Vegetational Change and Ice-Wedge Polygons through the Thaw-Lake Cycle in Arctic Alaska

Billings, W. D.; Peterson, K. M.

doi:10.2307/1550492

Cited by 179 publications

(196 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Numerous studies at the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research in interior Alaska have confirmed these results (e.g., Kane et al, 2010;Wyatt et al, 2010;Jones et al, 2013). In the discontinuous permafrost zone permafrost degradation may result in the partial or full disappearance of the permafrost aquiclude which can increase or decrease local hydraulic gradients depending on a variety of factors (Britton, 1957;Kane and Slaughter, 1973;Billings and Peterson, 1980;Woo, 1986;Jorgenson et al, 2001;Yoshikawa and Hinzman, 2003). Fen systems are particularly sensitive to water table f luctuations with studies showing rapid (i.e., on the order of days) increased CH 4 f luxes from fens when their water table elevations decrease Windsor et al, 1992).…”

Section: Interior Alaska Wetlands and Hydrogeologymentioning

confidence: 87%

Sources and sinks of carbon in boreal ecosystems of interior Alaska: A review

Douglas

Jones

Hiemstra

et al. 2014

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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Boreal ecosystems store large quantities of carbon but are increasingly vulnerable to carbon loss due to disturbance and climate warming. The boreal region in Alaska and Canada, largely underlain by discontinuous permafrost, presents a challenging landscape for itemizing carbon sources and sinks in soil and vegetation. The roles of fire, forest succession, and the presence (or absence) of permafrost on carbon cycle, vegetation, and hydrologic processes have been the focus of multidisciplinary research in boreal ecosystems for the past 20 years. However, projections of a warming future climate, an increase in fire severity and extent, and the potential degradation of permafrost could lead to major landscape and carbon cycle changes over the next 20 to 50 years. To assist land managers in interior Alaska in adapting and managing for potential changes in the carbon cycle we developed this review paper by incorporating an overview of the climate, ecosystem processes, vegetation, and soil regimes. Our objective is to provide a synthesis of the most current carbon storage estimates and measurements to guide policy and land management decisions on how to best manage carbon sources and sinks. We surveyed estimates of aboveground and belowground carbon stocks for interior Alaska boreal ecosystems and summarized methane and carbon dioxide f luxes. These data have been converted into similar units to facilitate comparison across ecosystem compartments. We identify potential changes in the carbon cycle with climate change and human disturbance. A novel research question is how compounding disturbances affect carbon sources and sinks associated with boreal ecosystem processes. Finally, we provide recommendations to address the challenges facing land managers in efforts to manage carbon cycle processes. The results of this study can be used for carbon cycle management in other locations within the boreal biome which encompasses a broad distribution from 45° to 83° north.

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Section: Interior Alaska Wetlands and Hydrogeologymentioning

confidence: 87%

Sources and sinks of carbon in boreal ecosystems of interior Alaska: A review

Douglas

Jones

Hiemstra

et al. 2014

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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“…Water then accumulates in the depression and may coalesce with other water bodies to form lakes spanning on wide ranges of size and depth. Thermokarst lakes are known to follow a cycle of formation-expansion-drainage (Billings and Peterson, 1980;Hinkel et al, 2003). Based on ground and remote sensing observations (Kirpotin et al, 2007(Kirpotin et al, , 2008, the main features of the thermokarst life cycle in the studied region are as follows ( Fig.…”

Section: Study Area and Sampling Sitesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Organic matter mineralization and trace element post-depositional redistribution in Western Siberia thermokarst lake sediments

et al. 2011

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Abstract. This study reports the very first results on highresolution sampling of sediments and their porewaters from three thermokarst (thaw) lakes representing different stages of ecosystem development located within the Nadym-Pur interfluve of the Western Siberia plain. Up to present time, the lake sediments of this and other permafrost-affected regions remain unexplored regarding their biogeochemical behavior. The aim of this study was to (i) document the early diagenesic processes in order to assess their impact on the organic carbon stored in the underlying permafrost, and (ii) characterize the post-depositional redistribution of trace elements and their impact on the water column. The estimated organic carbon (OC) stock in thermokarst lake sediments of 14 ± 2 kg m −2 is low compared to that reported for peat soils from the same region and denotes intense organic matter (OM) mineralization. Mineralization of OM in the thermokarst lake sediments proceeds under anoxic conditions in all the three lakes. In the course of the lake development, a shift in mineralization pathways from nitrate and sulfate to Fe-and Mn-oxyhydroxides as the main terminal electron acceptors in the early diagenetic reactions was suggested. This shift was likely promoted by the diagenetic consumption of nitrate and sulfate and their gradual depletion in the water column due to progressively decreasing frozen peat lixiviation occurring at the lake's borders. Trace elements were mobilized from host phases (OM and Fe-and Mn-oxyhydroxides) and partly sequestered in the sediment in the form of authigenic Fe-sulfides. Arsenic and Sb cycling was also closely linked to that of OM and Fe-and Mnoxyhydroxides. Shallow diagenetic enrichment of particulate Sb was observed in the less mature stages. As a result of auCorrespondence to: S. Audry (stephane.audry@get.obs-mip.fr) thigenic sulfide precipitation, the sediments of the early stage of ecosystem development were a sink for water column Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb and Sb. In contrast, at all stages of ecosystem development, the sediments were a source of dissolved Co, Ni and As to the water column. However, the concentrations of these trace elements remained low in the bottom waters, indicating that sorption processes on Fe-bounding particles and/or large-size organo-mineral colloids could mitigate the impact of post-depositional redistribution of toxic elements on the water column.

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“…Areas that stabilized roughly within the last 10 to 20 years are colonized by nitrophilous grasses (Alopecurus alpinus, Poa arctica, Puccinellia arctica, Puccinellia spp.) and forbs (Artemisia alaskana, A. arctica, A. tilesii, Matricaria ambigua, Cochlearia officinalis; Billings and Peterson, 1980;Cray and Pollard, 2015;Gill, 1973;Hernandez, 1973;Lambert, 1972). Elements of the mature vegetation, like S. arctica, are transported into the slump floor and re-establish there.…”

Section: Processes During Slump Stabilizationmentioning

confidence: 99%