Interest in understanding the mechanisms controlling carbon storage and loss in terrestrial ecosystems has increased significantly recently as these ecosystems are a major, yet vulnerable sink for carbon. Climate projections indicate that mean annual temperatures will warm throughout the globe over the next century. These warmer temperatures are expected to alter precipitation in many parts of the globe, with variable changes in the intensity, timing, quantity and form of precipitation in different regions. At the same time that temperatures and precipitation are changing, terrestrial ecosystems are experiencing other alterations, such as increases in availability of nitrogen, increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and changes in trophospheric ozone. Numerous studies have shown that both single- and multifactor manipulations of temperature or precipitation can lead to dramatic effects on ecosystem carbon dynamics. However, the magnitude and direction of response to these manipulations are often not predictable based on changes in individual factors due to additive vs. synergistic response patterns. The majority of mutli-factor experiments have been conducted in grass- or shrubland ecosystems, where the small stature of the vegetation makes costly global change manipulations more feasible. Fewer have been conducted in forest ecosystems, even though they are important to understand due to their role in carbon storage. Although past sessions have focused on multi-factor experiments (see “Mucking through multifactor experiments: design and analysis of multifactor studies in global change research” from the 2006 ESA meeting), several recent studies have evaluated the effects of these treatments on carbon storage and exchange that could add to our understanding of these key processes. Here we propose to lead an organized oral session at the 2011 Ecological Society of America meeting to bring together ecosystem-scale experiments and modeling efforts across a wide geographic range of ecosystem types. Our session will include two types of talks. The first set will showcase experimental efforts among many ecosystem types and the second set will focus on modeling studies. Together, these talks will show how empirical work and modeling efforts can inform each other to transform our thinking about the impacts of climate change on terrestrial carbon sinks and exchange. Through these topics, we will address questions about the effects of climate change on the hydrology, biology and chemistry of terrestrial ecosystems.