dr Mike O'Sullivan

Lecturer

M.OSullivan@exeter.ac.uk

Overview

Overview

I am a Lecturer at the University of Exeter. My research is focused on developing a deeper understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle and its coupling with environmental change. I study the cycling of carbon between atmosphere, plants, and soils from local to global scales. I use process-based models along with earth observations to investigate feedback mechanisms between the biosphere and atmosphere.

Projects

Global Carbon Budget: The Global Carbon Budget provides annual updates of each component of the carbon cycle, from emissions from burning of fossil fuel and land-use and land cover change, to the change in atmospheric, ocean, and land carbon 'sinks'. This initiative brings togther over 100 scientists from across the globe to produce an up to date, holistic overview of the human perturbation of the carbon cycle. I am a core team member responsible for the data synthesis and production of the manuscript. I also contribute to the land carbon sink estimate with the use of the JULES land surface model.

Climate-Carbon Interactions in the Current Century (4C): This project aims to advance our quantitative understanding of climate-carbon interactions and resolve large and persistent knowledge gaps in the climate sensitivity to carbon dioxide emissions. More specifically, my role focuses on understanding historical trends in land carbon cycle, attributing dominant drivers and quantifying key model uncertainties. My first study from this project was published in August 2022 (Process-oriented analysis of dominant sources of uncertainty in the land carbon sink), with a second study to follow shortly.

ESA RECCAP-2: This project focussed on utilising ESA remote sensing products (biomass, soil moisture, burned area) to evaluate processed based carbon cycle models.

Teaching

MTH1002 - Mathematical Methods (Office hours: Tuesday 14.30-15.30, Friday 11.00-12.00)

Qualifications

MMath. Mathematics (University of Sheffield)

PhD Terrestrial Carbon Cycling (University of Leeds)

Career

2022 - present: Lecturer

2018 - 2022: Postdoctoral Scientist, University of Exeter

Publications

_{Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.}

| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 |

2024

Li H, Ilyina T, Dunkl I, Spring A, Brune S, Müller WA, Bernardello R, Bopp L, Friedlingstein P, Merryfield WJ. (2024) Advancements and Challenges in Assessing and Predicting the Global Carbon Cycle Variations Using Earth System Models, DOI:10.5194/egusphere-egu24-16456. [PDF]
Brasika IBM, Friedlingstein P, Sitch S, O'Sullivan M. (2024) Drivers and trends in Land-use change and associated carbon emissions over Indonesia, DOI:10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8349. [PDF]
Rosan TM, Sitch S, O’Sullivan M, Basso LS, Wilson C, Silva C, Gloor E, Fawcett D, Heinrich V, Souza JG. (2024) Synthesis of the land carbon fluxes of the Amazon region between 2010 and 2020, Communications Earth & Environment, volume 5, no. 1, article no. 46, DOI:10.1038/s43247-024-01205-0. [PDF]

