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Title: Using Stable Carbon Isotopes of Seasonal Ecosystem Respiration to Determine Permafrost Carbon Loss

Abstract

Abstract High latitude warming and permafrost thaw will expose vast stores of deep soil organic carbon (SOC) to decomposition. Thaw also changes water movement causing either wetter or drier soil. The fate of deep SOC under different thaw and moisture conditions is unclear. We measured weekly growing‐season δ 13 C of ecosystem respiration (Recoδ 13 C) across thaw and moisture conditions (Shallow‐Dry; Deep‐Dry; Deep‐Wet) in a soil warming manipulation. Deep SOC loss was inferred from known δ 13 C signatures of plant shoot, root, surface soil, and deep soil respiration. In addition, a 2‐year‐old vegetation removal treatment (No Veg) was used to isolate surface and deep SOC decomposition contributions to Reco. In No Veg, seasonal Recoδ 13 C indicated that deep SOC loss increased as the soil column thawed, while in vegetated areas, root contributions appeared to dominate Reco. The Recoδ 13 C differences between Shallow‐Dry and Deep‐Dry were significant but surprisingly small. This most likely suggests that, under dry conditions, soil warming stimulates root and surface SOC respiration with a negative 13 C signature that opposes the more positive 13 C signal from increased deep SOC respiration. In Deep‐Wet conditions, Recoδ 13 C suggests reduced deep SOC loss butmore » could also reflect altered diffusion or methane (CH 4 ) dynamics. Together, these results demonstrate that frequent Recoδ 13 C measurements can detect deep SOC loss and that plants confound the signal. In future studies, soil profile δ 13 C measurements, vegetation removal across thaw gradients, and isotopic effects of CH 4 dynamics could further deconvolute deep SOC loss via surface Reco.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [2]; ORCiD logo [4];  [2]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [2]
  1. Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States); Univ. of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX (United States)
  2. Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States)
  3. Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States)
  4. Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, MA (United States)
  5. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1489548
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1490761
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725; 259256; DE‐SC0014085; DE‐SC0006982
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 124; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-8953
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; permafrost; carbon; thaw; warming; isotope partitioning; respiration

Citation Formats

Mauritz, M., Celis, G., Ebert, C., Hutchings, J., Ledman, J., Natali, S. M., Pegoraro, E., Salmon, V. G., Schädel, C., Taylor, M., and Schuur, E. A. G. Using Stable Carbon Isotopes of Seasonal Ecosystem Respiration to Determine Permafrost Carbon Loss. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1029/2018JG004619.
Mauritz, M., Celis, G., Ebert, C., Hutchings, J., Ledman, J., Natali, S. M., Pegoraro, E., Salmon, V. G., Schädel, C., Taylor, M., & Schuur, E. A. G. Using Stable Carbon Isotopes of Seasonal Ecosystem Respiration to Determine Permafrost Carbon Loss. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004619
Mauritz, M., Celis, G., Ebert, C., Hutchings, J., Ledman, J., Natali, S. M., Pegoraro, E., Salmon, V. G., Schädel, C., Taylor, M., and Schuur, E. A. G. 2018. "Using Stable Carbon Isotopes of Seasonal Ecosystem Respiration to Determine Permafrost Carbon Loss". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004619. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1489548.
@article{osti_1489548,
title = {Using Stable Carbon Isotopes of Seasonal Ecosystem Respiration to Determine Permafrost Carbon Loss},
author = {Mauritz, M. and Celis, G. and Ebert, C. and Hutchings, J. and Ledman, J. and Natali, S. M. and Pegoraro, E. and Salmon, V. G. and Schädel, C. and Taylor, M. and Schuur, E. A. G.},
abstractNote = {Abstract High latitude warming and permafrost thaw will expose vast stores of deep soil organic carbon (SOC) to decomposition. Thaw also changes water movement causing either wetter or drier soil. The fate of deep SOC under different thaw and moisture conditions is unclear. We measured weekly growing‐season δ 13 C of ecosystem respiration (Recoδ 13 C) across thaw and moisture conditions (Shallow‐Dry; Deep‐Dry; Deep‐Wet) in a soil warming manipulation. Deep SOC loss was inferred from known δ 13 C signatures of plant shoot, root, surface soil, and deep soil respiration. In addition, a 2‐year‐old vegetation removal treatment (No Veg) was used to isolate surface and deep SOC decomposition contributions to Reco. In No Veg, seasonal Recoδ 13 C indicated that deep SOC loss increased as the soil column thawed, while in vegetated areas, root contributions appeared to dominate Reco. The Recoδ 13 C differences between Shallow‐Dry and Deep‐Dry were significant but surprisingly small. This most likely suggests that, under dry conditions, soil warming stimulates root and surface SOC respiration with a negative 13 C signature that opposes the more positive 13 C signal from increased deep SOC respiration. In Deep‐Wet conditions, Recoδ 13 C suggests reduced deep SOC loss but could also reflect altered diffusion or methane (CH 4 ) dynamics. Together, these results demonstrate that frequent Recoδ 13 C measurements can detect deep SOC loss and that plants confound the signal. In future studies, soil profile δ 13 C measurements, vegetation removal across thaw gradients, and isotopic effects of CH 4 dynamics could further deconvolute deep SOC loss via surface Reco.},
doi = {10.1029/2018JG004619},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1489548}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences},
issn = {2169-8953},
number = 1,
volume = 124,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Dec 19 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Wed Dec 19 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

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