DOCSLIB.ORG

Investigating Carbon Storage and Stability in Boreal Forest Soils

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Investigating Carbon Storage and Stability in Boreal Forest Soils Investigating Carbon Storage and Stability in Boreal Forest Soils Dr Sylvie Quideau INVESTIGATING CARBON STORAGE AND STABILITY IN BOREAL FOREST SOILS The world’s boreal, or high latitude forests, contain around 25% of global terrestrial carbon stores – mostly in their soils. These forest ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change, but the effects that rising temperatures could have on their carbon stocks are poorly understood. Dr Sylvie Quideau and her team from the University of Alberta have been studying the complex interactions involved in the storage and stability of boreal soil carbon. Their work will help to inform management and conservation decisions, with implications for global climate change mitigation. An Under-appreciated Carbon Store consist of a complex mixture of carbon pools, with more than 85% of carbon Boreal forests are the world’s most being stored in the soil rather than the northerly woodlands – encircling the vegetation. globe just south of the Arctic. Forming the largest terrestrial community of Carbon is stored in forest soils primarily plants and animals on Earth, boreal in the form of soil organic matter. forests are characterised mainly by Organic matter accumulation in coniferous tree species, and experience soils reflects the influence of several freezing temperatures for six to eight environmental soil forming factors months of the year. including climate, vegetation and parent geological material. These stores of These high latitude forests are one of soil carbon have varying turnover rates the most vulnerable ecosystems to along a continuum ranging from days global warming. While global surface (termed labile carbon), to decades, temperatures are projected to rise by and centuries (persistent carbon). The 1.8–4°C by 2100, northern regions may different types of carbon pools and Dr Sylvie Quideau and her team experience up to 5°C warming. Such timescales over which they cycle make from the University of Alberta are large increases in average temperatures it challenging to predict the response of seeking to address this issue, with a are expected to lead to altered patterns boreal soil carbon to climate change. research program that investigates of freeze and thaw, and transformative how underlying environmental factors vegetation shifts in the boreal forest With boreal forest soils representing control soil carbon storage and stability zone. such large carbon storehouses, in boreal forests. ‘We’re interested in any changes in these stocks could deciphering the pathways leading to Boreal forests also represent a huge, significantly affect the global carbon the formation of organic matter in but often under-acknowledged, global cycle. Yet despite the importance of boreal soils,’ says Dr Quideau. ‘We’re carbon store. Carbon stocks in boreal boreal forest soils to the global carbon also looking at how the interactions forests are estimated at 471 gigatons budget and their high susceptibility between soil geological material and – close to 25% of the total amount of to climate change, very little is known vegetation may ultimately determine carbon stored in terrestrial ecosystems about how warming will affect carbon the response of boreal soil carbon to worldwide. Boreal forest carbon stocks stocks and dynamics in these soils. climatic changes.’ WWW.SCIENTIA.GLOBAL Exploring Forest Soil Carbon less is known about carbon storage in the deeper surface layers. Carbon Dynamics the deep soils of boreal forests than accumulation in the forest floor varies in surface soils, and the mechanisms with vegetation composition, although To gain a better understanding of the responsible for its accumulation and greater carbon stocks do not necessarily carbon cycle in boreal forest soils, Dr persistence are largely unknown. mean greater carbon stability. However, Quideau and her team are exploring there is an emerging consensus that the sources, formation pathways and Dr Quideau’s team hypothesises that sensitivity to temperature increases stability of carbon pools at a range of the parent geological material is the with greater levels of organic matter different soil depths within the forest. primary driver of differences among decomposition or humification. They have included a variety of boreal soils, and controls the persistence forests from across Canada in their of deep soil carbon. ‘Soil carbon age ‘Humified forest floors may therefore research – allowing for characterisation increases with depth,’ says Dr Quideau. be more vulnerable to temperature of soil organic matter from a wide range ‘However, deep carbon may not be as increases than fresh litter,’ explains Dr of geological materials, forest stand stable as originally thought, and new Quideau. ‘However, our predictions types and climate. evidence suggests that carbon fluxes need to take into account changes in in deep soil may be as large as those microbial community composition with Their program combines a field- at the soil surface. We are investigating warming.’ based study of soils in the natural how soil geological material and the environment, isotope-labelling processes leading to soil formation This uncertainty over the impacts of experiments in controlled-environment may control the source and stability of environmental change on microbial chambers, and state-of-the-art carbon present at depth.’ communities has led the team to analytical protocols. The team is investigate whether vegetation using the latest technological and Research carried out so far has led Dr shifts will result in changes to both methodological advances to follow Quideau’s team to believe that the the composition of soil biological the fate of individual plant molecules carbon pool in surface soil may actually communities and the pathways through biological communities in the be more chemically stable than deep involved in organic matter breakdown, soil, to the soil carbon pools. soil carbon. At low temperatures and in with consequential implications for the absence of disturbances, thick forest carbon persistence. Microorganisms are Deep soil carbon (below 20 centimetres) floors accumulate in boreal forests. considered to be the ‘eye of the needle’ represents more than half of the total Carbon in this layer can be preserved through which most soil carbon passes, carbon stored in soils globally. However, for decades and even centuries in so how they are affected by climate WWW.SCIENTIA.GLOBAL Dr Quideau’s team is also carrying out work exploring the long- term effects of harvest on boreal soils and their carbon storage. Forestry is an important feature of Canada’s economy, but there is still considerable uncertainty on how management practices will affect boreal soil carbon storage in the long term. With increasing pressures from a changing climate and intensified forest management, developing better tools and methods for quantifying soil carbon dynamics is of particular importance. Using remote sensing techniques, the researchers have found differences in carbon retention between harvested and unharvested conifer or deciduous plantations based on site wetness. This work, combined with an improved understanding of the forest soil carbon cycle, is of direct economic importance to the forestry sector. Indeed, the team’s findings are beginning change is critical to the overall soil carbon response. to inform and improve sustainable and adaptive management strategies for Canadian boreal forests. Another significant carbon store being investigated by Dr Quideau and her team is the root zone, or rhizosphere. This Another distinct, but related area of interest to the team is the is a unique zone, where the secretion of organic substances impact of invasive earthworms on carbon cycling in boreal by plant roots maintains a continuous supply of ‘food’ for soils. Canada’s boreal forests had been largely earthworm- microbes. This can lead to priming – an increase in surrounding free since the Ice Age 10,000 years ago, and evolved in their soil carbon decomposition. absence. However, invasive earthworm species, introduced to the continent by European settlers centuries ago, are now ‘Linkages between plants and microbes are both complex making their way into northern boreal forests. and central to soil functioning,’ explains Dr Quideau. ‘In order to truly understand the vulnerability of boreal soil carbon Earthworm activity represents a significant change to forest to change, these relationships must be explored.’ The team carbon dynamics, and needs to be incorporated into the overall is therefore investigating whether soil microbial activity is carbon budget for boreal forests. However, there is a lack of more sensitive to climate-induced changes in the substances understanding of their long-term impact. The researchers secreted by roots, than to climatic changes themselves. ‘These have been quantifying soil carbon stocks and persistence, indirect effects of climate change may be more important than soil development and microbial communities of invaded and direct climatic effects,’ says Dr Quideau. ‘If our hypotheses are pristine sites of similar soil type and vegetation, in order to correct, the response of the microbial community to variations improve understanding of earthworm influence on carbon in temperature will be greater in the rhizosphere than in the storage. bulk soils.’ Preliminary results show a significant reduction of the forest Future Management of Boreal Forests floor associated with an increase in carbon content for the uppermost mineral soil layers.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Taiga Plains
    ECOLOGICAL REGIONS OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES Taiga Plains Ecosystem Classification Group Department of Environment and Natural Resources Government of the Northwest Territories Revised 2009 ECOLOGICAL REGIONS OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES TAIGA PLAINS This report may be cited as: Ecosystem Classification Group. 2007 (rev. 2009). Ecological Regions of the Northwest Territories – Taiga Plains. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, NT, Canada. viii + 173 pp. + folded insert map. ISBN 0-7708-0161-7 Web Site: http://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/index.html For more information contact: Department of Environment and Natural Resources P.O. Box 1320 Yellowknife, NT X1A 2L9 Phone: (867) 920-8064 Fax: (867) 873-0293 About the cover: The small photographs in the inset boxes are enlarged with captions on pages 22 (Taiga Plains High Subarctic (HS) Ecoregion), 52 (Taiga Plains Low Subarctic (LS) Ecoregion), 82 (Taiga Plains High Boreal (HB) Ecoregion), and 96 (Taiga Plains Mid-Boreal (MB) Ecoregion). Aerial photographs: Dave Downing (Timberline Natural Resource Group). Ground photographs and photograph of cloudberry: Bob Decker (Government of the Northwest Territories). Other plant photographs: Christian Bucher. Members of the Ecosystem Classification Group Dave Downing Ecologist, Timberline Natural Resource Group, Edmonton, Alberta. Bob Decker Forest Ecologist, Forest Management Division, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, Hay River, Northwest Territories. Bas Oosenbrug Habitat Conservation Biologist, Wildlife Division, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Charles Tarnocai Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. Tom Chowns Environmental Consultant, Powassan, Ontario. Chris Hampel Geographic Information System Specialist/Resource Analyst, Timberline Natural Resource Group, Edmonton, Alberta.