2023

Friedlingstein P, O'Sullivan M, Jones MW, Andrew RM, Bakker DCE, Hauck J, Landschützer P, Le Quéré C, Luijkx IT, Peters GP. (2023) Global Carbon Budget 2023, Earth System Science Data, volume 15, no. 12, pages 5301-5369, DOI:10.5194/essd-15-5301-2023. [PDF]
Ernst Y, Archibald S, Chevallier F, Ciais P, Fischer CG, Gaubert B, Higginbottom T, Higgins S, Lawal S, Lacroix F. (2023) The African Regional Greenhouse Gases Budget (2010-2019), DOI:10.22541/essoar.169866878.81035511/v1.
Jones CD, Ziehn T, Anand J, Bastos A, Burke E, Canadell JG, Cardoso M, Ernst Y, Jain AK, Jeong S. (2023) RECCAP2 Future Component: Consistency and Potential for Regional Assessment to Constrain Global Projections, AGU Advances, volume 4, no. 6, DOI:10.1029/2023av001024. [PDF]
Friedlingstein P, O'Sullivan M, Jones MW, Andrew RM, Bakker DCE, Hauck J, Landschützer P, Le Quéré C, Luijkx IT, Peters GP. (2023) Supplementary material to "Global Carbon Budget 2023", DOI:10.5194/essd-2023-409-supplement. [PDF]
Friedlingstein P, O'Sullivan M, Jones MW, Andrew RM, Bakker DCE, Hauck J, Landschützer P, Le Quéré C, Luijkx IT, Peters GP. (2023) Global Carbon Budget 2023, DOI:10.5194/essd-2023-409. [PDF]
Kou-Giesbrecht S, Arora VK, Seiler C, Arneth A, Falk S, Jain AK, Joos F, Kennedy D, Knauer J, Sitch S. (2023) Evaluating nitrogen cycling in terrestrial biosphere models: a disconnect between the carbon and nitrogen cycles, EARTH SYSTEM DYNAMICS, volume 14, no. 4, pages 767-795, DOI:10.5194/esd-14-767-2023. [PDF]
Gampe D, Zscheischler J, Reichstein M, O’Sullivan M, Smith WK, Sitch S, Buermann W. (2023) Publisher Correction: Increasing impact of warm droughts on northern ecosystem productivity over recent decades, Nature Climate Change, volume 13, no. 11, pages 1272-1272, DOI:10.1038/s41558-023-01731-3.
O'Sullivan M, Friedlingstein P, Sitch S. (2023) Attributing trends in the land carbon cycle using process-based DGVMs and global scale observations, DOI:10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13377. [PDF]
Kou-Giesbrecht S, Arora V, Seiler C, Arneth A, Falk S, Jain A, Joos F, Kennedy D, Knauer J, Sitch S. (2023) Evaluating Nitrogen Cycling in Terrestrial Biosphere Models: Implications for the Future Terrestrial Carbon Sink, volume 2023, pages 1-53, DOI:10.5194/egusphere-2023-167.

2022

Friedlingstein P, O'Sullivan M, Jones MW, Andrew RM, Gregor L, Hauck J, Le Quéré C, Luijkx IT, Olsen A, Peters GP. (2022) Global Carbon Budget 2022, Earth System Science Data, volume 14, no. 11, pages 4811-4900, DOI:10.5194/essd-14-4811-2022. [PDF]
Murray-Tortarolo G, Poulter B, Vargas R, Hayes D, Michalak AM, Williams C, Windham-Myers L, Wang JA, Wickland KP, Butman D. (2022) A Process-Model Perspective on Recent Changes in the Carbon Cycle of North America, JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES, volume 127, no. 9, article no. ARTN e2022JG006904, DOI:10.1029/2022JG006904. [PDF]
Friedlingstein P, O'Sullivan M, Jones MW, Andrew RM, Gregor L, Hauck J, Le Quéré C, Luijkx IT, Olsen A, Peters GP. (2022) Supplementary material to "Global Carbon Budget 2022", DOI:10.5194/essd-2022-328-supplement. [PDF]
Friedlingstein P, O'Sullivan M, Jones MW, Andrew RM, Gregor L, Hauck J, Le Quéré C, Luijkx IT, Olsen A, Peters GP. (2022) Global Carbon Budget 2022, DOI:10.5194/essd-2022-328. [PDF]
O’Sullivan M, Friedlingstein P, Sitch S, Anthoni P, Arneth A, Arora VK, Bastrikov V, Delire C, Goll DS, Jain A. (2022) Process-oriented analysis of dominant sources of uncertainty in the land carbon sink, Nature Communications, volume 13, no. 1, article no. 4781, DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-32416-8. [PDF]
Wang K, Bastos A, Ciais P, Wang X, Rödenbeck C, Gentine P, Chevallier F, Humphrey VW, Huntingford C, O'Sullivan M. (2022) Regional and seasonal partitioning of water and temperature controls on global land carbon uptake variability, Nat Commun, volume 13, no. 1, DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-31175-w. [PDF]
Friedlingstein P, Jones MW, O'Sullivan M, Andrew RM, Bakker DCE, Hauck J, Le Quéré C, Peters GP, Peters W, Pongratz J. (2022) Global Carbon Budget 2021, Earth System Science Data, volume 14, no. 4, pages 1917-2005, DOI:10.5194/essd-14-1917-2022. [PDF]
Fawcett D, Cunliffe AM, Sitch S, O’Sullivan M, Anderson K, Brazier RE, Hill TC, Anthoni P, Arneth A, Arora VK. (2022) Assessing Model Predictions of Carbon Dynamics in Global Drylands, Frontiers in Environmental Science, volume 10, DOI:10.3389/fenvs.2022.790200. [PDF]
Hancock M, Sitch S, Fischer FJ, Chave J, O'Sullivan M, Fawcett D, Mercado LM. (2022) Modelling the impact of wood density dependent tree mortality on the spatial distribution of Amazonian vegetation carbon, DOI:10.5194/bg-2022-87. [PDF]

