An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin
Abstract Background Wildfires are an increasingly important component of the forces that drive the global carbon (C) cycle and climate change as progressive warming is expected in boreal areas. This study estimated C emissions from the wildfires across the Alaskan Yukon River Basin in 2004. We spati...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d9ce234d1f064c89bea842fa85985bc8 2023-05-15T18:45:58+02:00 An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin Liu Shuguang Zhu Zhiliang Tieszen Larry L Tan Zhengxi Howard Stephen M 2007-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-0680-2-12 https://doaj.org/article/d9ce234d1f064c89bea842fa85985bc8 EN eng BMC http://www.cbmjournal.com/content/2/1/12 https://doaj.org/toc/1750-0680 doi:10.1186/1750-0680-2-12 1750-0680 https://doaj.org/article/d9ce234d1f064c89bea842fa85985bc8 Carbon Balance and Management, Vol 2, Iss 1, p 12 (2007) Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2007 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-0680-2-12 2022-12-31T00:20:56Z Abstract Background Wildfires are an increasingly important component of the forces that drive the global carbon (C) cycle and climate change as progressive warming is expected in boreal areas. This study estimated C emissions from the wildfires across the Alaskan Yukon River Basin in 2004. We spatially related the firescars to land cover types and defined the C fractions of aboveground biomass and the ground layer (referring to the top 15 cm organic soil layer only in this paper) consumed in association with land cover types, soil drainage classes, and the C stocks in the ground layer. Results The fires led to a burned area of 26,500 km 2 and resulted in the total C emission of 81.1 ± 13.6 Tg (Tg, Teragram; 1 Tg = 10 12 g) or 3.1 ± 0.7 kg C m -2 burned. Of the total C emission, about 73% and 27% could be attributed to the consumption of the ground layer and aboveground biomass, respectively. Conclusion The predominant contribution of the ground layer to the total C emission implies the importance of ground fuel management to the control of wildfires and mitigation of C emissions. The magnitude of the total C emission depends on fire extent, while the C loss in kg C m -2 burned is affected strongly by the ground layer and soil drainage condition. The significant reduction in the ground layer by large fires may result in profound impacts on boreal ecosystem services with an increase in feedbacks between wildfires and climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Yukon river Yukon Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Yukon Carbon Balance and Management 2 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Liu Shuguang Zhu Zhiliang Tieszen Larry L Tan Zhengxi Howard Stephen M An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Abstract Background Wildfires are an increasingly important component of the forces that drive the global carbon (C) cycle and climate change as progressive warming is expected in boreal areas. This study estimated C emissions from the wildfires across the Alaskan Yukon River Basin in 2004. We spatially related the firescars to land cover types and defined the C fractions of aboveground biomass and the ground layer (referring to the top 15 cm organic soil layer only in this paper) consumed in association with land cover types, soil drainage classes, and the C stocks in the ground layer. Results The fires led to a burned area of 26,500 km 2 and resulted in the total C emission of 81.1 ± 13.6 Tg (Tg, Teragram; 1 Tg = 10 12 g) or 3.1 ± 0.7 kg C m -2 burned. Of the total C emission, about 73% and 27% could be attributed to the consumption of the ground layer and aboveground biomass, respectively. Conclusion The predominant contribution of the ground layer to the total C emission implies the importance of ground fuel management to the control of wildfires and mitigation of C emissions. The magnitude of the total C emission depends on fire extent, while the C loss in kg C m -2 burned is affected strongly by the ground layer and soil drainage condition. The significant reduction in the ground layer by large fires may result in profound impacts on boreal ecosystem services with an increase in feedbacks between wildfires and climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Liu Shuguang Zhu Zhiliang Tieszen Larry L Tan Zhengxi Howard Stephen M |
author_facet |
Liu Shuguang Zhu Zhiliang Tieszen Larry L Tan Zhengxi Howard Stephen M |
author_sort |
Liu Shuguang |
title |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_short |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_full |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_fullStr |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_full_unstemmed |
An estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across Alaskan Yukon River Basin |
title_sort |
estimate of carbon emissions from 2004 wildfires across alaskan yukon river basin |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-0680-2-12 https://doaj.org/article/d9ce234d1f064c89bea842fa85985bc8 |
geographic |
Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Yukon |
genre |
Yukon river Yukon |
genre_facet |
Yukon river Yukon |
op_source |
Carbon Balance and Management, Vol 2, Iss 1, p 12 (2007) |
op_relation |
http://www.cbmjournal.com/content/2/1/12 https://doaj.org/toc/1750-0680 doi:10.1186/1750-0680-2-12 1750-0680 https://doaj.org/article/d9ce234d1f064c89bea842fa85985bc8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-0680-2-12 |
container_title |
Carbon Balance and Management |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766237187591897088 |