    [Show full text]
  • Deforestation in Central Saskatchewan
    DEFORESTATION IN CENTRAL SASKATCHEWAN: EFFECTS ON LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE AND ECOSYSTEM CARBON DENSITIES A Thesis Submitted to the College ofGraduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfilment ofthe Requirements for the Degree ofDoctor ofPhilosophy in the Department ofPlant Sciences University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By Michael Joseph Fitzsimmons Spring, 2003 © Copyright Michael Joseph Fitzsimmons, 2002. All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment ofthe requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying ofthis thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head ofthe Department or the Dean ofthe College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use ofthis thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made ofany material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use ofmaterial in this thesis in whole or part should be addressed to: Head ofthe Department ofPlant Sciences University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7H 5A8 ABSTRACT Deforestation is recognized as a serious global problem that contributes to biodiversity loss, soil degradation and atmospheric change. This thesis is an investigation ofdeforestation in central Saskatchewan.
    [Show full text]
  • Stri Laurance Chapter 4 2010.Pdf
    CHAPTER 4 Habitat destruction: death by a thousand cuts William F. Laurance Humankind has dramatically transformed much 4.1 Habitat loss and fragmentation of the Earth’s surface and its natural ecosystems. Habitat destruction occurs when a natural habitat, This process is not new—it has been ongoing for such as a forest or wetland, is altered so dramati- millennia—but it has accelerated sharply over the cally that it no longer supports the species it origi- last two centuries, and especially in the last sev- nally sustained. Plant and animal populations are eral decades. destroyed or displaced, leading to a loss of biodi- Today, the loss and degradation of natural ha- versity (see Chapter 10). Habitat destruction is bitats can be likened to a war of attrition. Many considered the most important driver of species natural ecosystems are being progressively razed, extinction worldwide (Pimm and Raven 2000). bulldozed, and felled by axes or chainsaws, until Few habitats are destroyed entirely. Very often, only small scraps of their original extent survive. habitats are reduced in extent and simultaneously Forests have been hit especially hard: the global fragmented, leaving small pieces of original habi- area of forests has been reduced by roughly half tat persisting like islands in a sea of degraded over the past three centuries. Twenty-five nations land. In concert with habitat loss, habitat frag- have lost virtually all of their forest cover, and mentation is a grave threat to species survival another 29 more than nine-tenths of their forest (Laurance 2002; Sekercioglu 2002; (MEA 2005). Tropical forests are disappearing et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume 7: the Boreal Forest TEACHING
    TEACHING KIT Volume 7: The Boreal Forest National Forest Week 2006: September 24 to 30 The Canadian Forestry Association is pleased to announce that after careful consultation and consideration, in 2006 National Forest Week will move from spring to fall. Based on a 100-year legacy of facilitating forest education, the CFA believes this new approach will spur increased year-round learning opportunities for interested Canadians. Trends show that early education is key to capturing and fostering the interest of youth towards volunteerism, higher education and careers in the forest and environmental sectors. Developing the forestry leaders of tomorrow is critical to ensuring sustainability of our natural resources and the socio-economic and health benefits they provide for all Canadians. Integral to this learning process is the Canada's Forests Teaching Kit series, which has become the cornerstone of CFA’s education and outreach initiatives. Available free to educators, these kits provide tools for helping youth better understand the value of forest resources and the importance of using them wisely. Beginning in 2006, the annual kit publication date will change to coin- cide with National Forest Week each September. This is in response to overwhelming feedback from teachers across Canada indicating a strong preference to receive these materials at commencement of the school year for increased and enhanced integration into teaching plans and other outreach activities. In keeping with tradition, I invite you to join the CFA in celebrating Canada’s forests — in September and year-round: plant a tree, walk through a forest or learn about forest management. Your local forestry association can provide more ideas, teaching materials and information about forest activities in your area.
