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Tundra landscape heterogeneity, not interannual variability, controls the decadal regional carbon balance in the Western Russian Arctic

Journal Article · · Global Change Biology
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14421· OSTI ID:1633537
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [1];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [1];  [1]
  1. University of Eastern Finland
  2. Natural Resources Canada, Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation
  3. BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
  4. Purdue University
  5. University of Helsinki
  6. Stockholms Universitet
  7. Russian Academy of Sciences
  8. Lund University
  9. Danish Meteorological Institute
  10. University of Alaska Fairbanks
  11. Institute FSUE Fundamentprojekt, Department of Geocryological Mapping and GIS
+ Show Author Affiliations

Across the Arctic, the net ecosystem carbon (C) balance of tundra ecosystems is highly uncertain due to substantial temporal variability of C fluxes and to landscape heterogeneity. We modeled both carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes for the dominant regional land cover types in a sub-Arctic tundra region in northeast European Russia for the period of 2006-2015 using coupled biogeochemical and permafrost models. Modeled net annual CO2 fluxes ranged from -300 g C m-2 y-1 [net uptake] in a willow fen to 3 g C m-2 y-1 [net source] in dry lichen tundra. Modeled annual CH4 emissions ranged from -0.2 to 22.3 g C m-2 y-1 at a peat plateau site and a willow fen site, respectively. Interannual variability over the decade was relatively small (20-30%) in comparison to variability among the land cover types (120-225%). Using high-resolution land cover classification, the region was a net sink of atmospheric CO2 across most land cover types but a net source of CH4 to the atmosphere due to high emissions from permafrost-free fens. Using a lower-resolution for land cover classification resulted in a 20-65% underestimation of regional CH4 flux and smaller (10%) overestimation of regional CO2 uptake, leading to an overall overestimation of the regional GHG sink by 90% due to the underestimation of wetland extent by 60%. Accurately capturing the relative fraction of uplands versus wetlands was key to determining the net regional C balance but required high (<25-30 m) spatial resolution.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1633537
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-135490
Journal Information:
Global Change Biology, Vol. 24, Issue 11
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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