Modeling the effects of fire severity and climate warming on active layer thickness and soil carbon storage of black spruce forests across the landscape in interior Alaska

• Published in: Environmental Research Letters
• Main Authors: Genet, H., McGuire, A. D., Barrett, Kirsten, Breen, A., Euskirchen, E. S., Johnstone, J. F., Kasischke, E. S., Melvin, A. M., Bennett, A., Mack, M. C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 2016
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Bonanza; Active layer thickness; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/045016; http://hdl.handle.net/2381/37489; https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/045016

There is a substantial amount of carbon stored in the permafrost soils of boreal forest ecosystems, where it is currently protected from decomposition. The surface organic horizons insulate the deeper soil from variations in atmospheric temperature. The removal of these insulating horizons through c...