Arctic tundra: A source or sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide in a changing environment?

Billings, W. D.; Luken, James O.; Mortensen, David A.; Peterson, K. M.

doi:10.1007/bf00377129

Cited by 309 publications

(233 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Data from the in situ manipulations at Prudhoe Bay dramatically demonstrated that soil drainage results in increased net C02 efflux due primarily to more rapid rates of soil respiration. Similar results have k e n previously demonstrated using laboratory soil incubations (Billings et al, 1982;Freeman et al, 1993; Funk et al, 1994) and in drained peatlands (Silvola, 1986;Hogg et aL, 1992). Jn the Toolik Lake manipulations, however, draining (or diverting) soil water lead to reduced ntes of net CO2 efflux, due primarily to enhanced GPP of drained plots.…”

Section: Hypothesissupporting

confidence: 83%

“…flux across the Haul Road transect suggest that elevated temperature leads to an increase in net C02 efflux. In laboratory incubations of wet sedge microcosms, a 4 "C increase in temperature was found to result in a significant decrease in net C storage (Billings et al, 1982 (Oechel et a/., in press B), lending support to the above hypothesis. In the Toolik Lake manipuiation, elevated temperature lead to greater net efflux, regardless to the water table manipulation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 80%

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Response of a tundra ecosytem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and CO{sub 2}-induced climate change. Final report

Oechel¹

1996

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Section: Hypothesissupporting

confidence: 83%

mentioning

confidence: 80%

Response of a tundra ecosytem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and CO{sub 2}-induced climate change. Final report

Oechel¹

1996

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“…Although it is believed that soil carbon emission may be enhanced by the global warming for its temperature effect (Billings et al, 1982;Schleser, 1982;Raich and Schlesinger, 1992;Kirschbaum, 1995), it is possible that the presumed enhancement of soil respiration may be offset by the soil moisture effect as shown in our results. The overall effect can only be adequately evaluated by treating the temperature sensitivity measure as a function of, at least, temperature and moisture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its effects on ecosystem carbon budget: nonlinearity begets surprises

2002

Ecological Modelling

141

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Nonlinearity is a salient feature in all complex systems, and it certainly characterizes biogeochemical cycles in ecosystems across a wide range of scales. Soil carbon emission is a major source of uncertainty in estimating the terrestrial carbon budget at the ecosystem level and above. Due to the lack of consideration of the nonlinearity in temperature sensitivity of soil respiration, several commonly used ecosystem models produce substantially different estimates of soil respiration with the same or similar model input. In this paper we demonstrated that the response of soil respiration to changes in temperature sensitivity is nonlinear and, thus, that the oversimplified formulations may significantly reduce the accuracy of ecosystem models in predicting carbon fluxes. To alleviate this problem, we have developed a general model of temperature sensitivity of soil respiration that explicitly considers this nonlinearity. The model was supported by our field measurements from a forest ecosystem, and used to assess the uncertainty in estimating the soil CO 2 efflux with several commonly used ecosystem models. Our results indicated that the variations and nonlinearity of the soil respiration-temperature relationship and its dependence on moisture may have important implications for ecosystem carbon modeling at regional and global scales. In other words, 'small causes' may lead to 'large effects' in complex ecosystems in terms of carbon dynamics. In particular, when the variability in temperature sensitivity of soil respiration was incorporated in the several commonly used ecosystem models, the carbon source-sink relationship for terrestrial ecosystems under future global warming scenarios became dramatically different from those reported previously. Thus, we advocate that confidence limits are both necessary and feasible for simulated carbon budget from ecosystem models. Based on field measurements and model simulations, our study provides useful information for computing such confidence limits. In addition, our new model of temperature sensitivity of soil respiration seems more general and yet realistic, and can improve the accuracy of ecosystem models in predicting carbon fluxes at large scales.

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“…Soil moisture exerts a control on tundra ecophysiology through production, decomposition and nutrient cycling (Miller et al 1984), and a lowered water-table and increased thaw might be expected to accelerate the rate of soil decomposition (CO 2 source) over photosynthesis (CO 2 sink), so that the balance in tundra soils shifts from one of C-input, or storage, to C-output (Billings et al 1982(Billings et al , 1983Johnson et al 1996). If the effect of decomposition were to increase nutrient availability, there may be an additional uptake of CO 2 owing to higher rates of photosynthesis (Shaver & Chapin 1986;Shaver et al 1998;Johnson et al 2000), although as sink strength in vascular plants decreases, productivity may be offset by substrate-controlled or nutrient-limited CO 2 loss from soil respiration by microorganisms (Nadelhoffer et al 1991;Hobbie 1996;Jonasson et al 1999).…”

Section:      mentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term sensitivity of a High Arctic wetland to Holocene climate change

Ellis

Rochefort

2005

Journal of Ecology

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Summary 1The response of peat-rich permafrost soils to human-induced climate change may be especially important in modifying the global C-flux. We examined the Holocene developmental record of a High Arctic peat-forming wetland to investigate its sensitivity to past climate change and aid understanding of the likely effects of future climate warming on high-latitude ecosystems. 2 The microhabitat of mosses was quantified in the present-day polygon-complex at Bylot Island (73 ° N, 80 ° W) and used to interpret the radiocarbon-dated macrofossil record of three cores, comprising c. 3500 years of wetland development. Recurrent wet and dry phases in the reconstructed palaeohydrological record indicated pronounced temporal variability. Wet and dry phases were compared between cores and with palaeoclimatic proxy values, measured as percentage melt and δ 18 O in nearby ice cores. 3 Periodic wet and dry phases appear unrelated to past climate over c. 50% of the combined stratigraphic records, and are attributable instead to geomorphological mechanisms. At other times, association of wet and dry phases with significantly lower and higher values of percentage melt and δ 18 O indicate a possible effect of past climate change on polygon hydrology and vegetation, although inconsistencies between cores suggest that local geomorphological processes continued to modify a regional climatic effect. However, during a period incorporating the Little Ice Age ( c. 305-530 cal. years  ), reconstructed moisture and vegetation change is pronounced and consistent among all three cores. 4 The results provide strong evidence for the sensitivity of a High Arctic terrestrial ecosystem to past climate change during the Holocene. The estimated magnitude of changes in soil moisture between wet and dry phases is sufficient to imply recurrent shifts in wetland function, periodically impacted upon by pronounced climatic variability, although controlled principally by autogenic processes. The structure and function of such wetlands may therefore be susceptible to predicted, human-induced climate warming.

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Arctic tundra: A source or sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide in a changing environment?

Cited by 309 publications

References 13 publications

Response of a tundra ecosytem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and CO{sub 2}-induced climate change. Final report

Response of a tundra ecosytem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and CO{sub 2}-induced climate change. Final report

Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its effects on ecosystem carbon budget: nonlinearity begets surprises

Long‐term sensitivity of a High Arctic wetland to Holocene climate change

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