Recent peat and carbon accumulation on changing permafrost landforms along the Mackenzie River valley, Northwest Territories, Canada
Abstract Northwestern Canada is currently warming nearly four times faster than the global average, driving accelerated permafrost thaw and changes to ecosystem vegetation, hydrology and landscape structure across the landscape. While permafrost peatlands constitute a large carbon reservoir, there i...
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crioppubl:10.1088/1748-9326/ace9ed 2024-06-02T08:10:14+00:00 Recent peat and carbon accumulation on changing permafrost landforms along the Mackenzie River valley, Northwest Territories, Canada Germain Chartrand, Pénélope Sonnentag, Oliver Sanderson, Nicole K Garneau, Michelle Environment and Climate Change Canada 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ace9ed https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ace9ed https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ace9ed/pdf unknown IOP Publishing http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining Environmental Research Letters volume 18, issue 9, page 095002 ISSN 1748-9326 journal-article 2023 crioppubl https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ace9ed 2024-05-07T13:58:20Z Abstract Northwestern Canada is currently warming nearly four times faster than the global average, driving accelerated permafrost thaw and changes to ecosystem vegetation, hydrology and landscape structure across the landscape. While permafrost peatlands constitute a large carbon reservoir, there is no consensus yet on the direction and magnitude of changes to their vulnerable carbon balance. Here, we assessed changes in peatland ecosystems following permafrost thaw at three sites located along a 1000 km long climate and permafrost gradient along the Mackenzie River valley, Canada. Specifically, we examined vegetation succession over the last few decades to evaluate the possible impact of climate warming on peat and carbon accumulation. Results from the palaeoecological analysis of 20 surficial peat cores, supported by robust chronologies, show a return to Sphagnum accumulation since ca. 1980 CE in the sporadic and discontinuous permafrost zones and ca . 2000 CE in the continuous permafrost zone. The average rates of peat and carbon accumulation reached 4 mm yr −1 and 134 g C m −2 yr −1 at the northernmost site in the continuous permafrost zone. In contrast, peat and carbon accumulation reached 3 mm yr −1 and 81 g C m −2 yr −1 , respectively, in the sporadic and discontinuous permafrost zones. This study highlights the need for a net carbon budget that integrates the recent accelerated Sphagnum growth and carbon uptake from the atmosphere to better assess the potential carbon emissions offset following permafrost thaw. High-resolution palaeoecological studies can offer insights into decadal-scale patterns of vegetation and carbon balance changes to improve model predictions of peat climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. Article in Journal/Newspaper Mackenzie river Northwest Territories permafrost IOP Publishing Canada Mackenzie River Northwest Territories Environmental Research Letters |
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Abstract Northwestern Canada is currently warming nearly four times faster than the global average, driving accelerated permafrost thaw and changes to ecosystem vegetation, hydrology and landscape structure across the landscape. While permafrost peatlands constitute a large carbon reservoir, there is no consensus yet on the direction and magnitude of changes to their vulnerable carbon balance. Here, we assessed changes in peatland ecosystems following permafrost thaw at three sites located along a 1000 km long climate and permafrost gradient along the Mackenzie River valley, Canada. Specifically, we examined vegetation succession over the last few decades to evaluate the possible impact of climate warming on peat and carbon accumulation. Results from the palaeoecological analysis of 20 surficial peat cores, supported by robust chronologies, show a return to Sphagnum accumulation since ca. 1980 CE in the sporadic and discontinuous permafrost zones and ca . 2000 CE in the continuous permafrost zone. The average rates of peat and carbon accumulation reached 4 mm yr −1 and 134 g C m −2 yr −1 at the northernmost site in the continuous permafrost zone. In contrast, peat and carbon accumulation reached 3 mm yr −1 and 81 g C m −2 yr −1 , respectively, in the sporadic and discontinuous permafrost zones. This study highlights the need for a net carbon budget that integrates the recent accelerated Sphagnum growth and carbon uptake from the atmosphere to better assess the potential carbon emissions offset following permafrost thaw. High-resolution palaeoecological studies can offer insights into decadal-scale patterns of vegetation and carbon balance changes to improve model predictions of peat climate-carbon cycle feedbacks. |
author2 |
Environment and Climate Change Canada |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Germain Chartrand, Pénélope Sonnentag, Oliver Sanderson, Nicole K Garneau, Michelle |
spellingShingle |
Germain Chartrand, Pénélope Sonnentag, Oliver Sanderson, Nicole K Garneau, Michelle Recent peat and carbon accumulation on changing permafrost landforms along the Mackenzie River valley, Northwest Territories, Canada |
author_facet |
Germain Chartrand, Pénélope Sonnentag, Oliver Sanderson, Nicole K Garneau, Michelle |
author_sort |
Germain Chartrand, Pénélope |
title |
Recent peat and carbon accumulation on changing permafrost landforms along the Mackenzie River valley, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_short |
Recent peat and carbon accumulation on changing permafrost landforms along the Mackenzie River valley, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_full |
Recent peat and carbon accumulation on changing permafrost landforms along the Mackenzie River valley, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Recent peat and carbon accumulation on changing permafrost landforms along the Mackenzie River valley, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Recent peat and carbon accumulation on changing permafrost landforms along the Mackenzie River valley, Northwest Territories, Canada |
title_sort |
recent peat and carbon accumulation on changing permafrost landforms along the mackenzie river valley, northwest territories, canada |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ace9ed https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ace9ed https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ace9ed/pdf |
geographic |
Canada Mackenzie River Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Canada Mackenzie River Northwest Territories |
genre |
Mackenzie river Northwest Territories permafrost |
genre_facet |
Mackenzie river Northwest Territories permafrost |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters volume 18, issue 9, page 095002 ISSN 1748-9326 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://iopscience.iop.org/info/page/text-and-data-mining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ace9ed |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
_version_ |
1800756063626067968 |