鄱阳湖沉水植物区不同深度土壤甲烷排放对温度水分变化的响应

采集鄱阳湖沉水植物区0-10 cm和10-30 cm土壤样品,通过设置2个温度（18℃和28℃）和2个水分（淹水2 cm和土柱取出水面后的实际土壤水分含量）处理组合,进行持续2年的甲烷（CH₄）排放室内培养实验,以探讨不同深度土壤CH₄排放对温度、水分变化的响应差异,以及温度、水分和土层对湿地土壤CH₄排放的交互影响。结果表明：0-10 cm和10-30 cm土壤CH₄排放速率变化范围分别为0.01-3.63 μgCH₄-C kg^-1d^-1、0.02-1.99 μgCH₄-C kg^-1d^-1;均值分别为0.72和0.15 μgCH₄-C kg^-1d^-1。温度、水分和土层3因素及其交互作用均对土壤CH₄排放有显著影响（P<0.01）,且土层的影响最大。两水分处理下的CH₄排放对温度变化的敏感性均表现为0-10 cm（Q₁₀为1.78、3.26）高于10-30 cm土层（Q₁₀为1.04、1.08）。CH₄平均排放速率及累计排放量均表现为0-10 cm显著高于10-30 cm土层,且培养前期高于培养后期,显示基质有效性对土壤CH₄排放的重要影响。     

潮汐作用对黄河三角洲盐沼湿地甲烷排放的影响

盐沼湿地作为陆海交互作用的过渡带是CH₄重要的自然来源。潮汐活动通过影响CH₄的产生、氧化和传输驱动了湿地CH₄间歇性、周期性的排放。利用涡度相关和微气象监测技术,对黄河三角洲一个盐地碱蓬生态系统CH₄通量、环境因子和水文要素（潮汐）进行了长期连续监测分析了该生态系统生长季CH₄排放的季节动态及潮汐作用对CH₄排放的影响。结果表明：生长季该生态系统是CH₄的排放源,排放日均值为0.063 mg m^-2 h^-1,（范围为-0.36-0.57 mg m^-2 h^-1）。潮汐淹水阶段和落潮后湿润阶段表现为CH₄的显著源。此外我们发现,短期潮汐活动引起土壤干湿状况的变化促进了CH₄脉冲式的排放,因此未来气候变化下温度升高和降雨季节分配引起的土壤干湿变化将会对该区域CH₄排放甚至碳循环产生积极影响。     

不同水位管理对恢复泥炭地土壤CO2、CH4排放的影响

泥炭地水文条件影响泥炭地生物地球化学循环,控制和维持着泥炭地生态系统的结构和功能,是泥炭地生态恢复的重要前提。然而,目前关于恢复泥炭地土壤碳排放对不同水位的响应尚不明确。以长白山区天然（NP）、退耕（DP）及实施不同水文管理的恢复泥炭地（低水位（LR）、高水位（HR）与高低交替水位（H-LR））为研究对象,采用静态箱-气相色谱法对研究区泥炭地进行生长季（6-10月）土壤CO₂、CH₄排放监测。结果表明：温度和水位变化是研究区泥炭地土壤CO₂、CH₄排放季节变化的主控因子。H-LR受水位控制的影响,生长季土壤CO₂排放速率波动剧烈,其它水位管理恢复区土壤CO₂排放速率呈单峰型排放模式,且均与近地表温度呈指数相关（P<0.05）。除HR外,土壤CO₂排放速率与水位呈显著负相关（P<0.05）。生长季,研究区HR土壤CH₄排放速率呈双峰型,H-LR与NP的土壤CH₄排放呈单峰型,与近地表温度呈指数相关（P<0.05）,LR水位与CH₄排放速率显著正相关（P<0.05）。研究区不同水位管理恢复泥炭地土壤碳排放差异显著,虽然HR的土壤CO₂-C累积碳排放量显著低于其它水位恢复区,但其土壤CH₄-C累积碳排放量和综合增温潜势显著高于其它水位恢复区（P<0.05）。LR的累积碳排放量显著低于退化泥炭地,且其综合增温潜势最低。因此,建议在泥炭地恢复初期将低水位管理作为短期策略,以更好地恢复泥炭地碳汇功能,减弱其增温潜势。     

太湖流域农田稻季CH4通量特征及影响因子

开展太湖流域农田稻季CH₄排放研究,深入了解稻田CH₄排放规律,为稻田CH₄减排、制定合理稻田管理措施提供科学依据。以太湖流域稻麦轮作农田为研究区域,运用涡度相关法观测其稻季CH₄通量变化,分析其通量变化特征及影响因子。结果表明：太湖流域典型稻麦轮作区稻季为CH₄的源,CH₄排放总量为28.95 g/m²,稻季CH₄通量日变化表现为无规则型与单峰型两种模式;稻季CH₄排放整体集中在水稻生长前期（81.61%）及中期（16.16%）、后期排放相对较弱（2.23%）,返青期排放量较低（日均0.102 μmol m^-2 s^-1）,分蘖期较强（日均0.451 μmol m^-2 s^-1）,成熟期最低（日均0.006 μmol m^-2 s^-1）;模型所模拟的累计CH₄排放通量比累计测量CH₄通量低6.69%,较好地模拟了太湖流域稻田CH₄的排放,土壤温度、土壤水分、土壤电导率、摩擦风速可确认为太湖流域农田稻季CH₄排放的主要驱动因子。     

