Ignoring carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds results in overestimation of tundra net carbon uptake
Arctic permafrost landscapes have functioned as a global carbon sink for millennia. These landscapes are very heterogeneous, and the omnipresent water bodies within them act as a carbon source. Yet, few studies have focused on the impact of these water bodies on the landscape carbon budget. We deepe...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9db57b8df8d7456d97536114aa767234 2023-05-15T14:52:31+02:00 Ignoring carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds results in overestimation of tundra net carbon uptake L. Beckebanze Z. Rehder D. Holl C. Wille C. Mirbach L. Kutzbach 2022-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1225-2022 https://doaj.org/article/9db57b8df8d7456d97536114aa767234 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/1225/2022/bg-19-1225-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-1225-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/9db57b8df8d7456d97536114aa767234 Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 1225-1244 (2022) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1225-2022 2022-12-31T16:12:47Z Arctic permafrost landscapes have functioned as a global carbon sink for millennia. These landscapes are very heterogeneous, and the omnipresent water bodies within them act as a carbon source. Yet, few studies have focused on the impact of these water bodies on the landscape carbon budget. We deepen our understanding of carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds and constrain their impact by comparing carbon dioxide and methane fluxes from these ponds to fluxes from the surrounding tundra. We use eddy covariance measurements from a tower located at the border between a large pond and semi-terrestrial tundra. When we take the open-water areas of thermokarst ponds into account, our results show that the estimated summer carbon uptake of the polygonal tundra is 11 % lower. Further, the data show that open-water methane emissions are of a similar magnitude to polygonal tundra emissions. However, some parts of the pond's shoreline exhibit much higher emissions. This finding underlines the high spatial variability in methane emissions. We conclude that gas fluxes from thermokarst ponds can contribute significantly to the carbon budget of Arctic tundra landscapes. Consequently, changes in the water body distribution of tundra landscapes due to permafrost degradation may substantially impact the overall carbon budget of the Arctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic permafrost Thermokarst Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Biogeosciences 19 4 1225 1244 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 L. Beckebanze Z. Rehder D. Holl C. Wille C. Mirbach L. Kutzbach Ignoring carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds results in overestimation of tundra net carbon uptake |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Arctic permafrost landscapes have functioned as a global carbon sink for millennia. These landscapes are very heterogeneous, and the omnipresent water bodies within them act as a carbon source. Yet, few studies have focused on the impact of these water bodies on the landscape carbon budget. We deepen our understanding of carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds and constrain their impact by comparing carbon dioxide and methane fluxes from these ponds to fluxes from the surrounding tundra. We use eddy covariance measurements from a tower located at the border between a large pond and semi-terrestrial tundra. When we take the open-water areas of thermokarst ponds into account, our results show that the estimated summer carbon uptake of the polygonal tundra is 11 % lower. Further, the data show that open-water methane emissions are of a similar magnitude to polygonal tundra emissions. However, some parts of the pond's shoreline exhibit much higher emissions. This finding underlines the high spatial variability in methane emissions. We conclude that gas fluxes from thermokarst ponds can contribute significantly to the carbon budget of Arctic tundra landscapes. Consequently, changes in the water body distribution of tundra landscapes due to permafrost degradation may substantially impact the overall carbon budget of the Arctic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. Beckebanze Z. Rehder D. Holl C. Wille C. Mirbach L. Kutzbach |
author_facet |
L. Beckebanze Z. Rehder D. Holl C. Wille C. Mirbach L. Kutzbach |
author_sort |
L. Beckebanze |
title |
Ignoring carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds results in overestimation of tundra net carbon uptake |
title_short |
Ignoring carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds results in overestimation of tundra net carbon uptake |
title_full |
Ignoring carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds results in overestimation of tundra net carbon uptake |
title_fullStr |
Ignoring carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds results in overestimation of tundra net carbon uptake |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ignoring carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds results in overestimation of tundra net carbon uptake |
title_sort |
ignoring carbon emissions from thermokarst ponds results in overestimation of tundra net carbon uptake |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1225-2022 https://doaj.org/article/9db57b8df8d7456d97536114aa767234 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic permafrost Thermokarst Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic permafrost Thermokarst Tundra |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 1225-1244 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/1225/2022/bg-19-1225-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-1225-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/9db57b8df8d7456d97536114aa767234 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1225-2022 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1225 |
op_container_end_page |
1244 |
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1766323752069496832 |