Effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra
Thaw of ice-rich permafrost soils on sloping terrain can trigger erosional disturbance events that displace large volumes of soil and sediment, kill and damage plants, and initiate secondary succession. We examined how retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS), a common form of thermo-erosional disturbance in...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006 https://doaj.org/article/11792a5b9a70491d8569df0b8e2feca0 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:11792a5b9a70491d8569df0b8e2feca0 2023-09-05T13:16:49+02:00 Effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra Camila Pizano Andrés F Barón Edward A G Schuur Kathryn G Crummer Michelle C Mack 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006 https://doaj.org/article/11792a5b9a70491d8569df0b8e2feca0 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/11792a5b9a70491d8569df0b8e2feca0 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 9, Iss 7, p 075006 (2014) arctic tundra permfrost soil thermo-erosional disturbance carbon and nitrogen pools deciduous shrubs Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006 2023-08-13T00:37:22Z Thaw of ice-rich permafrost soils on sloping terrain can trigger erosional disturbance events that displace large volumes of soil and sediment, kill and damage plants, and initiate secondary succession. We examined how retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS), a common form of thermo-erosional disturbance in arctic tundra, affected the local loss and re-accumulation of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools in organic and surface mineral soil horizons of 18 slumps within six spatially independent sites in arctic Alaska. RTS displaced 3 kg C and 0.2 kg N per m ^2 from the soil organic horizon but did not alter pools of C and N in the top 15 cm of the mineral horizon. Surface soil C pools re-accumulated rapidly (32 ± 10 g C m ^−2 yr ^−1 ) through the first 60 years of succession, reaching levels similar to undisturbed tundra 40–64 years after disturbance. Average N re-accumulation rates (2.2 ± 1.1 g N m ^−2 yr ^−1 ) were much higher than expected from atmospheric deposition and biological N fixation. Finally, plant community dominance shifted from graminoids to tall deciduous shrubs, which are likely to promote higher primary productivity, biomass accumulation, and rates of nutrient cycling. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice permafrost Tundra Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Environmental Research Letters 9 7 075006 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
arctic tundra permfrost soil thermo-erosional disturbance carbon and nitrogen pools deciduous shrubs Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
arctic tundra permfrost soil thermo-erosional disturbance carbon and nitrogen pools deciduous shrubs Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Camila Pizano Andrés F Barón Edward A G Schuur Kathryn G Crummer Michelle C Mack Effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra |
topic_facet |
arctic tundra permfrost soil thermo-erosional disturbance carbon and nitrogen pools deciduous shrubs Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Thaw of ice-rich permafrost soils on sloping terrain can trigger erosional disturbance events that displace large volumes of soil and sediment, kill and damage plants, and initiate secondary succession. We examined how retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS), a common form of thermo-erosional disturbance in arctic tundra, affected the local loss and re-accumulation of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools in organic and surface mineral soil horizons of 18 slumps within six spatially independent sites in arctic Alaska. RTS displaced 3 kg C and 0.2 kg N per m ^2 from the soil organic horizon but did not alter pools of C and N in the top 15 cm of the mineral horizon. Surface soil C pools re-accumulated rapidly (32 ± 10 g C m ^−2 yr ^−1 ) through the first 60 years of succession, reaching levels similar to undisturbed tundra 40–64 years after disturbance. Average N re-accumulation rates (2.2 ± 1.1 g N m ^−2 yr ^−1 ) were much higher than expected from atmospheric deposition and biological N fixation. Finally, plant community dominance shifted from graminoids to tall deciduous shrubs, which are likely to promote higher primary productivity, biomass accumulation, and rates of nutrient cycling. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Camila Pizano Andrés F Barón Edward A G Schuur Kathryn G Crummer Michelle C Mack |
author_facet |
Camila Pizano Andrés F Barón Edward A G Schuur Kathryn G Crummer Michelle C Mack |
author_sort |
Camila Pizano |
title |
Effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra |
title_short |
Effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra |
title_full |
Effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra |
title_fullStr |
Effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra |
title_sort |
effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006 https://doaj.org/article/11792a5b9a70491d8569df0b8e2feca0 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Ice permafrost Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice permafrost Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 9, Iss 7, p 075006 (2014) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/11792a5b9a70491d8569df0b8e2feca0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
075006 |
_version_ |
1776198264240996352 |