    [Show full text]
  • The Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (Above)
    1 The Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE): A Concise Plan for a NASA-Sponsored Field Campaign Authors: Eric S. Kasischke (University of Maryland) Scott J. Goetz (Woods Hole Research Institute) John S. Kimball (University of Montana) Michelle M. Mack (University of Florida) Final Report October 2010 2 Foreward NASA’s Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences released in 2008 called for proposals to conduct scoping studies to identify the scientific questions and develop the initial study design and implementation concept for a new NASA Terrestrial Ecology field campaign or related team project. In the spring of 2009, NASA selected two projects for funding, including a project entitled: “Vulnerability and Resiliency of Arctic and Sub-Arctic Landscapes (VuRSAL) - the Role of Interactions between Climate, Permafrost, Hydrology, and Disturbance in Driving Ecosystem Processes” (NASA Grant NNX09AH57G to the University of Maryland). This report contains the recommendations from this scoping study, which presents the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE). NASA outlined eight expectations for each scoping study: 1. The science questions and issues to be addressed must be identified; 2. The current state-of-the-science must be addressed; 3. The potential for a major, significant scientific advancement must be described; 4. The central, critical role of NASA remote sensing must be explained; 5. The essential scientific components of the study must be described and why coordinated teamwork is required in their implementation. An overall study design identifying the required observational (e.g., spaceborne, airborne, and/or supporting in situ observations) and analytical (e.g., models, data, and information system) infrastructure must be developed; 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Natural Capital
    counting canada’s natural capital: assessing the real value of canada’s boreal ecosystems All cover photos: Garth Lenz Counting Canada’s Natural Capital: assessing the real value of canada’s boreal ecosystems About the Canadian Boreal Initiative The Canadian Boreal Initiative was created in response to both the opportunities and threats facing Canada’s Boreal region. Based in Ottawa, the CBI brings together a wide range of conservation organizations, First Nations, industry leaders and others to create new solutions for Boreal conservation and sustainable development. It supports scientific research to advance thinking on conservation-based planning for the Boreal region, and acts as a catalyst by supporting a variety of on-the-ground efforts across the Boreal by conservation groups, First Nations and others. In 2003 the CBI convened the Boreal Leadership Council, an extraordinary group of conservation organizations, First Nations and resource companies. In concert with the members of the council, the CBI created and launched the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework – a vision for the protection and sustainable development of Canada’s entire Boreal ecosystem. www.borealcanada.ca About the Pembina Institute The Pembina Institute is an independent, not-for-profit environmental . s i a policy research and education organization. Founded in Drayton Valley, ç n a r Alberta, the Pembina Institute has a multidisciplinary staff of more F n than thirty, with offices in Drayton Valley, Calgary, Edmonton,Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto. e e l b i The Pembina Institute’s major policy research and education programs are in the areas of sustainable n o p s energy, climate change, environmental governance, ecological fiscal reform, sustainability indicators, i d i and the environmental impacts of the energy industry.
