Large emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra
Abstract Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane under anticipated end-of-century warming, here we used heating rods to warm (by 3...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54990-9 |
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| _version_ | 1841559233250721792 |
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| author | Margaret S. Torn Rose Z. Abramoff Lydia J. S. Vaughn Oriana E. Chafe J. Bryan Curtis Biao Zhu |
| author_facet | Margaret S. Torn Rose Z. Abramoff Lydia J. S. Vaughn Oriana E. Chafe J. Bryan Curtis Biao Zhu |
| author_sort | Margaret S. Torn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane under anticipated end-of-century warming, here we used heating rods to warm (by 3.8 °C) to the depth of permafrost in polygonal tundra in Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska and measured fluxes over two growing seasons. We show that ecosystem respiration is ~30% higher in warmed plots than in control plots (0.99 μmol m−2 s−1 versus 0.67 μmol m−2 s−1, p < 0.0001, n = 79). Additionally, the observed temperature sensitivity (Q10 of 2.8) is higher than that imposed for soil in Earth system models or reported by arctic experiments warming only the surface. A shoulder-season warming experiment revealed that rapid snow melt, which is becoming a more common event, can result in large methane emissions that may have otherwise been oxidized to carbon dioxide. Thus, warming promotes greenhouse gas emissions from the whole, deepening active layer and may contribute to climate change amplification. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aa95c409a2ef4fbf9ab0f369e9c47258 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-aa95c409a2ef4fbf9ab0f369e9c472582025-01-05T12:39:42ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111110.1038/s41467-024-54990-9Large emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundraMargaret S. Torn0Rose Z. Abramoff1Lydia J. S. Vaughn2Oriana E. Chafe3J. Bryan Curtis4Biao Zhu5Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Berkeley LabClimate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Berkeley LabClimate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Berkeley LabClimate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Berkeley LabClimate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Berkeley LabClimate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Berkeley LabAbstract Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane under anticipated end-of-century warming, here we used heating rods to warm (by 3.8 °C) to the depth of permafrost in polygonal tundra in Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska and measured fluxes over two growing seasons. We show that ecosystem respiration is ~30% higher in warmed plots than in control plots (0.99 μmol m−2 s−1 versus 0.67 μmol m−2 s−1, p < 0.0001, n = 79). Additionally, the observed temperature sensitivity (Q10 of 2.8) is higher than that imposed for soil in Earth system models or reported by arctic experiments warming only the surface. A shoulder-season warming experiment revealed that rapid snow melt, which is becoming a more common event, can result in large methane emissions that may have otherwise been oxidized to carbon dioxide. Thus, warming promotes greenhouse gas emissions from the whole, deepening active layer and may contribute to climate change amplification.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54990-9 |
| spellingShingle | Margaret S. Torn Rose Z. Abramoff Lydia J. S. Vaughn Oriana E. Chafe J. Bryan Curtis Biao Zhu Large emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra Nature Communications |
| title | Large emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra |
| title_full | Large emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra |
| title_fullStr | Large emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra |
| title_full_unstemmed | Large emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra |
| title_short | Large emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra |
| title_sort | large emissions of co2 and ch4 due to active layer warming in arctic tundra |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54990-9 |
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