Is the subarctic landscape still a carbon sink? Evidence from a detailed catchment balance

Climate warming raises the question whether high-latitude landscape still function as net carbon (C) sinks. By compiling an integrated C balance for an intensely studied subarctic catchment, we show that this catchment's C balance is not likely to be a strong current sink of C, a commonly held...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Lundin, Erik J., Klaminder, Jonatan, Giesler, Reiner, Persson, Andreas, Olefeldt, David, Heliasz, Michal, Christensen, Torben R., Karlsson, Jan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2016
Subjects:
Climate Research
aquatic ecosystems
carbon balance
sink
source
subarctic
terrestrial ecosystems
Subarctic
Online Access:https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/f9be953a-f5ac-4e1a-a0a9-430e280d14cf
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066970
Description
Summary:Climate warming raises the question whether high-latitude landscape still function as net carbon (C) sinks. By compiling an integrated C balance for an intensely studied subarctic catchment, we show that this catchment's C balance is not likely to be a strong current sink of C, a commonly held assumption. In fact, it is more plausible (71% probability) that the studied catchment functions as a C source (-11 ± 20 g C m-2 yr-1). Analyses of individual fluxes indicate that soil and aquatic C losses offset C sequestering in other landscape components (e.g., peatlands and aboveground forest biomass). Our results stress the importance of fully integrated catchment C balance estimates and highlight the importance of upland soils and their interaction with the aquatic network for the catchment C balance.

Similar Items