Is the subarctic landscape still a carbon sink? Evidence from a detailed catchment balance

Summary, in English

Climate warming raises the question whether high-latitude landscape still function as net carbon (C) sinks. By compiling an integrated C balance for an intensely studied subarctic catchment, we show that this catchment's C balance is not likely to be a strong current sink of C, a commonly held assumption. In fact, it is more plausible (71% probability) that the studied catchment functions as a C source (-11 ± 20 g C m^-2 yr^-1). Analyses of individual fluxes indicate that soil and aquatic C losses offset C sequestering in other landscape components (e.g., peatlands and aboveground forest biomass). Our results stress the importance of fully integrated catchment C balance estimates and highlight the importance of upland soils and their interaction with the aquatic network for the catchment C balance.

• Author: Erik J. Lundin; Jonatan Klaminder; Reiner Giesler; Andreas Persson; David Olefeldt; Michal Heliasz; Torben R. Christensen; Jan Karlsson
• Department/s: Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science; MERGE: ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system; BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
• Publishing year: 2016-03-16
• Language: English
• Pages: 1988-1995
• Publication/Series: Geophysical Research Letters
• Volume: 43
• Issue: 5
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066970
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
• Topic: Climate Research
• Keywords: aquatic ecosystems; carbon balance; sink; source; subarctic; terrestrial ecosystems
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0094-8276