Cold season emissions dominate the Arctic tundra methane budget

Arctic ecosystems are major global sources of methane. We report that emissions during the cold season (September to May) contribute ≥50% of annual sources of methane from Alaskan tundra, based on fluxes obtained from eddy covariance sites and from regional fluxes calculated from aircraft data. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Main Authors: Zona, Donatella, Gioli, Beniamino, Commane, Róisín, Lindaas, Jakob, Wofsy, Steven C., Miller, Charles E., Dinardo, Steven J., Dengel, Sigrid, Sweeney, Colm, Karion, Anna, Chang, Rachel Y.-W., Henderson, John M., Murphy, Patrick C., Goodrich, Jordan P., Moreaux, Virginie, Liljedahl, Anna, Watts, Jennifer D., Kimball, John S., Lipson, David A., Oechel, Walter C.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: National Academy of Sciences 2016
Subjects:
Physical Sciences
Arctic
Tundra
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4711884/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26699476
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1516017113
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Summary:Arctic ecosystems are major global sources of methane. We report that emissions during the cold season (September to May) contribute ≥50% of annual sources of methane from Alaskan tundra, based on fluxes obtained from eddy covariance sites and from regional fluxes calculated from aircraft data. The largest emissions were observed at the driest site (<5% inundation). Emissions of methane in the cold season are linked to the extended “zero curtain” period, where soil temperatures are poised near 0 °C, indicating that total emissions are very sensitive to soil climate and related factors, such as snow depth. The dominance of late season emissions, sensitivity to soil conditions, and importance of dry tundra are not currently simulated in most global climate models.

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