• Login
    About WHOAS
    View Item 
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Marine Biological Laboratory
    • Ecosystems Center
    • View Item
    •   WHOAS Home
    • Marine Biological Laboratory
    • Ecosystems Center
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of WHOASCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywordsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesKeywords

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Long-term release of carbon dioxide from Arctic tundra ecosystems in Alaska

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Author's manuscript, inc. supplement (2.712Mb)
    Date
    2016-11
    Author
    Euskirchen, Eugenie  Concept link
    Bret-Harte, M. Syndonia  Concept link
    Shaver, Gaius R.  Concept link
    Edgar, Colin W.  Concept link
    Romanovsky, Vladimir  Concept link
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9233
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0085-9
    Keyword
     Arctic tundra; Net ecosystem exchange; Permafrost; Soil temperature; Carbon dioxide; Methane 
    Abstract
    Releases of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) from thawing permafrost are expected to be among the largest feedbacks to climate from arctic ecosystems. However, the current net carbon (C) balance of terrestrial arctic ecosystems is unknown. Recent studies suggest that these ecosystems are sources, sinks, or approximately in balance at present. This uncertainty arises because there are few long-term continuous measurements of arctic tundra CO2 fluxes over the full annual cycle. Here, we describe a pattern of CO2 loss based on the longest continuous record of direct measurements of CO2 fluxes in the Alaskan Arctic, from two representative tundra ecosystems, wet sedge and heath tundra. We also report on a shorter time series of continuous measurements from a third ecosystem, tussock tundra. The amount of CO2 loss from both heath and wet sedge ecosystems was related to the timing of freeze-up of the soil active layer in the fall. Wet sedge tundra lost the most CO2 during the anomalously warm autumn periods of September – December 2013 - 2015, with CH4 emissions contributing little to the overall C budget. Losses of C translated to approximately 4.1% and 1.4% of the total soil C stocks in active layer of the wet sedge and heath tundra, respectively, from 2008 – 2015. Increases in air temperature and soil temperatures at all depths may trigger a new trajectory of CO2 release, which will be a significant feedback to further warming if it is representative of larger areas of the Arctic.
    Description
    Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2016. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecosystems 20 (2017): 960–974, doi:10.1007/s10021-016-0085-9.
    Collections
    • Ecosystems Center
    Suggested Citation
    Preprint: Euskirchen, Eugenie, Bret-Harte, M. Syndonia, Shaver, Gaius R., Edgar, Colin W., Romanovsky, Vladimir, "Long-term release of carbon dioxide from Arctic tundra ecosystems in Alaska", 2016-11, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-016-0085-9, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/9233
     

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Thumbnail

      An Arctic ecosystem : the coastal tundra at Barrow, Alaska 

      Brown, Jerry; Miller, Philip C.; Tieszen, Larry L.; Bunnell, Fred (Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., 1980)
      From the Foreward: This book is one of a series of volumes reporting results of research by U. S. scientists participating in the International Biological Program (IBP). As one of the 58 nations taking part in the IBP ...
    • Thumbnail

      Seasonal patterns of carbon dioxide and water fluxes in three representative tundra ecosystems in northern Alaska 

      Euskirchen, Eugenie; Bret-Harte, M. Syndonia; Scott, G. J.; Edgar, C.; Shaver, Gaius R. (Ecological Society of America, 2012-01-19)
      Understanding the carbon dioxide and water fluxes in the Arctic is essential for accurate assessment and prediction of the responses of these ecosystems to climate change. In the Arctic, there have been relatively few ...
    • Thumbnail

      Assessing the carbon balance of circumpolar Arctic tundra using remote sensing and process modeling 

      Sitch, Stephen; McGuire, A. David; Kimball, John S.; Gedney, Nicola; Gamon, John; Engstrom, Ryan; Wolf, Annett; Zhuang, Qianlai; Clein, Joy S.; McDonald, Kyle C. (Ecological Society of America, 2007-01)
      This paper reviews the current status of using remote sensing and process-based modeling approaches to assess the contemporary and future circumpolar carbon balance of Arctic tundra, including the exchange of both carbon ...
    All Items in WHOAS are protected by original copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. WHOAS also supports the use of the Creative Commons licenses for original content.
    A service of the MBLWHOI Library | About WHOAS
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Privacy Policy
    Core Trust Logo