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of Fire Regime Shifts in Boreal Alaska
    EVALUATION OF FIRE REGIME SHIFTS IN BOREAL ALASKA THROUGH THE USE OF SEDIMENTARY CHARCOAL by Alexander O. Headman A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Geography The University of Utah December 2016 Copyright © Alexander O. Headman 2016 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF THESIS APPROVAL The thesis of Alexander O. Headman has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Simon C. Brewer , Chair 5/14/2015 Date Approved Mitchell James Power , Member 5/14/2015 Date Approved Andrea R. Brunelle , Member 5/14/2015 Date Approved and by Andrea R. Brunelle , Chair/Dean of the Department/College/School of Geography and by David B. Kieda, Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT In the field of ecology, regime shifts are often abrupt and catastrophic occurrences with far reaching effects on global and local ecosystems which result in distinct changes in the composition and function of an ecosystem. The boreal forest provides a long term stable ecosystem over the past 6000 years, with little anthropogenic influence, creating an ideal environment to study regime shifts with respect to regional and global climate changes. In the context of modern climate change, fire in the boreal forests appears to be expanding, however, little is understood concerning the impact of previous Holocene climate changes on fire regimes in the boreal forests. This study utilizes 14 long-term charcoal records from the boreal forests of Alaska to identify spatiotemporal patterns in regime shifts and identify possible climatic drivers and consequences of these shifts on the overall ecosystem.
    [Show full text]
  • Spatially Explicit Modeling of Hydrologically Controlled Carbon Cycles in a Boreal Ecosystem
    SPATIALLY EXPLICIT MODELING OF HYDROLOGICALLY CONTROLLED CARBON CYCLES IN A BOREAL ECOSYSTEM By Ajit Govind A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Geography University of Toronto © Copyright by Ajit Govind (2008) Spatially Explicit Modeling of Hydrologically Controlled Carbon Cycles in a Boreal Ecosystem. Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Ajit Govind Graduate Department of Geography, University of Toronto Current estimates of terrestrial carbon (C) fluxes overlook explicit hydrological controls. In this research project, a spatially explicit hydro-ecological model, BEPS-TerrainLab V2.0 was further developed to improve our understanding of the non-linearities associated with various hydro-ecological processes. A modeling study was conducted in a humid boreal ecosystem in north central Quebec, Canada. The sizes and nature of various ecosystem-C-pools were comprehensively reconstructed under a climate change and disturbance scenario prior to simulation in order to ensure realistic biogeochemical modeling. Further, several ecosystem processes were simulated and validated using field measurements for two years. A sensitivity analysis was also performed. After gaining confidence in the model’s ability to simulate various hydrologically controlled ecophysiological and biogeochemical processes and having understood that topographically driven sub-surface baseflow is the main process determining the soil moisture regime in humid boreal ecosystem, its influence on ecophysiological and biogeochemical processes were investigated. Three modeling scenarios were designed that represent strategies that are currently used in ecological models to represent hydrological controls. These scenarios were: 1) Explicit, where realistic lateral water routing was considered 2) Implicit, where calculations were based on a bucket-modeling approach 3) NoFlow, where the lateral sub-surface flow was turned off in the model.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Response to Permafrost Thaw and Consequences for Local and Global Ecosystem Services
    ES49CH13_Schuur ARI 26 September 2018 13:58 Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics Ecological Response to Permafrost Thaw and Consequences for Local and Global Ecosystem Services Edward A.G. Schuur and Michelle C. Mack Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, and Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA; email: [email protected] Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 2018. 49:279–301 Keywords The Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and carbon, nutrient, climate, vegetation change, disturbance, Arctic Systematics is online at ecolsys.annualreviews.org ecosystem, boreal ecosystem https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-121415- 032349 Abstract Copyright c 2018 by Annual Reviews. The Arctic may seem remote, but the unprecedented environmental changes All rights reserved occurring there have important consequences for global society. Of all Arc- tic system components, changes in permafrost (perennially frozen ground) are one of the least documented. Permafrost is degrading as a result of cli- Access provided by University of Alaska - Fairbanks on 02/04/19. For personal use only. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 2018.49:279-301. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org mate warming, and evidence is mounting that changing permafrost will have significant impacts within and outside the region. This review asks: What are key structural and functional properties of ecosystems that interact with changing permafrost, and how do these ecosystem changes affect local and global society? Here, we look beyond the classic definition of permafrost to include a broadened focus on the composition of frozen ground, including the ice and the soil organic carbon content, and how it is changing.
