Monitoring the Multi-Year Carbon Balance of a Subarctic Palsa Mire with Micrometeorological Techniques

Summary, in English

This article reports a dataset on 8 years of monitoring carbon fluxes in a subarctic palsa mire based on micrometeorological eddy covariance measurements. The mire is a complex with wet minerotrophic areas and elevated dry palsa as well as intermediate sub-ecosystems. The measurements document primarily the emission originating from the wet parts of the mire dominated by a rather homogenous cover of Eriophorum angustifolium. The CO2/CH4 flux measurements performed during the years 2001-2008 showed that the areas represented in the measurements were a relatively stable sink of carbon with an average annual rate of uptake amounting to on average -46 g C m(-2) y(-1) including an equally stable loss through CH4 emissions (18-22 g CH4-C m(-2) y(-1)). This consistent carbon sink combined with substantial CH4 emissions is most likely what is to be expected as the permafrost under palsa mires degrades in response to climate warming.

• Author: Torben Christensen; Marcin Jackowicz-Korczynski; Mika Aurela; Patrick Crill; Michal Heliasz; Mikhail Mastepanov; Thomas Friborg
• 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: 2012
• Language: English
• Pages: 207-217
• Publication/Series: Ambio: a Journal of Human Environment
• Volume: 41
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0302-5
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Springer
• Topic: Physical Geography
• Keywords: Carbon cycling; Subarctic mire; Permafrost; Land-atmosphere exchange; Climate change
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0044-7447