2021

O’Sullivan M, Zhang Y, Bellouin N, Harris I, Mercado LM, Sitch S, Ciais P, Friedlingstein P. (2021) Aerosol–light interactions reduce the carbon budget imbalance, Environmental Research Letters, volume 16, no. 12, pages 124072-124072, DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/ac3b77. [PDF]
Friedlingstein P, Jones MW, O'Sullivan M, Andrew RM, Bakker DCE, Hauck J, Le Quéré C, Peters GP, Peters W, Pongratz J. (2021) Global Carbon Budget 2021, DOI:10.5194/essd-2021-386. [PDF]
Huntingford C, Sitch SA, O'Sullivan M. (2021) Impact of merging of historical and future climate data sets on land carbon cycle projections for South America, Climate Resilience and Sustainability, volume 1, no. 1, DOI:10.1002/cli2.24. [PDF]
Gampe D, Zscheischler J, Reichstein M, O’Sullivan M, Smith WK, Sitch S, Buermann W. (2021) Increasing impact of warm droughts on northern ecosystem productivity over recent decades, Nature Climate Change, volume 11, no. 9, pages 772-779, DOI:10.1038/s41558-021-01112-8. [PDF]
Rosan TM, Klein Goldewijk K, Ganzenmüller R, O’Sullivan M, Pongratz J, Mercado LM, Aragao LEOC, Heinrich V, Von Randow C, Wiltshire A. (2021) A multi-data assessment of land use and land cover emissions from Brazil during 2000–2019, Environmental Research Letters, volume 16, no. 7, pages 074004-074004, DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/ac08c3. [PDF]
Obermeier WA, Nabel JEMS, Loughran T, Hartung K, Bastos A, Havermann F, Anthoni P, Arneth A, Goll DS, Lienert S. (2021) Modelled land use and land cover change emissions – a spatio-temporal comparison of different approaches, Earth System Dynamics, volume 12, no. 2, pages 635-670, DOI:10.5194/esd-12-635-2021. [PDF]
Gonsamo A, Ciais P, Miralles DG, Sitch S, Dorigo W, Lombardozzi D, Friedlingstein P, Nabel JEMS, Goll DS, O'Sullivan M. (2021) Greening drylands despite warming consistent with carbon dioxide fertilization effect, Glob Chang Biol, volume 27, no. 14, pages 3336-3349, DOI:10.1111/gcb.15658. [PDF]
Rosan TM, Goldewijk KK, Ganzenmüller R, O'Sullivan M, Pongratz J, Mercado LM, Aragao LEOC, Heinrich V, Von Randow C, Wiltshire A. (2021) Assessment of land use and land cover datasets for Brazil and impact on C emissions, DOI:10.5194/egusphere-egu21-3065. [PDF]
O'Sullivan M, Friedlingstein P, Sitch S. (2021) Where is the carbon going? - A multi-model comparison, DOI:10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12422. [PDF]

