Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data
High-latitude ecosystems store approximately 1700 Pg of soil carbon (C), which is twice as much C as is currently contained in the atmosphere. Permafrost thaw and subsequent microbial decomposition of permafrost organic matter could add large amounts of C to the atmosphere, thereby influencing the g...
Published in: | Global Change Biology |
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Online Access: | https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/circumpolar-assessment-of-permafrost-c-quality-and-its-vulnerability-over-time-using-longterm-incubation-data(2403ade9-33d2-4a7b-9bd7-8601e2f8b6b6).html https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12417 |
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ftcopenhagenunip:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/2403ade9-33d2-4a7b-9bd7-8601e2f8b6b6 2023-05-15T17:55:39+02:00 Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data Schädel, Christina Schuur, Edward A.G. Bracho, Rosvel Elberling, Bo Knoblauch, Christian Lee, Hanna Lou, Yigi Shaver, Gaius R. Turetsky, Merritt T. 2014 https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/circumpolar-assessment-of-permafrost-c-quality-and-its-vulnerability-over-time-using-longterm-incubation-data(2403ade9-33d2-4a7b-9bd7-8601e2f8b6b6).html https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12417 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess Schädel , C , Schuur , E A G , Bracho , R , Elberling , B , Knoblauch , C , Lee , H , Lou , Y , Shaver , G R & Turetsky , M T 2014 , ' Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data ' , Global Change Biology , vol. 20 , no. 2 , pp. 641-652 . https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12417 article 2014 ftcopenhagenunip https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12417 2021-10-06T22:58:35Z High-latitude ecosystems store approximately 1700 Pg of soil carbon (C), which is twice as much C as is currently contained in the atmosphere. Permafrost thaw and subsequent microbial decomposition of permafrost organic matter could add large amounts of C to the atmosphere, thereby influencing the global C cycle. The rates at which C is being released from the permafrost zone at different soil depths and across different physiographic regions are poorly understood but crucial in understanding future changes in permafrost C storage with climate change. We assessed the inherent decomposability of C from the permafrost zone by assembling a database of long-term (>1 year) aerobic soil incubations from 121 individual samples from 23 high-latitude ecosystems located across the northern circumpolar permafrost zone. Using a three-pool (i.e., fast, slow and passive) decomposition model, we estimated pool sizes for C fractions with different turnover times and their inherent decomposition rates using a reference temperature of 5 °C. Fast cycling C accounted for less than 5% of all C in both organic and mineral soils whereas the pool size of slow cycling C increased with C : N. Turnover time at 5 °C of fast cycling C typically was below 1 year, between 5 and 15 years for slow turning over C, and more than 500 years for passive C. We project that between 20 and 90% of the organic C could potentially be mineralized to CO2 within 50 incubation years at a constant temperature of 5 °C, with vulnerability to loss increasing in soils with higher C : N. These results demonstrate the variation in the vulnerability of C stored in permafrost soils based on inherent differences in organic matter decomposability, and point toward C : N as an index of decomposability that has the potential to be used to scale permafrost C loss across landscapes. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost University of Copenhagen: Research Global Change Biology 20 2 641 652 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Copenhagen: Research |
op_collection_id |
ftcopenhagenunip |
language |
English |
description |
High-latitude ecosystems store approximately 1700 Pg of soil carbon (C), which is twice as much C as is currently contained in the atmosphere. Permafrost thaw and subsequent microbial decomposition of permafrost organic matter could add large amounts of C to the atmosphere, thereby influencing the global C cycle. The rates at which C is being released from the permafrost zone at different soil depths and across different physiographic regions are poorly understood but crucial in understanding future changes in permafrost C storage with climate change. We assessed the inherent decomposability of C from the permafrost zone by assembling a database of long-term (>1 year) aerobic soil incubations from 121 individual samples from 23 high-latitude ecosystems located across the northern circumpolar permafrost zone. Using a three-pool (i.e., fast, slow and passive) decomposition model, we estimated pool sizes for C fractions with different turnover times and their inherent decomposition rates using a reference temperature of 5 °C. Fast cycling C accounted for less than 5% of all C in both organic and mineral soils whereas the pool size of slow cycling C increased with C : N. Turnover time at 5 °C of fast cycling C typically was below 1 year, between 5 and 15 years for slow turning over C, and more than 500 years for passive C. We project that between 20 and 90% of the organic C could potentially be mineralized to CO2 within 50 incubation years at a constant temperature of 5 °C, with vulnerability to loss increasing in soils with higher C : N. These results demonstrate the variation in the vulnerability of C stored in permafrost soils based on inherent differences in organic matter decomposability, and point toward C : N as an index of decomposability that has the potential to be used to scale permafrost C loss across landscapes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schädel, Christina Schuur, Edward A.G. Bracho, Rosvel Elberling, Bo Knoblauch, Christian Lee, Hanna Lou, Yigi Shaver, Gaius R. Turetsky, Merritt T. |
spellingShingle |
Schädel, Christina Schuur, Edward A.G. Bracho, Rosvel Elberling, Bo Knoblauch, Christian Lee, Hanna Lou, Yigi Shaver, Gaius R. Turetsky, Merritt T. Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data |
author_facet |
Schädel, Christina Schuur, Edward A.G. Bracho, Rosvel Elberling, Bo Knoblauch, Christian Lee, Hanna Lou, Yigi Shaver, Gaius R. Turetsky, Merritt T. |
author_sort |
Schädel, Christina |
title |
Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data |
title_short |
Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data |
title_full |
Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data |
title_fullStr |
Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data |
title_full_unstemmed |
Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data |
title_sort |
circumpolar assessment of permafrost c quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/circumpolar-assessment-of-permafrost-c-quality-and-its-vulnerability-over-time-using-longterm-incubation-data(2403ade9-33d2-4a7b-9bd7-8601e2f8b6b6).html https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12417 |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
Schädel , C , Schuur , E A G , Bracho , R , Elberling , B , Knoblauch , C , Lee , H , Lou , Y , Shaver , G R & Turetsky , M T 2014 , ' Circumpolar assessment of permafrost C quality and its vulnerability over time using long-term incubation data ' , Global Change Biology , vol. 20 , no. 2 , pp. 641-652 . https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12417 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12417 |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
641 |
op_container_end_page |
652 |
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