Wildfire exacerbates high-latitude soil carbon losses from climate warming
Arctic and boreal permafrost soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition has been slower than carbon inputs from plant growth since the last glaciation. Anthropogenic climate warming has threatened this historical trend by accelerating SOC decomposition and altering wildfire regimes. We accurately model...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8be6 https://doaj.org/article/1489f26992624243bfc06c533a7961a7 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1489f26992624243bfc06c533a7961a7 2023-09-05T13:17:31+02:00 Wildfire exacerbates high-latitude soil carbon losses from climate warming Zelalem A Mekonnen William J Riley James T Randerson Ian A Shirley Nicholas J Bouskill Robert F Grant 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8be6 https://doaj.org/article/1489f26992624243bfc06c533a7961a7 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8be6 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac8be6 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/1489f26992624243bfc06c533a7961a7 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 17, Iss 9, p 094037 (2022) soil carbon dynamics high-latitude carbon cycle wildfire and climate warming nutrient cycling vegetation change Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8be6 2023-08-13T00:36:58Z Arctic and boreal permafrost soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition has been slower than carbon inputs from plant growth since the last glaciation. Anthropogenic climate warming has threatened this historical trend by accelerating SOC decomposition and altering wildfire regimes. We accurately modeled observed plant biomass and carbon emissions from wildfires in Alaskan ecosystems under current climate conditions. In projections to 2300 under the RCP8.5 climate scenario, we found that warming and increased atmospheric CO _2 will result in plant biomass gains and higher litterfall. However, increased carbon losses from (a) wildfire combustion and (b) rapid SOC decomposition driven by increased deciduous litter production, root exudation, and active layer depth will lead to about 4.4 PgC of soil carbon losses from Alaska by 2300 and most (88%) of these loses will be from the top 1 m of soil. These SOC losses offset plant carbon gains, causing the ecosystem to transition to a net carbon source after 2200. Simulations excluding wildfire increases yielded about a factor of four lower SOC losses by 2300. Our results show that projected wildfire and its direct and indirect effects on plant and soil carbon may accelerate high-latitude soil carbon losses, resulting in a positive feedback to climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change permafrost Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Environmental Research Letters 17 9 094037 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
soil carbon dynamics high-latitude carbon cycle wildfire and climate warming nutrient cycling vegetation change Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
soil carbon dynamics high-latitude carbon cycle wildfire and climate warming nutrient cycling vegetation change Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Zelalem A Mekonnen William J Riley James T Randerson Ian A Shirley Nicholas J Bouskill Robert F Grant Wildfire exacerbates high-latitude soil carbon losses from climate warming |
topic_facet |
soil carbon dynamics high-latitude carbon cycle wildfire and climate warming nutrient cycling vegetation change Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Arctic and boreal permafrost soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition has been slower than carbon inputs from plant growth since the last glaciation. Anthropogenic climate warming has threatened this historical trend by accelerating SOC decomposition and altering wildfire regimes. We accurately modeled observed plant biomass and carbon emissions from wildfires in Alaskan ecosystems under current climate conditions. In projections to 2300 under the RCP8.5 climate scenario, we found that warming and increased atmospheric CO _2 will result in plant biomass gains and higher litterfall. However, increased carbon losses from (a) wildfire combustion and (b) rapid SOC decomposition driven by increased deciduous litter production, root exudation, and active layer depth will lead to about 4.4 PgC of soil carbon losses from Alaska by 2300 and most (88%) of these loses will be from the top 1 m of soil. These SOC losses offset plant carbon gains, causing the ecosystem to transition to a net carbon source after 2200. Simulations excluding wildfire increases yielded about a factor of four lower SOC losses by 2300. Our results show that projected wildfire and its direct and indirect effects on plant and soil carbon may accelerate high-latitude soil carbon losses, resulting in a positive feedback to climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zelalem A Mekonnen William J Riley James T Randerson Ian A Shirley Nicholas J Bouskill Robert F Grant |
author_facet |
Zelalem A Mekonnen William J Riley James T Randerson Ian A Shirley Nicholas J Bouskill Robert F Grant |
author_sort |
Zelalem A Mekonnen |
title |
Wildfire exacerbates high-latitude soil carbon losses from climate warming |
title_short |
Wildfire exacerbates high-latitude soil carbon losses from climate warming |
title_full |
Wildfire exacerbates high-latitude soil carbon losses from climate warming |
title_fullStr |
Wildfire exacerbates high-latitude soil carbon losses from climate warming |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wildfire exacerbates high-latitude soil carbon losses from climate warming |
title_sort |
wildfire exacerbates high-latitude soil carbon losses from climate warming |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8be6 https://doaj.org/article/1489f26992624243bfc06c533a7961a7 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change permafrost Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change permafrost Alaska |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 17, Iss 9, p 094037 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8be6 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac8be6 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/1489f26992624243bfc06c533a7961a7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8be6 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
094037 |
_version_ |
1776198661476188160 |