This study investigates how warming and changes in precipitation may affect the cycling of carbon (C) in tundra soils, and between high Arctic tundra and the atmosphere. We quantified ecosystem ...respiration (Reco) and soil pore space CO2 in a polar semi-desert in northwestern Greenland under current and future climate conditions simulated by long-term experimental warming (+2 °C, +4 °C), water addition (+50% summer precipitation), and a combination of both (+4 °C × +50% summer precipitation). We also measured the 14C content of Reco and soil CO2 to distinguish young C cycling rapidly between the atmosphere and the ecosystem from older C stored in the soil for centuries to millennia. We identified changes in the amount and timing of precipitation as a key control of the magnitude, seasonality and sources of Reco in a polar semi-desert. Throughout each summer, small (<4 mm) precipitation events during drier periods triggered the release of very old C pulses from the deep soil, while larger precipitation events (>4 mm), more winter snow and experimental irrigation were associated with higher Reco fluxes and the release of recently fixed (young) C. Warmer summers and experimental warming also resulted in higher Reco fluxes (+2 °C > +4 °C), but coincided with losses of older C. We conclude that in high Arctic, dry tundra systems, future magnitudes and patterns of old C emissions will be controlled as much by the summer precipitation regime and winter snowpack as by warming. The release of older soil C is of concern, as it may lead to net C losses from the ecosystem. Therefore, reliable predictions of precipitation amounts, frequency, and timing are required to predict the changing C cycle in the high Arctic.
Relationships were determined between methane (CH4) production and in situ conditions within the permafrost active layer during a single melt season at Stordalen, Sweden, with a specific emphasis on ...temperature sensitivity of methanogenesis. In situ temperature, moisture, pH, dissolved organic carbon, and CH4 concentration data were measured at three contrasting active layer sites (sedge mire, Sphagnum mire, and ombrotrophic bog), and laboratory incubations of active layer material were subsequently employed to determine the sensitivity of CH4 production to temperature. Q10 values, describing the CH4 production response of peat to a temperature change of 10 °C, ranged from 1.9 to 3.5 and 2.4 to 5.8 for the sedge and Sphagnum mire sites, respectively. A wider review of the literature on Q10 responses of methanogenesis in northern peatlands shows similar features to the temperature response of CH4 production in the active layer at Stordalen. In general, Q10 values are not significantly different in Arctic permafrost wetlands than non-Arctic northern wetlands; however, Sphagnum sites display Q10 responses (mean Q10 = 8) that are notably greater than that of wetter minerotrophic-sedge environments (mean Q10 = 4.3). This finding has implications for the parameterization of Q10 factors in numerical carbon cycling models, and suggests that the use of spatially variable Q10 values could be a useful approach for more accurate modeling of CH4 fluxes from northern wetlands under different climatic change scenarios.
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In this Brief Communications Arising Reply, the affiliation for author P. H. Templer was incorrectly listed as 'Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, ...California 92697, USA' instead of 'Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA'. This has been corrected online.
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Currently, there is a lack of understanding on how the magnitude and sources of carbon (C) emissions from High Arctic tundra are impacted by changing snow cover duration and depth during winter. Here ...we investigated this issue in a graminoid tundra snow fence experiment on shale‐derived gelisols in Svalbard from the end of the growing season and throughout the winter. To characterize emissions, we measured ecosystem respiration (Reco) along with its radiocarbon (14C) content. We assessed the composition of soil organic matter (SOM) by measuring its bulk‐C and nitrogen (N), 14C content, and n‐alkane composition. Our findings reveal that greater snow depth increased soil temperatures and winter Reco (25 mg C m−2 d−1 under deeper snow compared to 13 mg C m−2 d−1 in ambient conditions). At the end of the growing season, Reco was dominated by plant respiration and microbial decomposition of C fixed within the past 60 years (Δ14C = 62 ± 8‰). During winter, emissions were significantly older (Δ14C = −64 ± 14‰), and likely sourced from microorganisms decomposing aged SOM formed during the Holocene mixed with biotic or abiotic mineralization of the carbonaceous, fossil parent material. Our findings imply that snow cover duration and depth is a key control on soil temperatures and thus the magnitude of Reco in winter. We also show that in shallow Arctic soils, mineralization of carbonaceous parent materials can contribute significant proportions of fossil C to Reco. Therefore, permafrost‐C inventories informing C emission projections must carefully distinguish between more vulnerable SOM from recently fixed biomass and more recalcitrant ancient sedimentary C sources.
