An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin
Abstract Background Wildfires are an increasingly important component of the forces that drive the global carbon (C) cycle and climate change as progressive warming is expected in boreal areas. This study estimated C emissions from the wildfires across the Alaskan Yukon River Basin in 2004. We spati...
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ftbiomed:oai:biomedcentral.com:1750-0680-2-12 2023-05-15T18:45:57+02:00 An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin Tan, Zhengxi Tieszen, Larry L Zhu, Zhiliang Liu, Shuguang Howard, Stephen M 2007-12-19 http://www.cbmjournal.com/content/2/1/12 en eng BioMed Central Ltd. http://www.cbmjournal.com/content/2/1/12 Copyright 2007 Tan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Research 2007 ftbiomed 2008-02-23T00:10:50Z Abstract Background Wildfires are an increasingly important component of the forces that drive the global carbon (C) cycle and climate change as progressive warming is expected in boreal areas. This study estimated C emissions from the wildfires across the Alaskan Yukon River Basin in 2004. We spatially related the firescars to land cover types and defined the C fractions of aboveground biomass and the ground layer (referring to the top 15 cm organic soil layer only in this paper) consumed in association with land cover types, soil drainage classes, and the C stocks in the ground layer. Results The fires led to a burned area of 26,500 km 2 and resulted in the total C emission of 81.1 ± 13.6 Tg (Tg, Teragram; 1 Tg = 10 12 g) or 3.1 ± 0.7 kg C m -2 burned. Of the total C emission, about 73% and 27% could be attributed to the consumption of the ground layer and aboveground biomass, respectively. Conclusion The predominant contribution of the ground layer to the total C emission implies the importance of ground fuel management to the control of wildfires and mitigation of C emissions. The magnitude of the total C emission depends on fire extent, while the C loss in kg C m -2 burned is affected strongly by the ground layer and soil drainage condition. The significant reduction in the ground layer by large fires may result in profound impacts on boreal ecosystem services with an increase in feedbacks between wildfires and climate change. Other/Unknown Material Yukon river Yukon BioMed Central Yukon |
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BioMed Central |
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English |
description |
Abstract Background Wildfires are an increasingly important component of the forces that drive the global carbon (C) cycle and climate change as progressive warming is expected in boreal areas. This study estimated C emissions from the wildfires across the Alaskan Yukon River Basin in 2004. We spatially related the firescars to land cover types and defined the C fractions of aboveground biomass and the ground layer (referring to the top 15 cm organic soil layer only in this paper) consumed in association with land cover types, soil drainage classes, and the C stocks in the ground layer. Results The fires led to a burned area of 26,500 km 2 and resulted in the total C emission of 81.1 ± 13.6 Tg (Tg, Teragram; 1 Tg = 10 12 g) or 3.1 ± 0.7 kg C m -2 burned. Of the total C emission, about 73% and 27% could be attributed to the consumption of the ground layer and aboveground biomass, respectively. Conclusion The predominant contribution of the ground layer to the total C emission implies the importance of ground fuel management to the control of wildfires and mitigation of C emissions. The magnitude of the total C emission depends on fire extent, while the C loss in kg C m -2 burned is affected strongly by the ground layer and soil drainage condition. The significant reduction in the ground layer by large fires may result in profound impacts on boreal ecosystem services with an increase in feedbacks between wildfires and climate change. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Tan, Zhengxi Tieszen, Larry L Zhu, Zhiliang Liu, Shuguang Howard, Stephen M |
spellingShingle |
Tan, Zhengxi Tieszen, Larry L Zhu, Zhiliang Liu, Shuguang Howard, Stephen M An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
author_facet |
Tan, Zhengxi Tieszen, Larry L Zhu, Zhiliang Liu, Shuguang Howard, Stephen M |
author_sort |
Tan, Zhengxi |
title |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_short |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_full |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_fullStr |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_full_unstemmed |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_sort |
estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across alaskan yukon river basin |
publisher |
BioMed Central Ltd. |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://www.cbmjournal.com/content/2/1/12 |
geographic |
Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Yukon |
genre |
Yukon river Yukon |
genre_facet |
Yukon river Yukon |
op_relation |
http://www.cbmjournal.com/content/2/1/12 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2007 Tan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. |
_version_ |
1766237185555562496 |