Large herbivores on permafrost— a pilot study of grazing impacts on permafrost soil carbon storage in northeastern Siberia
The risk of carbon emissions from permafrost is linked to an increase in ground temperature and thus in particular to thermal insulation by vegetation, soil layers and snow cover. Ground insulation can be influenced by the presence of large herbivores browsing for food in both winter and summer. In...
Published in: | Frontiers in Environmental Science |
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2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.893478 https://doaj.org/article/4a470f4ed18449d08d7e7a6b5f8cee50 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4a470f4ed18449d08d7e7a6b5f8cee50 2023-05-15T15:54:03+02:00 Large herbivores on permafrost— a pilot study of grazing impacts on permafrost soil carbon storage in northeastern Siberia Torben Windirsch Guido Grosse Mathias Ulrich Bruce C. Forbes Mathias Göckede Juliane Wolter Marc Macias-Fauria Johan Olofsson Nikita Zimov Jens Strauss 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.893478 https://doaj.org/article/4a470f4ed18449d08d7e7a6b5f8cee50 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.893478/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-665X 2296-665X doi:10.3389/fenvs.2022.893478 https://doaj.org/article/4a470f4ed18449d08d7e7a6b5f8cee50 Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol 10 (2022) organic material inventory animal husbandry bio-geo interactions rewilding climate change Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.893478 2022-12-30T22:18:28Z The risk of carbon emissions from permafrost is linked to an increase in ground temperature and thus in particular to thermal insulation by vegetation, soil layers and snow cover. Ground insulation can be influenced by the presence of large herbivores browsing for food in both winter and summer. In this study, we examine the potential impact of large herbivore presence on the soil carbon storage in a thermokarst landscape in northeastern Siberia. Our aim in this pilot study is to conduct a first analysis on whether intensive large herbivore grazing may slow or even reverse permafrost thaw by affecting thermal insulation through modifying ground cover properties. As permafrost soil temperatures are important for organic matter decomposition, we hypothesize that herbivory disturbances lead to differences in ground-stored carbon. Therefore, we analyzed five sites with a total of three different herbivore grazing intensities on two landscape forms (drained thermokarst basin, Yedoma upland) in Pleistocene Park near Chersky. We measured maximum thaw depth, total organic carbon content, δ13C isotopes, carbon-nitrogen ratios, and sediment grain-size composition as well as ice and water content for each site. We found the thaw depth to be shallower and carbon storage to be higher in intensively grazed areas compared to extensively and non-grazed sites in the same thermokarst basin. First data show that intensive grazing leads to a more stable thermal ground regime and thus to increased carbon storage in the thermokarst deposits and active layer. However, the high carbon content found within the upper 20 cm on intensively grazed sites could also indicate higher carbon input rather than reduced decomposition, which requires further studies including investigations of the hydrology and general ground conditions existing prior to grazing introduction. We explain our findings by intensive animal trampling in winter and vegetation changes, which overcompensate summer ground warming. We conclude that grazing intensity—along ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Chersky Ice permafrost Thermokarst Siberia Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Environmental Science 10 |
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language |
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topic |
organic material inventory animal husbandry bio-geo interactions rewilding climate change Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
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organic material inventory animal husbandry bio-geo interactions rewilding climate change Environmental sciences GE1-350 Torben Windirsch Guido Grosse Mathias Ulrich Bruce C. Forbes Mathias Göckede Juliane Wolter Marc Macias-Fauria Johan Olofsson Nikita Zimov Jens Strauss Large herbivores on permafrost— a pilot study of grazing impacts on permafrost soil carbon storage in northeastern Siberia |
topic_facet |
organic material inventory animal husbandry bio-geo interactions rewilding climate change Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
The risk of carbon emissions from permafrost is linked to an increase in ground temperature and thus in particular to thermal insulation by vegetation, soil layers and snow cover. Ground insulation can be influenced by the presence of large herbivores browsing for food in both winter and summer. In this study, we examine the potential impact of large herbivore presence on the soil carbon storage in a thermokarst landscape in northeastern Siberia. Our aim in this pilot study is to conduct a first analysis on whether intensive large herbivore grazing may slow or even reverse permafrost thaw by affecting thermal insulation through modifying ground cover properties. As permafrost soil temperatures are important for organic matter decomposition, we hypothesize that herbivory disturbances lead to differences in ground-stored carbon. Therefore, we analyzed five sites with a total of three different herbivore grazing intensities on two landscape forms (drained thermokarst basin, Yedoma upland) in Pleistocene Park near Chersky. We measured maximum thaw depth, total organic carbon content, δ13C isotopes, carbon-nitrogen ratios, and sediment grain-size composition as well as ice and water content for each site. We found the thaw depth to be shallower and carbon storage to be higher in intensively grazed areas compared to extensively and non-grazed sites in the same thermokarst basin. First data show that intensive grazing leads to a more stable thermal ground regime and thus to increased carbon storage in the thermokarst deposits and active layer. However, the high carbon content found within the upper 20 cm on intensively grazed sites could also indicate higher carbon input rather than reduced decomposition, which requires further studies including investigations of the hydrology and general ground conditions existing prior to grazing introduction. We explain our findings by intensive animal trampling in winter and vegetation changes, which overcompensate summer ground warming. We conclude that grazing intensity—along ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Torben Windirsch Guido Grosse Mathias Ulrich Bruce C. Forbes Mathias Göckede Juliane Wolter Marc Macias-Fauria Johan Olofsson Nikita Zimov Jens Strauss |
author_facet |
Torben Windirsch Guido Grosse Mathias Ulrich Bruce C. Forbes Mathias Göckede Juliane Wolter Marc Macias-Fauria Johan Olofsson Nikita Zimov Jens Strauss |
author_sort |
Torben Windirsch |
title |
Large herbivores on permafrost— a pilot study of grazing impacts on permafrost soil carbon storage in northeastern Siberia |
title_short |
Large herbivores on permafrost— a pilot study of grazing impacts on permafrost soil carbon storage in northeastern Siberia |
title_full |
Large herbivores on permafrost— a pilot study of grazing impacts on permafrost soil carbon storage in northeastern Siberia |
title_fullStr |
Large herbivores on permafrost— a pilot study of grazing impacts on permafrost soil carbon storage in northeastern Siberia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Large herbivores on permafrost— a pilot study of grazing impacts on permafrost soil carbon storage in northeastern Siberia |
title_sort |
large herbivores on permafrost— a pilot study of grazing impacts on permafrost soil carbon storage in northeastern siberia |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.893478 https://doaj.org/article/4a470f4ed18449d08d7e7a6b5f8cee50 |
genre |
Chersky Ice permafrost Thermokarst Siberia |
genre_facet |
Chersky Ice permafrost Thermokarst Siberia |
op_source |
Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol 10 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.893478/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-665X 2296-665X doi:10.3389/fenvs.2022.893478 https://doaj.org/article/4a470f4ed18449d08d7e7a6b5f8cee50 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.893478 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Environmental Science |
container_volume |
10 |
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1766389214763548672 |