Kimberly P. Wickland

Vulnerability of high‐latitude soil organic carbon in North America to disturbance

[1] This synthesis addresses the vulnerability of the North American high‐latitude soil organic carbon (SOC) pool to climate change. Disturbances caused by climate warming in arctic, subarctic, and boreal environments can result in significant redistribution of C among major reservoirs with potential global impacts. We divide the current northern high‐latitude SOC pools into (1) near‐surface soils where SOC is affected by seasonal freeze‐thaw processes and changes in moisture status, and (2) deeper permafrost and peatland strata down to several tens of meters depth where SOC is usually not affected by short‐term changes. We address key factors (permafrost, vegetation, hydrology, paleoenvironmental history) and processes (C input, storage, decomposition, and output) responsible for the formation of the large high‐latitude SOC pool in North America and highlight how climate‐related disturbances could alter this pool’s character and size. Press disturbances of relatively slow but persistent nature such as top‐down thawing of permafrost, and changes in hydrology, microbiological communities, pedological processes, and vegetation types, as well as pulse disturbances of relatively rapid and local nature such as wildfires and thermokarst, could substantially impact SOC stocks. Ongoing climate warming in the North American high‐latitude region could result in crossing environmental thresholds, thereby accelerating press disturbances and increasingly triggering pulse disturbances and eventually affecting the C source/sink net character of northern high‐latitude soils. Finally, we assess postdisturbance feedbacks, models, and predictions for the northern high‐latitude SOC pool, and discuss data and research gaps to be addressed by future research.

A synthesis of methane emissions from 71 northern, temperate, and subtropical wetlands

Wetlands are the largest natural source of atmospheric methane. Here, we assess controls on methane flux using a database of approximately 19 000 instantaneous measurements from 71 wetland sites located across subtropical, temperate, and northern high latitude regions. Our analyses confirm general controls on wetland methane emissions from soil temperature, water table, and vegetation, but also show that these relationships are modified depending on wetland type (bog, fen, or swamp), region (subarctic to temperate), and disturbance. Fen methane flux was more sensitive to vegetation and less sensitive to temperature than bog or swamp fluxes. The optimal water table for methane flux was consistently below the peat surface in bogs, close to the peat surface in poor fens, and above the peat surface in rich fens. However, the largest flux in bogs occurred when dry 30-day averaged antecedent conditions were followed by wet conditions, while in fens and swamps, the largest flux occurred when both 30-day averaged antecedent and current conditions were wet. Drained wetlands exhibited distinct characteristics, e.g. the absence of large flux following wet and warm conditions, suggesting that the same functional relationships between methane flux and environmental conditions cannot be used across pristine and disturbed wetlands. Together, our results suggest that water table and temperature are dominant controls on methane flux in pristine bogs and swamps, while other processes, such as vascular transport in pristine fens, have the potential to partially override the effect of these controls in other wetland types. Because wetland types vary in methane emissions and have distinct controls, these ecosystems need to be considered separately to yield reliable estimates of global wetland methane release.

Winter fluxes of CO2 and CH4 from subalpine soils in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Fluxes of CO2 and CH 4 through a seasonal snowpack were measured in and adjacent to a subalpine wetland in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Gas diffusion through the snow was controlled by gas production or consumption in the soil and by physical snowpack properties. The snowpack insulated soils from cold midwinter air temperatures allowing microbial activity to continue through the winter. All soil types studied were net sources of CO2 to the atmosphere through the winter, whereas saturated soils in the wetland center were net emitters of CH 4 and soils adjacent to the wetland were net CH 4 consumers. Most sites showed similar temporal patterns in winter gas fluxes; the lowest fluxes occurred in early winter, and maximum fluxes occurred at the onset of snowmelt. Temporal changes in fluxes probably were related to changes in soil-moisture conditions and hydrology because soil temperatures were relatively constant under the snowpack. Average winter CO2 fluxes were 42.3, 31.2, and 14.6 mmol m -2 d -• over dry, moist, and saturated soils, respectively, which accounted for 8 to 23% of the gross annual CO2 emissions from these soils. Average winter CH 4 fluxes were -0.016, 0.274, and 2.87 mmol m -2 d -1 over dry, moist, and saturated soils, respectively. Microbial activity under snow cover accounted for 12% of the annual CH 4 consumption in dry soils and 58 and 12% of the annual CH 4 emitted from moist and saturated soils, respectively. The observed ranges in CO2 and CH 4 flux through snow indicated that winter fluxes are an important part of the annual carbon budget in seasonally snow-covered terrains.

