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Title: Methane Efflux Measured by Eddy Covariance in Alaskan Upland Tundra Undergoing Permafrost Degradation

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jg004444· OSTI ID:1539766
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [1]
  1. Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States)
  2. Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States); Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
  3. Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

Abstract 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 (CH 4 ) or carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), 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 CH 4 fluxes suggest that nongrowing season emissions make up a significant proportion of tundra systems emissions on an annual basis. Here we present continuous CH 4 flux measurements made at Eight Mile Lake, an upland tundra ecosystem undergoing permafrost degradation in Interior Alaska. We found net CH 4 emissions throughout the year (1.2 ∓ 0.011 g C‐CH 4 m 2 /yr) that made up 61% of total radiative forcing from annual C emissions (CO 2 and CH 4 ; 32.3 g C m 2 /yr) when taking into account the greenhouse warming potential of CH 4 relative to CO 2 . Nongrowing season emissions accounted for 50% of the annual CH 4 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 CH 4 emissions in 2016 and 2017 were significantly related with thaw depth, and the magnitude of CH 4 emissions between these seasons was proportional to the rate of active layer thaw throughout the season.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States); Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0006982; SC0014085; DE‐SC0014085; DE‐SC0006982
OSTI ID:
1539766
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1469221
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences, Vol. 123, Issue 9; ISSN 2169-8953
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 25 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Advances in the Eddy Covariance Approach to CH 4 Monitoring Over Two and a Half Decades journal March 2019
Quantifying the impact of emission outbursts and non-stationary flow on eddy-covariance CH4 flux measurements using wavelet techniques journal January 2019
Responses of tundra soil microbial communities to half a decade of experimental warming at two critical depths journal July 2019

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