Carbon Thaw Rate Doubles When Accounting for Subsidence in a Permafrost Warming Experiment

Rodenhizer, Heidi; Ledman, Justin; Mauritz, Marguerite; Natali, Susan M.; Pegoraro, Elaine; Plaza, César; Romano, Emily; Schädel, Christina; Taylor, Meghan; Schuur, Edward

doi:10.1029/2019jg005528

Title: Carbon Thaw Rate Doubles When Accounting for Subsidence in a Permafrost Warming Experiment

Journal Article · Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jg005528· OSTI ID:1801748

^[1]; Ledman, Justin ^[2];

^[3];

^[4]; Pegoraro, Elaine ^[1];

^[5]; Romano, Emily ^[1];

^[6];

^[1]; Schuur, Edward ^[1]

Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States). Center for Ecosystem Science and Society
Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States). Center for Ecosystem Science and Society; Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States). Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Site
Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States). Center for Ecosystem Science and Society; Univ. of Texas at El Paso, TX (United States)
Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, MA (United States)
Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Madrid (Spain)
Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff, AZ (United States). Center for Ecosystem Science and Society and School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems

Abstract Permafrost thaw is typically measured with active layer thickness, or the maximum seasonal thaw measured from the ground surface. However, previous work has shown that this measurement alone fails to account for ground subsidence and therefore underestimates permafrost thaw. To determine the impact of subsidence on observed permafrost thaw and thawed soil carbon stocks, we quantified subsidence using high‐accuracy GPS and identified its environmental drivers in a permafrost warming experiment near the southern limit of permafrost in Alaska. With permafrost temperatures near 0°C, 10.8 cm of subsidence was observed in control plots over 9 years. Experimental air and soil warming increased subsidence by five times and created inundated microsites. Across treatments, ice and soil loss drove 85–91% and 9–15% of subsidence, respectively. Accounting for subsidence, permafrost thawed between 19% (control) and 49% (warming) deeper than active layer thickness indicated, and the amount of newly thawed carbon within the active layer was between 37% (control) and 113% (warming) greater. As additional carbon thaws as the active layer deepens, carbon fluxes to the atmosphere and lateral transport of carbon in groundwater could increase. The magnitude of this impact is uncertain at the landscape scale, though, due to limited subsidence measurements. Therefore, to determine the full extent of permafrost thaw across the circumpolar region and its feedback on the carbon cycle, it is necessary to quantify subsidence more broadly across the circumpolar region.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

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:: 1801748

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1633843

Journal Information:: Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences, Vol. 125, Issue 6; ISSN 2169-8953

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 19 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (66)

