The age of CO2 released from contrasting ecosystems during the arctic winter

In arctic ecosystems, winter soil respiration can contribute substantially to annual CO2 release, yet the source of this C is not clear. We analysed the 14C content of C released from plant-free plots in mountain birch forest and tundra-heath. Winter-respired CO2 was found to be a similar age (tundr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Main Authors: Hartley, I.P., Garnett, M.H., Sommerkorn, M., Hopkins, D.W., Wookey, P.A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Arctic
Tundra
Online Access:http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/79864/
Description
Summary:In arctic ecosystems, winter soil respiration can contribute substantially to annual CO2 release, yet the source of this C is not clear. We analysed the 14C content of C released from plant-free plots in mountain birch forest and tundra-heath. Winter-respired CO2 was found to be a similar age (tundra) or older (forest) than C released during the previous autumn. Overall, our study demonstrates that the decomposition of older C can continue during the winter, in these two contrasting arctic ecosystems.

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