TY - JOUR
T1 - Methane Efflux Measured by Eddy Covariance in Alaskan Upland Tundra Undergoing Permafrost Degradation
AU - Taylor, M. A.
AU - Celis, G.
AU - Ledman, J. D.
AU - Bracho, R.
AU - Schuur, E. A.G.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was based in part on support provided by the following programs: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) Program, award DE-SC0006982 and updated with DE-SC0014085 (2015-2018); National Science Foundation CAREER program, award 0747195; National Parks Inventory and Monitoring Program; National Science Foundation Bonanza Creek LTER program, award 1026415; and National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs, award 1203777. We would like to express our gratitude for assistance from researchers and technicians from the Schuur lab and Bonanza Creek LTER. Data presented in this manuscript are archived at the Bonanza Creek LTER Data Catalog (http://www.letr.uaf.edu/data/data-catalog).
Funding Information:
This work was based in part on support provided by the following programs: U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) Program, award DE-SC0006982 and updated with DE-SC0014085 (2015-2018); National Science Foundation CAREER program, award 0747195; National Parks Inventory and Monitoring Program; National Science Foundation Bonanza Creek LTER program, award 1026415; and National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs, award 1203777. We would like to express our gratitude for assistance from researchers and technicians from the Schuur lab and Bonanza Creek LTER. Data presented in this manuscript are archived at the Bonanza Creek LTER Data Catalog (http://www.letr.uaf.edu/data/data- catalog).
Publisher Copyright:
©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2018/9
Y1 - 2018/9
N2 - Greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost in arctic ecosystems may amplify global warming, yet estimates of the rate of carbon release, and the proportion of carbon released as methane (CH4) or carbon dioxide (CO2), have a high degree of uncertainty. There are many areas where no measurements exist, and few year-round or long-term records. Existing year-round eddy covariance measurements of arctic CH4 fluxes suggest that nongrowing season emissions make up a significant proportion of tundra systems emissions on an annual basis. Here we present continuous CH4 flux measurements made at Eight Mile Lake, an upland tundra ecosystem undergoing permafrost degradation in Interior Alaska. We found net CH4 emissions throughout the year (1.2 ∓ 0.011 g C-CH4 m2/yr) that made up 61% of total radiative forcing from annual C emissions (CO2 and CH4; 32.3 g C m2/yr) when taking into account the greenhouse warming potential of CH4 relative to CO2. Nongrowing season emissions accounted for 50% of the annual CH4 budget, characterized by large pulse emissions. These were related to abrupt increases in air and shallow soil temperatures rather than consistent emissions during the zero curtain—a period of the fall/early winter season when subsurface soil temperatures remain near the 0 °C freezing point. Weekly growing season CH4 emissions in 2016 and 2017 were significantly related with thaw depth, and the magnitude of CH4 emissions between these seasons was proportional to the rate of active layer thaw throughout the season.
AB - Greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost in arctic ecosystems may amplify global warming, yet estimates of the rate of carbon release, and the proportion of carbon released as methane (CH4) or carbon dioxide (CO2), have a high degree of uncertainty. There are many areas where no measurements exist, and few year-round or long-term records. Existing year-round eddy covariance measurements of arctic CH4 fluxes suggest that nongrowing season emissions make up a significant proportion of tundra systems emissions on an annual basis. Here we present continuous CH4 flux measurements made at Eight Mile Lake, an upland tundra ecosystem undergoing permafrost degradation in Interior Alaska. We found net CH4 emissions throughout the year (1.2 ∓ 0.011 g C-CH4 m2/yr) that made up 61% of total radiative forcing from annual C emissions (CO2 and CH4; 32.3 g C m2/yr) when taking into account the greenhouse warming potential of CH4 relative to CO2. Nongrowing season emissions accounted for 50% of the annual CH4 budget, characterized by large pulse emissions. These were related to abrupt increases in air and shallow soil temperatures rather than consistent emissions during the zero curtain—a period of the fall/early winter season when subsurface soil temperatures remain near the 0 °C freezing point. Weekly growing season CH4 emissions in 2016 and 2017 were significantly related with thaw depth, and the magnitude of CH4 emissions between these seasons was proportional to the rate of active layer thaw throughout the season.
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U2 - 10.1029/2018JG004444
DO - 10.1029/2018JG004444
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85052930750
SN - 2169-8953
VL - 123
SP - 2695
EP - 2710
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
IS - 9
ER -