Glucose addition increases the magnitude and decreases the age of soil respired carbon in a long-term permafrost incubation study Pegoraro, Elaine; Mauritz, Marguerite; Bracho, Rosvel Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 129 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.10.009	journal	February 2019
Ground subsidence effects on simulating dynamic high-latitude surface inundation under permafrost thaw using CLM5 Ekici, Altug; Lee, Hanna; Lawrence, David M. Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 12, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-5291-2019	journal	January 2019
Tundra is a consistent source of CO ₂ at a site with progressive permafrost thaw during 6 years of chamber and eddy covariance measurements : Tundra CO Celis, Gerardo; Mauritz, Marguerite; Bracho, Rosvel Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 122, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JG003671	journal	June 2017
Vulnerability of Permafrost Carbon to Climate Change: Implications for the Global Carbon Cycle Schuur, Edward A. G.; Bockheim, James; Canadell, Josep G. BioScience, Vol. 58, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1641/B580807	journal	September 2008
Advances in Thermokarst Research: Recent Advances in Research Investigating Thermokarst Processes Kokelj, S. V.; Jorgenson, M. T. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, Vol. 24, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1779	journal	April 2013
Carbon dioxide sources from Alaska driven by increasing early winter respiration from Arctic tundra Commane, Róisín; Lindaas, Jakob; Benmergui, Joshua Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 114, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618567114	journal	May 2017
Ecological Response to Permafrost Thaw and Consequences for Local and Global Ecosystem Services Schuur, Edward A. G.; Mack, Michelle C. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Vol. 49, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-121415-032349	journal	November 2018
Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback Schuur, E. A. G.; McGuire, A. D.; Schädel, C. Nature, Vol. 520, Issue 7546 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14338	journal	April 2015
Responses of Arctic Tundra to Experimental and Observed Changes in Climate Chapin, F. Stuart; Shaver, Gaius R.; Giblin, Anne E. Ecology, Vol. 76, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.2307/1939337	journal	April 1995
Spatio-Temporal Interpolation using gstat Gräler, Benedikt; Pebesma, Edzer; Heuvelink, Gerard The R Journal, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.32614/RJ-2016-014	journal	January 2016
Circumpolar distribution and carbon storage of thermokarst landscapes Olefeldt, D.; Goswami, S.; Grosse, G. Nature Communications, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13043	journal	October 2016
Adding Depth to Our Understanding of Nitrogen Dynamics in Permafrost Soils Salmon, Verity G.; Schädel, Christina; Bracho, Rosvel Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 123, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004518	journal	August 2018
Ground ice in the upper permafrost of the Beaufort Sea coast of Alaska Kanevskiy, M.; Shur, Y.; Jorgenson, M. T. Cold Regions Science and Technology, Vol. 85 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2012.08.002	journal	January 2013
Soil CO ₂ production in upland tundra where permafrost is thawing Lee, Hanna; Schuur, Edward A. G.; Vogel, Jason G. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 115, Issue G1 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JG000906	journal	January 2010
Permafrost carbon: Stock and decomposability of a globally significant carbon pool Zimov, S. A.; Davydov, S. P.; Zimova, G. M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL027484	journal	January 2006
Rapid responses of permafrost and vegetation to experimentally increased snow cover in sub-arctic Sweden Johansson, Margareta; Callaghan, Terry V.; Bosiö, Julia Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 8, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035025	journal	August 2013
Response of CO ₂ exchange in a tussock tundra ecosystem to permafrost thaw and thermokarst development Vogel, Jason; Schuur, Edward A. G.; Trucco, Christian Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, Issue G4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JG000901	journal	January 2009
Subsidence risk from thawing permafrost Nelson, Frederick E.; Anisimov, Oleg A.; Shiklomanov, Nikolay I. Nature, Vol. 410, Issue 6831 https://doi.org/10.1038/35073746	journal	April 2001
Divergent patterns of experimental and model-derived permafrost ecosystem carbon dynamics in response to Arctic warming Schädel, Christina; Koven, Charles D.; Lawrence, David M. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aae0ff	journal	October 2018
Carbon release through abrupt permafrost thaw Turetsky, Merritt R.; Abbott, Benjamin W.; Jones, Miriam C. Nature Geoscience, Vol. 13, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0526-0	journal	February 2020
Tundra ecosystems observed to be CO ₂ sources due to differential amplification of the carbon cycle Belshe, E. F.; Schuur, E. A. G.; Bolker, B. M. Ecology Letters, Vol. 16, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12164	journal	August 2013
Physical and ecological changes associated with warming permafrost and thermokarst in Interior Alaska Osterkamp, T. E.; Jorgenson, M. T.; Schuur, E. A. G. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, Vol. 20, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.656	journal	July 2009
Ground ice and soluble cations in near-surface permafrost, Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada Kokelj, S. V.; Burn, C. R. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, Vol. 14, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.458	journal	July 2003
Holocene Carbon Stocks and Carbon Accumulation Rates Altered in Soils Undergoing Permafrost Thaw Hicks Pries, Caitlin E.; Schuur, Edward A. G.; Crummer, K. Grace Ecosystems, Vol. 15, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9500-4	journal	November 2011