2020

Friedlingstein P, O'Sullivan M, Jones MW, Andrew RM, Hauck J, Olsen A, Peters GP, Peters W, Pongratz J, Sitch S. (2020) Global Carbon Budget 2020, Earth System Science Data, volume 12, no. 4, pages 3269-3340, DOI:10.5194/essd-12-3269-2020. [PDF]
O'Sullivan M, Smith WK, Sitch S, Friedlingstein P, Arora VK, Haverd V, Jain AK, Kato E, Kautz M, Lombardozzi D. (2020) Climate‐Driven Variability and Trends in Plant Productivity Over Recent Decades Based on Three Global Products, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, volume 34, no. 12, DOI:10.1029/2020gb006613. [PDF]
Friedlingstein P, O'Sullivan M, Jones MW, Andrew RM, Hauck J, Olsen A, Peters GP, Peters W, Pongratz J, Sitch S. (2020) Global Carbon Budget 2020, DOI:10.5194/essd-2020-286. [PDF]
Yang H, Ciais P, Santoro M, Huang Y, Li W, Wang Y, Bastos A, Goll D, Arneth A, Anthoni P. (2020) Comparison of forest above‐ground biomass from dynamic global vegetation models with spatially explicit remotely sensed observation‐based estimates, Global Change Biology, volume 26, no. 7, pages 3997-4012, DOI:10.1111/gcb.15117. [PDF]
Jung M, Schwalm C, Migliavacca M, Walther S, Camps-Valls G, Koirala S, Anthoni P, Besnard S, Bodesheim P, Carvalhais N. (2020) Scaling carbon fluxes from eddy covariance sites to globe: synthesis and evaluation of the FLUXCOM approach, Biogeosciences, volume 17, no. 5, pages 1343-1365, DOI:10.5194/bg-17-1343-2020. [PDF]
Bastos A, O'Sullivan M, Ciais P, Makowski D, Sitch S, Friedlingstein P, Chevallier F, Rödenbeck C, Pongratz J, Luijkx IT. (2020) Sources of Uncertainty in Regional and Global Terrestrial CO2 Exchange Estimates, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, volume 34, no. 2, DOI:10.1029/2019GB006393.
Chen X, Maignan F, Viovy N, Bastos A, Goll D, Wu J, Liu L, Yue C, Peng S, Yuan W. (2020) Novel Representation of Leaf Phenology Improves Simulation of Amazonian Evergreen Forest Photosynthesis in a Land Surface Model, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, volume 12, no. 1, DOI:10.1029/2018MS001565.

2019

Jung M, Schwalm C, Migliavacca M, Walther S, Camps-Valls G, Koirala S, Anthoni P, Besnard S, Bodesheim P, Carvalhais N. (2019) Scaling carbon fluxes from eddy covariance sites to globe: Synthesis and evaluation of the FLUXCOM approach, pages 1-40, DOI:10.5194/bg-2019-368.
Friedlingstein P, Jones MW, O'Sullivan M, Andrew RM, Hauck J, Peters GP, Peters W, Pongratz J, Sitch S, Le Quéré C. (2019) Global Carbon Budget 2019, DOI:10.5194/essd-2019-183. [PDF]
O'Sullivan M, Spracklen DV, Batterman SA, Arnold SR, Gloor M, Buermann W. (2019) Have Synergies Between Nitrogen Deposition and Atmospheric CO2 Driven the Recent Enhancement of the Terrestrial Carbon Sink?, Global Biogeochem Cycles, volume 33, no. 2, pages 163-180, DOI:10.1029/2018GB005922. [PDF]
Friedlingstein P, Jones MW, O'Sullivan M, Andrew RM, Hauck J, Peters GP, Peters W, Pongratz J, Sitch S, Le Quéré C. (2019) Global Carbon Budget 2019, Earth System Science Data, volume 11, no. 4, pages 1783-1838, DOI:10.5194/essd-11-1783-2019. [PDF]

2018

Buermann W, Forkel M, O'Sullivan M, Sitch S, Friedlingstein P, Haverd V, Jain AK, Kato E, Kautz M, Lienert S. (2018) Widespread seasonal compensation effects of spring warming on northern plant productivity, Nature, volume 562, no. 7725, pages 110-114, DOI:10.1038/s41586-018-0555-7. [PDF]

2016

O'Sullivan M, Rap A, Reddington CL, Spracklen DV, Gloor M, Buermann W. (2016) Small global effect on terrestrial net primary production due to increased fossil fuel aerosol emissions from East Asia since the turn of the century, Geophysical Research Letters, volume 43, no. 15, pages 8060-8067, DOI:10.1002/2016gl068965. [PDF]