Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Warming Effects of Spring Rainfall Increase Methane Emissions From Thawing Permafrost

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl081274· OSTI ID:1611395
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [6]
  1. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States); DOE/OSTI
  2. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States); Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS (United States)
  3. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
  4. USGS Western Region, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  5. Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
  6. Univ. of Guelph, ON (Canada)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Methane emissions regulate the near-term global warming potential of permafrost thaw, particularly where loss of ice-rich permafrost converts forest and tundra into wetlands. Northern latitudes are expected to get warmer and wetter, and while there is consensus that warming will increase thaw and methane emissions, effects of increased precipitation are uncertain. At a thawing wetland complex in Interior Alaska, we found that interactions between rain and deep soil temperatures controlled methane emissions. In rainy years, recharge from the watershed rapidly altered wetland soil temperatures, warming the top ~80cm of soil in spring and summer and cooling it in autumn. When soils were warmed by spring rainfall, methane emissions increased by ~30%. The warm, deep soils early in the growing season likely supported both microbial and plant processes that enhanced emissions. Finally, our study identifies an important and unconsidered role of rain in governing the radiative forcing of thawing permafrost landscapes.
Research Organization:
Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0010338
OSTI ID:
1611395
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1493385
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 46; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (47)

Controls on methane released through ebullition in peatlands affected by permafrost degradation: Ebullition in peatlands with thermokarst journal March 2014
Elevated dissolved organic carbon biodegradability from thawing and collapsing permafrost: Permafrost carbon biodegradability journal October 2014
Differential response of carbon fluxes to climate in three peatland ecosystems that vary in the presence and stability of permafrost: Carbon fluxes and permafrost thaw journal August 2014
Mathematical Modelling of Arctic Polygonal Tundra with Ecosys : 1. Microtopography Determines How Active Layer Depths Respond to Changes in Temperature and Precipitation : Active Layer Depth in Polygonal Tundra journal December 2017
Sap flow changes in relation to permafrost degradation under increasing precipitation in an eastern Siberian larch forest: SAP FLOW CHANGE IN EASTERN SIBERIA journal February 2013
Advances in Thermokarst Research: Recent Advances in Research Investigating Thermokarst Processes journal April 2013
Direct and indirect effects of temperature on arctic plants journal June 1983
Biogeochemical Hot Spots and Hot Moments at the Interface of Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems journal June 2003
Modeling CH4 and CO2 cycling using porewater stable isotopes in a thermokarst bog in Interior Alaska: results from three conceptual reaction networks journal December 2015
Groundwater flow and dissolved carbon movement in a boreal peatland journal April 1997
Simulating vertical flow in large peatlands journal January 2000
Boreal peatland C fluxes under varying permafrost regimes journal July 2002
Gap filling strategies for defensible annual sums of net ecosystem exchange journal March 2001
Vascular plant controls on methane emissions from northern peatforming wetlands journal October 1999
Climate change impacts on groundwater and soil temperatures in cold and temperate regions: Implications, mathematical theory, and emerging simulation tools journal November 2014
Abrupt increase in permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaska journal January 2006
How northern peatlands influence the Earth's radiative budget: Sustained methane emission versus sustained carbon sequestration journal January 2006
Short-term response of methane fluxes and methanogen activity to water table and soil warming manipulations in an Alaskan peatland journal January 2008
Methane emission and transport by arctic sedges in Alaska: Results of a vegetation removal experiment journal November 1998
Methane fluxes show consistent temperature dependence across microbial to ecosystem scales journal March 2014
Future increases in Arctic precipitation linked to local evaporation and sea-ice retreat journal May 2014
Towards a rain-dominated Arctic journal March 2017
Methane emissions proportional to permafrost carbon thawed in Arctic lakes since the 1950s journal August 2016
From The Cover: Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome journal January 2006
Emerging role of wetland methane emissions in driving 21st century climate change journal August 2017
Consequences of changes in vegetation and snow cover for climate feedbacks in Alaska and northwest Canada journal October 2016
The growing role of methane in anthropogenic climate change journal December 2016
Global wetland contribution to 2000–2012 atmospheric methane growth rate dynamics journal September 2017
Warmer spring conditions increase annual methane emissions from a boreal peat landscape with sporadic permafrost journal November 2017
Effects of permafrost thaw on nitrogen availability and plant–soil interactions in a boreal Alaskan lowland journal July 2016
Environmental and physical controls on northern terrestrial methane emissions across permafrost zones journal November 2012
A synthesis of methane emissions from 71 northern, temperate, and subtropical wetlands journal April 2014
Rapid carbon loss and slow recovery following permafrost thaw in boreal peatlands journal October 2016
A meta-analysis of temperature sensitivity as a microbial trait journal July 2018
Modelling soil temperatures in northern peatlands journal April 2008
The response of Alaskan arctic tundra to experimental warming: differences between short- and long-term responses journal April 2005
Decadal vegetation changes in a northern peatland, greenhouse gas fluxes and net radiative forcing journal December 2006
The disappearance of relict permafrost in boreal north America: Effects on peatland carbon storage and fluxes journal September 2007
A frozen feast: thawing permafrost increases plant-available nitrogen in subarctic peatlands journal March 2012
Measurement of rain Temperature journal February 1949
Effects of Fine-Scale Topography on CO 2 Flux Components of Alaskan Coastal Plain Tundra: Response to Contrasting Growing Seasons journal May 2011
BIOMASS AND CO 2 FLUX IN WET SEDGE TUNDRAS: RESPONSES TO NUTRIENTS, TEMPERATURE, AND LIGHT journal February 1998
High-arctic plants like it hot: a long-term investigation of between-year variability in plant biomass journal December 2014
Seasonal Nutrient Dynamics of Tundra Vegetation at Barrow, Alaska journal July 1975
Peatland Hydrology of Discontinuous Permafrost in the Northwest Territories: Overview and Synthesis journal January 2009
Scaling-up permafrost thermal measurements in western Alaska using an ecotype approach journal January 2016
Global wetland contribution to 2000–2012 atmospheric methane growth rate dynamics text January 2017

Cited By (1)

Quantifying the impact of emission outbursts and non-stationary flow on eddy-covariance CH4 flux measurements using wavelet techniques journal January 2019

Similar Records

Experimental Soil Warming and Permafrost Thaw Increase CH4 Emissions in an Upland Tundra Ecosystem
Journal Article · Sat Oct 23 20:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences · OSTI ID:1922908

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
bog
boreal
geology
heat transfer
peatland
thermokarst
watershed hydrology