Key Points
Deeper snow increased winter soil temperatures and CO2 emissions of Arctic tundra
Late growing season emissions were driven by year‐ to decade‐old C (Δ14C = 62 ± 8‰) and winter emissions by Holocene soil and fossil shale (Δ14C = −64 ± 14‰)
In gelisols, weathering of C‐rich parent material may contribute to C emissions
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The amount and timing of snow cover control the cycling of carbon (C), water, and energy in arctic ecosystems. The implications of changing snow cover for regional C budgets, biogeochemistry, ...hydrology, and albedo due to climate change are rudimentary, especially for the High Arctic. In a polar semidesert of NW Greenland, we used a ~10 year old snow manipulation experiment to quantify how deeper snow affects magnitude, seasonality, and 14C content of summer C emissions. We monitored ecosystem respiration (Reco), soil CO2, and their 14C contents over three summers in vegetated and bare areas. Additional snowpack, elevated soil water content (SWC), and temperature throughout the growing season in vegetated, but not in bare, areas. Daily Reco was positively correlated to temperature, but negatively correlated to SWC; consequently, we found no effect of increased snow on daily flux. Cumulative summertime Reco was not related to annual snowfall, but to water year precipitation (winter snow plus summer rain). Experimentally increased snowpack shortened the growing season length and reduced summertime Reco up to 40%. Soil CO2 was older under increased snow. However, we found no effect of snow depth on the Reco age because older C emissions were masked by younger CO2 produced from the litter layer or plant respiration. In the High Arctic, anticipated changes in precipitation regime associated with warming are a key uncertainty for understanding future C cycling. In polar semideserts, water year precipitation is an important driver of summertime Reco. Permafrost C is vulnerable to changes in snowpack, with a deeper snowpack‐promoting decomposition of older soil C.
Key Points
Cumulative summertime Reco was positively correlated to water‐year precipitation
Under increased snow, summertime Reco was reduced by up to 40%
Soil CO2 was older under increased snow
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The majority of the Earth's terrestrial carbon is stored in the soil. If anthropogenic warming stimulates the loss of this carbon to the atmosphere, it could drive further planetary warming. Despite ...evidence that warming enhances carbon fluxes to and from the soil, the net global balance between these responses remains uncertain. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of warming-induced changes in soil carbon stocks by assembling data from 49 field experiments located across North America, Europe and Asia. We find that the effects of warming are contingent on the size of the initial soil carbon stock, with considerable losses occurring in high-latitude areas. By extrapolating this empirical relationship to the global scale, we provide estimates of soil carbon sensitivity to warming that may help to constrain Earth system model projections. Our empirical relationship suggests that global soil carbon stocks in the upper soil horizons will fall by 30 ± 30 petagrams of carbon to 203 ± 161 petagrams of carbon under one degree of warming, depending on the rate at which the effects of warming are realized. Under the conservative assumption that the response of soil carbon to warming occurs within a year, a business-as-usual climate scenario would drive the loss of 55 ± 50 petagrams of carbon from the upper soil horizons by 2050. This value is around 12-17 per cent of the expected anthropogenic emissions over this period. Despite the considerable uncertainty in our estimates, the direction of the global soil carbon response is consistent across all scenarios. This provides strong empirical support for the idea that rising temperatures will stimulate the net loss of soil carbon to the atmosphere, driving a positive land carbon-climate feedback that could accelerate climate change.
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