Winter precipitation and snow accumulation drive the methane sink or source strength of Arctic tussock tundra Blanc-Betes, Elena; Welker, Jeffrey M.; Sturchio, Neil C. Global Change Biology, Vol. 22, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13242	journal	May 2016
Surface exposure to sunlight stimulates CO ₂ release from permafrost soil carbon in the Arctic Cory, Rose M.; Crump, Byron C.; Dobkowski, Jason A. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1214104110	journal	February 2013
Nitrogen availability increases in a tundra ecosystem during five years of experimental permafrost thaw Salmon, Verity G.; Soucy, Patrick; Mauritz, Marguerite Global Change Biology, Vol. 22, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13204	journal	February 2016
Interannual and Seasonal Patterns of Carbon Dioxide, Water, and Energy Fluxes From Ecotonal and Thermokarst-Impacted Ecosystems on Carbon-Rich Permafrost Soils in Northeastern Siberia: Siberian CO ₂ , Water, and Energy Fluxes Euskirchen, Eugénie S.; Edgar, Colin W.; Syndonia Bret-Harte, M. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 122, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JG004070	journal	October 2017
Global Warming and Terrestrial Ecosystems: A Conceptual Framework for Analysis Shaver, Gaius R.; Canadell, Josep; Chapin, F. S. BioScience, Vol. 50, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0871:GWATEA]2.0.CO;2	journal	January 2000
Effect of permafrost thaw on CO ₂ and CH ₄ exchange in a western Alaska peatland chronosequence Johnston, Carmel E.; Ewing, Stephanie A.; Harden, Jennifer W. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/8/085004	journal	August 2014
Patterns and persistence of hydrologic carbon and nutrient export from collapsing upland permafrost Abbott, B. W.; Jones, J. B.; Godsey, S. E. Biogeosciences, Vol. 12, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3725-2015	journal	January 2015
Open-top designs for manipulating field temperature in high-latitude ecosystems Marion, G. M.; Henry, G. H. R.; Freckman, D. W. Global Change Biology, Vol. 3, Issue S1 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.1997.gcb136.x	journal	December 1997
Isotropic thaw subsidence in undisturbed permafrost landscapes: ISOTROPIC THAW SUBSIDENCE Shiklomanov, Nikolay I.; Streletskiy, Dmitry A.; Little, Jonathon D. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL058295	journal	December 2013
Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4 Bates, Douglas; Mächler, Martin; Bolker, Ben Journal of Statistical Software, Vol. 67, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01	journal	January 2015
Methane Efflux Measured by Eddy Covariance in Alaskan Upland Tundra Undergoing Permafrost Degradation Taylor, M. A.; Celis, G.; Ledman, J. D. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 123, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004444	journal	September 2018
Response of boreal ecosystems to varying modes of permafrost degradation Jorgenson, M. T.; Osterkamp, T. E. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, Vol. 35, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1139/x05-153	journal	September 2005
Peat accumulation in drained thermokarst lake basins in continuous, ice-rich permafrost, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska: PEAT ACCUMULATION IN DRAINED LAKE BASINS Jones, Miriam C.; Grosse, Guido; Jones, Benjamin M. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 117, Issue G2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001766	journal	April 2012
Methane emissions proportional to permafrost carbon thawed in Arctic lakes since the 1950s Walter Anthony, Katey; Daanen, Ronald; Anthony, Peter Nature Geoscience, Vol. 9, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2795	journal	August 2016
Direct observation of permafrost degradation and rapid soil carbon loss in tundra Plaza, César; Pegoraro, Elaine; Bracho, Rosvel Nature Geoscience, Vol. 12, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0387-6	journal	July 2019
Effects of experimental warming of air, soil and permafrost on carbon balance in Alaskan tundra: WARMING OF ALASKAN TUNDRA Natali, Susan M.; Schuur, Edward A. G.; Trucco, Christian Global Change Biology, Vol. 17, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02303.x	journal	February 2011
Incorporating spatial heterogeneity created by permafrost thaw into a landscape carbon estimate: SPATIAL VARIATION IN CARBON EXCHANGE Belshe, E. F.; Schuur, E. A. G.; Bolker, B. M. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 117, Issue G1 https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001836	journal	March 2012
Abrupt increase in permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaska Jorgenson, M. Torre; Shur, Yuri L.; Pullman, Erik R. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL024960	journal	January 2006
Thaw Subsidence in Undisturbed Tundra Landscapes, Barrow, Alaska, 1962-2015: Barrow Subsidence Streletskiy, Dmitry A.; Shiklomanov, Nikolay I.; Little, Jonathon D. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, Vol. 28, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1918	journal	September 2016
Rapid initialization of retrogressive thaw slumps in the Canadian high Arctic and their response to climate and terrain factors Ward Jones, Melissa K.; Pollard, Wayne H.; Jones, Benjamin M. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab12fd	journal	May 2019
Balancing the Global Carbon Budget Houghton, R. A. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 35, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.35.031306.140057	journal	May 2007
Carbon loss and chemical changes from permafrost collapse in the northern Tibetan Plateau: PERMAFROST COLLAPSE CAUSED CARBON LOSS Mu, Cuicui; Zhang, Tingjun; Zhang, Xiankai Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 121, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JG003235	journal	July 2016
The circumpolar active layer monitoring (calm) program: Research designs and initial results ¹ Brown, J.; Hinkel, K. M.; Nelson, F. E. Polar Geography, Vol. 24, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1080/10889370009377698	journal	July 2000
