Methane fluxes during the initiation of a large-scale water table manipulation experiment in the Alaskan Arctic tundra

Much of the 191.8 Pg C in the upper 1 m of Arctic soil of Arctic soil organic mater is, or is at risk of, being released to the atmosphere as CO2 and/or CH4. Global warming will further alter the rate of emission of these gases to the atmosphere. Here we quantify the effect of major environmental va...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Global Biogeochemical Cycles
Main Authors: Zona, D., Oechel, W. C., Kochendorfer, J., Paw U, K. T., Salyuk, A. N., Olivas, P. C., Oberbauer, S. F., Lipson, D. A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Arctic
Climate change
Global warming
Tundra
Online Access:https://oro.open.ac.uk/38753/
https://oro.open.ac.uk/38753/1/oechel3.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GB003487
Description
Summary:Much of the 191.8 Pg C in the upper 1 m of Arctic soil of Arctic soil organic mater is, or is at risk of, being released to the atmosphere as CO2 and/or CH4. Global warming will further alter the rate of emission of these gases to the atmosphere. Here we quantify the effect of major environmental variables affected by global climate change on CH4 fluxes in the Alaskan Arctic. Soil temperature best predicts CH4 fluxes and explained 89% of the variability in CH4 emissions. Water table depth has a nonlinear impact on CH4 efflux. Increasing water table height above the surface retards CH4 efflux. Decreasing water table depth below the surface has a minor effect on CH4 release once an aerobic layer is formed at the surface. In contrast with several other studies, we found that CH4 emissions are not driven by net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and are not limited by labile carbon supply.

Similar Items