Subarctic soil carbon losses after deforestation for agriculture depend on permafrost abundance
Abstract The northern circumpolar permafrost region is experiencing considerable warming due to climate change, which is allowing agricultural production to expand into regions of discontinuous and continuous permafrost. The conversion of forests to arable land might further enhance permafrost thaw...
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crwiley:10.1111/gcb.16307 2024-09-15T18:29:17+00:00 Subarctic soil carbon losses after deforestation for agriculture depend on permafrost abundance Peplau, Tino Schroeder, Julia Gregorich, Edward Poeplau, Christopher Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16307 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16307 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.16307 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Global Change Biology volume 28, issue 17, page 5227-5242 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 journal-article 2022 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16307 2024-07-11T04:37:58Z Abstract The northern circumpolar permafrost region is experiencing considerable warming due to climate change, which is allowing agricultural production to expand into regions of discontinuous and continuous permafrost. The conversion of forests to arable land might further enhance permafrost thaw and affect soil organic carbon (SOC) that had previously been protected by frozen ground. The interactive effect of permafrost abundance and deforestation on SOC stocks has hardly been studied. In this study, soils were sampled on 18 farms across the Yukon on permafrost and non‐permafrost soils to quantify the impact of land‐use change from forest to cropland and grassland on SOC stocks. Furthermore, the soils were physically and chemically fractionated to assess the impact of land‐use change on different functional pools of SOC. On average, permafrost‐affected forest soils lost 15.6 ± 21.3% of SOC when converted to cropland and 23.0 ± 13.0% when converted to grassland. No permafrost was detected in the deforested soils, indicating that land‐use change strongly enhanced warming and subsequent thawing. In contrast, the change in SOC at sites without permafrost was not significant but had a slight tendency to be positive. SOC stocks were generally lower at sites without permafrost under forest. Furthermore, land‐use change increased mineral‐associated SOC, while the fate of particulate organic matter (POM) after land‐use change depended on permafrost occurrence. Permafrost soils showed significant POM losses after land‐use change, while grassland sites without permafrost gained POM in the topsoil. The results showed that the fate of SOC after land‐use change greatly depended on the abundance of permafrost in the pristine forest, which was driven by climatic conditions more than by soil properties. It can be concluded that in regions of discontinuous permafrost in particular, initial conditions in forest soils should be considered before deforestation to minimize its climate impact. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Subarctic Yukon Wiley Online Library Global Change Biology 28 17 5227 5242 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
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Abstract The northern circumpolar permafrost region is experiencing considerable warming due to climate change, which is allowing agricultural production to expand into regions of discontinuous and continuous permafrost. The conversion of forests to arable land might further enhance permafrost thaw and affect soil organic carbon (SOC) that had previously been protected by frozen ground. The interactive effect of permafrost abundance and deforestation on SOC stocks has hardly been studied. In this study, soils were sampled on 18 farms across the Yukon on permafrost and non‐permafrost soils to quantify the impact of land‐use change from forest to cropland and grassland on SOC stocks. Furthermore, the soils were physically and chemically fractionated to assess the impact of land‐use change on different functional pools of SOC. On average, permafrost‐affected forest soils lost 15.6 ± 21.3% of SOC when converted to cropland and 23.0 ± 13.0% when converted to grassland. No permafrost was detected in the deforested soils, indicating that land‐use change strongly enhanced warming and subsequent thawing. In contrast, the change in SOC at sites without permafrost was not significant but had a slight tendency to be positive. SOC stocks were generally lower at sites without permafrost under forest. Furthermore, land‐use change increased mineral‐associated SOC, while the fate of particulate organic matter (POM) after land‐use change depended on permafrost occurrence. Permafrost soils showed significant POM losses after land‐use change, while grassland sites without permafrost gained POM in the topsoil. The results showed that the fate of SOC after land‐use change greatly depended on the abundance of permafrost in the pristine forest, which was driven by climatic conditions more than by soil properties. It can be concluded that in regions of discontinuous permafrost in particular, initial conditions in forest soils should be considered before deforestation to minimize its climate impact. |
author2 |
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peplau, Tino Schroeder, Julia Gregorich, Edward Poeplau, Christopher |
spellingShingle |
Peplau, Tino Schroeder, Julia Gregorich, Edward Poeplau, Christopher Subarctic soil carbon losses after deforestation for agriculture depend on permafrost abundance |
author_facet |
Peplau, Tino Schroeder, Julia Gregorich, Edward Poeplau, Christopher |
author_sort |
Peplau, Tino |
title |
Subarctic soil carbon losses after deforestation for agriculture depend on permafrost abundance |
title_short |
Subarctic soil carbon losses after deforestation for agriculture depend on permafrost abundance |
title_full |
Subarctic soil carbon losses after deforestation for agriculture depend on permafrost abundance |
title_fullStr |
Subarctic soil carbon losses after deforestation for agriculture depend on permafrost abundance |
title_full_unstemmed |
Subarctic soil carbon losses after deforestation for agriculture depend on permafrost abundance |
title_sort |
subarctic soil carbon losses after deforestation for agriculture depend on permafrost abundance |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16307 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16307 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.16307 |
genre |
permafrost Subarctic Yukon |
genre_facet |
permafrost Subarctic Yukon |
op_source |
Global Change Biology volume 28, issue 17, page 5227-5242 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16307 |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
container_volume |
28 |
container_issue |
17 |
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5227 |
op_container_end_page |
5242 |
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1810470698653581312 |