Plant Species Composition and Productivity following Permafrost Thaw and Thermokarst in Alaskan Tundra Schuur, Edward A. G.; Crummer, Kathryn G.; Vogel, Jason G. Ecosystems, Vol. 10, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-007-9024-0	journal	March 2007
Thermosphere extension of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model: WHOLE ATMOSPHERE MODEL Liu, H. -L.; Foster, B. T.; Hagan, M. E. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 115, Issue A12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JA015586	journal	December 2010
Global Change and the Carbon Balance of Arctic Ecosystems Shaver, Gaius R.; Billings, W. D.; Chapin,, F. Stuart BioScience, Vol. 42, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.2307/1311862	journal	June 1992
THE RESPONSE OF TUNDRA PLANT BIOMASS, ABOVEGROUND PRODUCTION, NITROGEN, AND CO ₂ FLUX TO EXPERIMENTAL WARMING Hobbie, Sarah E.; Chapin, F. Stuart Ecology, Vol. 79, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9658(1998)079[1526:TROTPB]2.0.CO;2	journal	July 1998
Nonlinear CO ₂ flux response to 7 years of experimentally induced permafrost thaw Mauritz, Marguerite; Bracho, Rosvel; Celis, Gerardo Global Change Biology, Vol. 23, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13661	journal	March 2017
Carbon loss estimates from cultivated peat soils in Norway: a comparison of three methods Grønlund, Arne; Hauge, Atle; Hovde, Anders Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, Vol. 81, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-008-9171-5	journal	March 2008
Permafrost Destabilization and Thermokarst Following Snow Fence Installation, Barrow, Alaska, U.S.A Hinkel, Kenneth M.; Hurd, John K. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol. 38, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1657/1523-0430(2006)38[530:PDATFS]2.0.CO;2	journal	November 2006
Old soil carbon losses increase with ecosystem respiration in experimentally thawed tundra Hicks Pries, Caitlin E.; Schuur, Edward A. G.; Natali, Susan M. Nature Climate Change, Vol. 6, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2830	journal	October 2015
Permafrost collapse alters soil carbon stocks, respiration, CH ₄ , and N ₂ O in upland tundra Abbott, Benjamin W.; Jones, Jeremy B. Global Change Biology, Vol. 21, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13069	journal	November 2015
Thawing permafrost increases old soil and autotrophic respiration in tundra: Partitioning ecosystem respiration using δ ¹³ C and ∆ ¹⁴ C Hicks Pries, Caitlin E.; Schuur, Edward A. G.; Crummer, Kathryn G. Global Change Biology, Vol. 19, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12058	journal	November 2012
Spatial and temporal patterns of active layer thickness at Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) sites in northern Alaska, 1995–2000 Hinkel, K. M. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 108, Issue D2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD000927	journal	January 2003
Long‐Term Measurements of Methane Ebullition From Thaw Ponds Burke, S. A.; Wik, M.; Lang, A. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 124, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004786	journal	July 2019
The effect of a permafrost disturbance on growing-season carbon-dioxide fluxes in a high Arctic tundra ecosystem Cassidy, Alison E.; Christen, Andreas; Henry, Gregory H. R. Biogeosciences, Vol. 13, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2291-2016	journal	January 2016
Talik Formation at a Snow Fence in Continuous Permafrost, Western Arctic Canada: Talik Formation at a Snow Fence O'Neill, H. B.; Burn, C. R. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, Vol. 28, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1905	journal	June 2016
Effects of Soil Moisture on the Responses of Soil Temperatures to Climate Change in Cold Regions Subin, Zachary M.; Koven, Charles D.; Riley, William J. Journal of Climate, Vol. 26, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00305.1	journal	May 2013
Effects of thermo-erosional disturbance on surface soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in upland arctic tundra Pizano, Camila; Barón, Andrés F.; Schuur, Edward A. G. Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/7/075006	journal	July 2014
Reorganization of vegetation, hydrology and soil carbon after permafrost degradation across heterogeneous boreal landscapes Torre Jorgenson, M.; Harden, Jennifer; Kanevskiy, Mikhail Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 8, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035017	journal	July 2013
Effect of microrelief and vegetation on methane emission from wet polygonal tundra, Lena Delta, Northern Siberia Kutzbach, Lars; Wagner, Dirk; Pfeiffer, Eva-Maria Biogeochemistry, Vol. 69, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BIOG.0000031053.81520.db	journal	July 2004
Soil organic carbon pools in the northern circumpolar permafrost region: SOIL ORGANIC CARBON POOLS Tarnocai, C.; Canadell, J. G.; Schuur, E. A. G. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 23, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GB003327	journal	June 2009

Similar Records

Abrupt permafrost thaw drives spatially heterogeneous soil moisture and carbon dioxide fluxes in upland tundra

Journal Article · Mon Sep 11 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Global Change Biology · OSTI ID:1801748

Rodenhizer, Heidi; Natali, Susan M.; Mauritz, Marguerite; +12 more

Nonlinear CO₂ flux response to 7 years of experimentally induced permafrost thaw

Journal Article · Thu Feb 16 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Global Change Biology · OSTI ID:1801748

Mauritz, Marguerite; Bracho, Rosvel; Celis, Gerardo; +7 more

Projecting Permafrost Thaw of Sub-Arctic Tundra With a Thermodynamic Model Calibrated to Site Measurements

Journal Article · Mon May 24 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences · OSTI ID:1801748

Garnello, A.; Marchenko, S.; Nicolsky, D.; +6 more

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Geology

Title: Carbon Thaw Rate Doubles When Accounting for Subsidence in a Permafrost Warming Experiment

Citation Formats

References (66)

Similar Records

Related Subjects