Biomass offsets little or none of permafrost carbon release from soils, streams, and wildfire: an expert assessment

As the permafrost region warms, its large organic carbon pool will be increasingly vulnerable to decomposition, combustion, and hydrologic export. Models predict that some portion of this release w ...

Ancient low–molecular-weight organic acids in permafrost fuel rapid carbon dioxide production upon thaw

Significance To our knowledge, this study is the first to directly link rapid microbial consumption of ancient permafrost-derived dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to CO2 production using a novel bioreactor. Rapid mineralization of the freshly thawed DOC was attributed to microbial decomposition of low–molecular-weight organic acids, which were completely consumed during the experiments. Our results indicate that substantial biodegradation of permafrost DOC occurs immediately after thaw and before downstream transport occurs. We estimate that, by 2100, between 5 to 10 Tg of DOC will be released from Yedoma soils every year given the most recent estimates for projected thaw. This represents 19–26% of annual DOC loads exported by Arctic rivers, yet it is so far undetectable likely due to rapid mineralization in soils and/or headwater streams. Northern permafrost soils store a vast reservoir of carbon, nearly twice that of the present atmosphere. Current and projected climate warming threatens widespread thaw of these frozen, organic carbon (OC)-rich soils. Upon thaw, mobilized permafrost OC in dissolved and particulate forms can enter streams and rivers, which are important processors of OC and conduits for carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. Here, we demonstrate that ancient dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leached from 35,800 y B.P. permafrost soils is rapidly mineralized to CO2. During 200-h experiments in a novel high–temporal-resolution bioreactor, DOC concentration decreased by an average of 53%, fueling a more than sevenfold increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration. Eighty-seven percent of the DOC loss to microbial uptake was derived from the low–molecular-weight (LMW) organic acids acetate and butyrate. To our knowledge, our study is the first to directly quantify high CO2 production rates from permafrost-derived LMW DOC mineralization. The observed DOC loss rates are among the highest reported for permafrost carbon and demonstrate the potential importance of LMW DOC in driving the rapid metabolism of Pleistocene-age permafrost carbon upon thaw and the outgassing of CO2 to the atmosphere by soils and nearby inland waters.

Methane flux in subalpine wetland and unsaturated soils in the southern Rocky Mountains

Methane exchange between the atmosphere and subalpine wetland and unsaturated soils was evaluated over a 15-month period during 1995-1996. Four vegetation community types along a moisture gradient (wetland, moist-grassy, moist-mossy, and dry) were included in a 100 m sampling transect situated at 3200 m elevation in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Methane fluxes and soil temperature were measured during snow-free and snow-covered periods, and soil moisture content was measured during snow-free periods. The range of mean measured fluxes through all seasons (a positive value represents CH 4 efflux to the atmosphere) were: 0.3 to 29.2 mmol CH 4 m -2 d -1 wetland area; 0. 1 to 1.8 mmol CH 4 m -2 d -1 , moist-grassy area; -0.04 to 0.7 mmol CH 4 m -2 d -1 , moist-mossy area; and -0.6 to 0 mmol CH 4 m -2 d -1 , dry area. Methane efflux was significantly correlated with soil temperature (5 cm) at the continuously saturated wetland area during snow-free periods. Consumption of atmospheric methane was significantly correlated with moisture content in the upper 5 cm of soil at the dry area. A model based on the wetland flux-temperature relationship estimated an annual methane emission of 2.53 mo CH 4 m -2 from the wetland. Estimates of annual methane flux based on field measurements at the other sites were 0.12 mol CH 4 m -2 , moist-grassy area; 0.03 mol CH 4 m -2 , moist-mossy area; and -0.04 mol CH 4 m -2 , dry area. Methane fluxes during snow-covered periods were responsible for 25, 73, 23, and 43% of the annual fluxes at the wetland, moist-grassy, moist-mossy, and dry sites, respectively.

