Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra
Global atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide have been increasing over previous decades with emerging research suggesting the Arctic as a notable contributor. Thermokarst processes, increasing temperature, and changes in drainage can cause degradation of polygonal tundra landscape features res...
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ftleedsuniv:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216672 2024-09-15T18:25:04+00:00 Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra Hashemi, J. Lipson, D.A. Arndt, K.A. Davidson, S.J. Kalhori, A. Lunneberg, K. van Delden, L. Oechel, W.C. Zona, D. 2024-08-30 text https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/216672/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/216672/1/s43247-024-01583-5.pdf en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/216672/1/s43247-024-01583-5.pdf Hashemi, J. orcid.org/0000-0002-8660-7406 , Lipson, D.A. orcid.org/0000-0003-4530-1539 , Arndt, K.A. orcid.org/0000-0003-4158-2054 et al. (6 more authors) (2024) Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra. Communications Earth & Environment, 5 (1). 473. ISSN 2662-4435 cc_by_4 Article PeerReviewed 2024 ftleedsuniv 2024-09-04T00:01:03Z Global atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide have been increasing over previous decades with emerging research suggesting the Arctic as a notable contributor. Thermokarst processes, increasing temperature, and changes in drainage can cause degradation of polygonal tundra landscape features resulting in elevated, well-drained, unvegetated soil surfaces that exhibit large nitrous oxide emissions. Here, we outline the magnitude and some of the dominant factors controlling variability in emissions for these thermokarst landscape features in the North Slope of Alaska. We measured strong nitrous oxide emissions during the growing season from unvegetated high centered polygons (median (mean) = 104.7 (187.7) µg N2O-N m−2 h−1), substantially higher than mean rates associated with Arctic tundra wetlands and of similar magnitude to unvegetated hotspots in peat plateaus and palsa mires. In the absence of vegetation, isotopic enrichment of 15N in these thermokarst features indicates a greater influence of microbial processes, (denitrification and nitrification) from barren soil. Findings reveal that the thermokarst features discussed here (~1.5% of the study area) are likely a notable source of nitrous oxide emissions, as inferred from chamber-based estimates. Growing season emissions, estimated at 16 (28) mg N2O-N ha−1 h−1, may be large enough to affect landscape-level greenhouse gas budgets. Article in Journal/Newspaper north slope palsa Thermokarst Tundra Alaska White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
institution |
Open Polar |
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White Rose Research Online (Universities of Leeds, Sheffield & York) |
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ftleedsuniv |
language |
English |
description |
Global atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide have been increasing over previous decades with emerging research suggesting the Arctic as a notable contributor. Thermokarst processes, increasing temperature, and changes in drainage can cause degradation of polygonal tundra landscape features resulting in elevated, well-drained, unvegetated soil surfaces that exhibit large nitrous oxide emissions. Here, we outline the magnitude and some of the dominant factors controlling variability in emissions for these thermokarst landscape features in the North Slope of Alaska. We measured strong nitrous oxide emissions during the growing season from unvegetated high centered polygons (median (mean) = 104.7 (187.7) µg N2O-N m−2 h−1), substantially higher than mean rates associated with Arctic tundra wetlands and of similar magnitude to unvegetated hotspots in peat plateaus and palsa mires. In the absence of vegetation, isotopic enrichment of 15N in these thermokarst features indicates a greater influence of microbial processes, (denitrification and nitrification) from barren soil. Findings reveal that the thermokarst features discussed here (~1.5% of the study area) are likely a notable source of nitrous oxide emissions, as inferred from chamber-based estimates. Growing season emissions, estimated at 16 (28) mg N2O-N ha−1 h−1, may be large enough to affect landscape-level greenhouse gas budgets. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hashemi, J. Lipson, D.A. Arndt, K.A. Davidson, S.J. Kalhori, A. Lunneberg, K. van Delden, L. Oechel, W.C. Zona, D. |
spellingShingle |
Hashemi, J. Lipson, D.A. Arndt, K.A. Davidson, S.J. Kalhori, A. Lunneberg, K. van Delden, L. Oechel, W.C. Zona, D. Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra |
author_facet |
Hashemi, J. Lipson, D.A. Arndt, K.A. Davidson, S.J. Kalhori, A. Lunneberg, K. van Delden, L. Oechel, W.C. Zona, D. |
author_sort |
Hashemi, J. |
title |
Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra |
title_short |
Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra |
title_full |
Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra |
title_fullStr |
Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra |
title_full_unstemmed |
Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra |
title_sort |
thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/216672/ https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/216672/1/s43247-024-01583-5.pdf |
genre |
north slope palsa Thermokarst Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
north slope palsa Thermokarst Tundra Alaska |
op_relation |
https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/216672/1/s43247-024-01583-5.pdf Hashemi, J. orcid.org/0000-0002-8660-7406 , Lipson, D.A. orcid.org/0000-0003-4530-1539 , Arndt, K.A. orcid.org/0000-0003-4158-2054 et al. (6 more authors) (2024) Thermokarst landscape exhibits large nitrous oxide emissions in Alaska’s coastal polygonal tundra. Communications Earth & Environment, 5 (1). 473. ISSN 2662-4435 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
_version_ |
1810465475904143360 |