    [Show full text]
  • Habitat Destruction: Death by a Thousand Cuts
    1 CHAPTER 4 Habitat destruction: death by a thousand cuts William F. Laurance Humankind has dramatically transformed much 4.1 Habitat loss and fragmentation of the Earth’s surface and its natural ecosystems. Habitat destruction occurs when a natural habitat, This process is not new—it has been ongoing for such as a forest or wetland, is altered so dramati- millennia—but it has accelerated sharply over the cally that it no longer supports the species it origi- last two centuries, and especially in the last sev- nally sustained. Plant and animal populations are eral decades. destroyed or displaced, leading to a loss of biodi- Today, the loss and degradation of natural ha- versity (see Chapter 10). Habitat destruction is bitats can be likened to a war of attrition. Many considered the most important driver of species natural ecosystems are being progressively razed, extinction worldwide (Pimm and Raven 2000). bulldozed, and felled by axes or chainsaws, until Few habitats are destroyed entirely. Very often, only small scraps of their original extent survive. habitats are reduced in extent and simultaneously Forests have been hit especially hard: the global fragmented, leaving small pieces of original habi- area of forests has been reduced by roughly half tat persisting like islands in a sea of degraded over the past three centuries. Twenty-five nations land. In concert with habitat loss, habitat frag- have lost virtually all of their forest cover, and mentation is a grave threat to species survival another 29 more than nine-tenths of their forest (Laurance et al. 2002; Sekercioglu et al.
    [Show full text]
  • The Changing Effects of Alaska's Boreal Forests on the Climate System1
    The changing effects of Alaska's boreal forests on the climate system1 E.S. Euskirchen, A.D. McGuire, F.S. Chapin III, and T.S. Rupp Abstract: In the boreal forests of Alaska, recent changes in climate have influenced the exchange of trace gases, water, and energy between these forests and the atmosphere. These changes in the structure and function of boreal forests can then feed back to impact regional and global climates. In this manuscript, we examine the type and magnitude of the cli- mate feedbacks from boreal forests in Alaska. Research generally suggests that the net effect of a warming climate is a positive regional feedback to warming. Currently, the primary positive climate feedbacks are likely related to decreases in surface albedo due to decreases in snow cover. Fewer negative feedbacks have been identified, and they may not be large enough to counterbalance the large positive feedbacks. These positive feedbacks are most pronounced at the regional scale and reduce the resilience of the boreal vegetation - climate system by amplifying the rate of regional warming, Given the recent warming in this region, the large variety of associated mechanisms that can alter terrestrial ecosystems and influ- ence the climate system, and a reduction in the boreal forest resilience, there is a strong need to continue to quantify and evaluate the feedback pathways. Introduction within certain bounds (e.g., repeating successional cycles) until it exceeds critical thresholds, at which point positive o Recent warming in northern high latitudes by 2-3 Cover feedbacks push the system into a new state (Gunderson the last 50 years has been about five times greater than the 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • Articles + Derstanding of How Wildfires Alter Major Geochemical Cycles
    Biogeosciences, 18, 3243–3261, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3243-2021 © Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. The impact of wildfire on biogeochemical fluxes and water quality in boreal catchments Gustaf Granath1, Christopher D. Evans2,3, Joachim Strengbom4, Jens Fölster3, Achim Grelle4, Johan Strömqvist5, and Stephan J. Köhler3 1Department Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, Uppsala, Sweden 2UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK 3Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7050, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden 4Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden 5Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), 601 76 Norrköping, Sweden Correspondence: Gustaf Granath ([email protected]) Received: 1 October 2020 – Discussion started: 7 October 2020 Revised: 1 April 2021 – Accepted: 7 April 2021 – Published: 1 June 2021 Abstract. Wildfires are the major disturbance in boreal fluxes of nutrients have largely returned to pre-fire condi- ecosystems and are of great importance for the biogeochem- tions, but there is still net release of CO2. ical cycles of carbon (C) and nutrients. However, these fire- induced impacts are hard to quantify and are rarely assessed together at an ecosystem level incorporating both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Following a wildfire in Sweden in 1 Introduction an area with ongoing monitoring, we conducted a pre-fire (9 years) and post-fire (4 years) multi-catchment investiga- Wildfires are the major disturbance agent in boreal ecosys- tion of element losses (combustion and leaching) and impacts tems and are expected to increase in size and frequency on water quality.
    [Show full text]