Effect of permafrost thaw on CO2 and CH4 exchange in a western Alaska peatland chronosequence

Permafrost soils store over half of global soil carbon (C), and northern frozen peatlands store about 10% of global permafrost C. With thaw, inundation of high latitude lowland peatlands typically increases the surface-atmosphere flux of methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas. To examine the effects of lowland permafrost thaw over millennial timescales, we measured carbon dioxide (CO2) and CH4 exchange along sites that constitute a ?1000 yr thaw chronosequence of thermokarst collapse bogs and adjacent fen locations at Innoko Flats Wildlife Refuge in western Alaska. Peak CH4 exchange in July (123???71 mg CH4?C m?2 d?1) was observed in features that have been thawed for 30 to 70 (<100) yr, where soils were warmer than at more recently thawed sites (14 to 21 yr; emitting 1.37???0.67 mg CH4?C m?2 d?1 in July) and had shallower water tables than at older sites (200 to 1400 yr; emitting 6.55???2.23 mg CH4?C m?2 d?1 in July). Carbon lost via CH4 efflux during the growing season at these intermediate age sites was 8% of uptake by net ecosystem exchange. Our results provide evidence that CH4 emissions following lowland permafrost thaw are enhanced over decadal time scales, but limited over millennia. Over larger spatial scales, adjacent fen systems may contribute sustained CH4 emission, CO2 uptake, and DOC export. We argue that over timescales of decades to centuries, thaw features in high-latitude lowland peatlands, particularly those developed on poorly drained mineral substrates, are a key locus of elevated CH4 emission to the atmosphere that must be considered for a complete understanding of high latitude CH4 dynamics.

Role of ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks in recent ice wedge degradation and stabilization

Ground ice is abundant in the upper permafrost throughout the Arctic and fundamentally affects terrain responses to climate warming. Ice wedges, which form near the surface and are the dominant type of massive ice in the Arctic, are particularly vulnerable to warming. Yet processes controlling ice wedge degradation and stabilization are poorly understood. Here we quantified ice wedge volume and degradation rates, compared ground ice characteristics and thermal regimes across a sequence of five degradation and stabilization stages and evaluated biophysical feedbacks controlling permafrost stability near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Mean ice wedge volume in the top 3 m of permafrost was 21%. Imagery from 1949 to 2012 showed thermokarst extent (area of water-filled troughs) was relatively small from 1949 (0.9%) to 1988 (1.5%), abruptly increased by 2004 (6.3%) and increased slightly by 2012 (7.5%). Mean annual surface temperatures varied by 4.9°C among degradation and stabilization stages and by 9.9°C from polygon center to deep lake bottom. Mean thicknesses of the active layer, ice-poor transient layer, ice-rich intermediate layer, thermokarst cave ice, and wedge ice varied substantially among stages. In early stages, thaw settlement caused water to impound in thermokarst troughs, creating positive feedbacks that increased net radiation, soil heat flux, and soil temperatures. Plant growth and organic matter accumulation in the degraded troughs provided negative feedbacks that allowed ground ice to aggrade and heave the surface, thus reducing surface water depth and soil temperatures in later stages. The ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks greatly complicate efforts to assess permafrost responses to climate change.

The role of soil drainage class in carbon dioxide exchange and decomposition in boreal black spruce (Picea mariana) forest stands

Black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) forest stands range from well drained to poorly drained, typically contain large amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC), and are often underlain by permafr...

Modeling the Production, Decomposition, and Transport of Dissolved Organic Carbon in Boreal Soils

The movement of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) through boreal ecosystems has drawn increased attention because of its potential impact on the feedback of OC stocks to global environmental change in this region. Few models of boreal DOC exist. Here we present a one-dimensional model with simultaneous production, decomposition, sorption/desorption, and transport of DOC to describe the behavior of DOC in the OC layers above the mineral soils. The field-observed concentration profiles of DOC in two moderately well-drained black spruce forest sites (one with permafrost and one without permafrost), coupled with hourly measured soil temperature and moisture, were used to inversely estimate the unknown parameters associated with the sorption/desorption kinetics using a global optimization strategy. The model, along with the estimated parameters, reasonably reproduces the concentration profiles of DOC and highlights some important potential controls over DOC production and cycling in boreal settings. The values of estimated parameters suggest that humic OC has a larger potential production capacity for DOC than fine OC, and most of the DOC produced from fine OC was associated with instantaneous sorption/desorption whereas most of the DOC produced from humic OC was associated with time-dependent sorption/desorption. The simulated DOC efflux at the bottom of soil OC layers was highly dependent on the component and structure of the OC layers. The DOC efflux was controlled by advection at the site with no humic OC and moist conditions and controlled by diffusion at the site with the presence of humic OC and dry conditions.