夜间增温品种混栽对稻田土壤CH4和N2O排放的影响

夜间增温幅度大于白天是气候变暖主要特征之一。夜间增温对水稻生产及CH₄和N₂O排放的影响备受关注。品种混栽可提高水稻产量,增强水稻植株抗性。增温或混栽单因子对稻田CH₄和N₂O排放影响已有报道,但二者耦合如何影响水稻生产及稻田CH₄和N₂O排放,尚不清楚。采用2因素随机区组设计,通过田间试验研究了夜间增温下品种混栽对水稻产量、CH₄和N₂O综合增温潜势和排放强度的影响。夜间增温设2水平,即对照（CK,control）和增温（NW,nighttime warming）;品种混栽设2水平,即混作（I,intercropping）,单作（M,monocropping）,混栽处理将主栽品种（超级稻南粳9108）与次栽品种（杂交稻深两优884）以3：1的比例种植。水稻生长期用铝箔反射膜覆盖水稻冠层进行被动式夜间增温试验（19：00-6：00）。结果表明,夜间增温或品种混栽均显著降低水稻植株分蘖数和生物量。品种混栽显著提高水稻产量,而夜间增温则显著降低产量。品种混栽可缓解夜间增温对水稻产量的抑制作用。夜间增温下品种混栽处理稻田CH₄累计排放量在分蘖期、拔节-孕穗期、抽穗-扬花期和灌浆-成熟期比单作对照分别高55.32%、45.89%、43.49和125.82%。夜间增温下品种混栽处理稻田N₂O累计排放量在分蘖期、拔节-孕穗期和抽穗-扬花期分别比单作对照高64.44%、46.26%和42.07%。研究认为,夜间增温下品种混栽显著提高稻田CH₄和N₂O排放通量和累积排放量,显著增加综合增温潜势（GWP）和排放强度（GHGI）。     

云贵高原典型湖滨湿地好氧甲烷氧化细菌群落结构和数量的时空动态

湖泊生态系统排放的甲烷（CH₄）大部分来自湖滨湿地，好氧甲烷氧化细菌（methane-oxidizing bacteria，MOB）在减轻CH₄从湖泊系统向大气的排放中起着至关重要的作用。湖滨湿地好氧MOB群落分布及其影响因素尚不清楚。采用qPCR、末端限制性片段长度多态性（T-RFLP）等方法，分四季对贵州草海湖滨湿地宽敞水域至落干区沉积物中好氧MOB群落组成和数量进行了研究。草海湖滨湿地沉积中甲烷氧化单加氧酶功能基因（pomA）丰度较高，在1.78×10⁷-2.73×10⁸拷贝数/g干沉积物之间，好氧MOB由I型（Methylococcus and Methylobacter）和II型（Methylosinus）组成，I型主要分布在宽敞水域（长期淹水区），而干湿过渡区和偶尔积水区主要为II型，呈现出明显的空间变化，推测湖滨湿地长期淹水区甲烷的氧化由I型主导，而相对干旱的区域II型主导，而这种差异可能是导致湖滨湿地甲烷排放高度异质性的一个重要因素。研究结果对揭示湖滨湿地甲烷排放时空异质性的微生物生态机制奠定了基础。     

双季稻田种植不同冬季作物对甲烷和氧化亚氮排放的影响

研究双季稻收获后填闲种植不同冬季作物在其生长季节内CH₄和N₂O的排放特征,对合理利用冬闲稻田,发展冬季作物生产及合理评价不同种植模式具有重要意义。采用静态箱-气相色谱法对冬季免耕直播黑麦草、紫云英、油菜以及翻耕移栽油菜和冬闲的双季稻田中甲烷(CH₄)和氧化亚氮(N₂O)排放进行了分析。结果表明:在冬季作物生长期,CH₄、N₂O平均排放通量和总排放量均表现为翻耕移栽油菜＞免耕直播黑麦草＞免耕直播油菜＞免耕直播紫云英＞冬闲。不同冬季作物稻田CH₄和N₂O总排放量与对照(冬闲)的差异均达到极显著水平(P<0.01);翻耕移栽油菜的双季稻田中CH₄和N₂O排放量最高,分别达2.989 g/m²和0.719 g/m²。翻耕移栽油菜稻田的CH₄和N₂O温室效应总和也最大,为2893.92 kg CO₂/hm²;免耕直播黑麦草和免耕直播油菜处理次之,而免耕直播紫云英处理最低。种植不同冬季作物促进了稻田生态系统CH₄和N₂O的排放。     

微生物介导的碳氮循环过程对全球气候变化的响应

土壤是地球表层最为重要的碳库也是温室气体的源或汇。自工业革命以来,对土壤温室气体的容量、收支平衡和通量等已有较多研究和估算,但对关键过程及其源/汇的研究却十分有限。微生物是土壤碳氮转化的主要驱动者, 在生态系统碳氮循环过程中扮演重要的角色,对全球气候变化有着响应的响应、适应及反馈,然而其个体数量,群落结构和多样性如何与气候扰动相互关联、进而怎样影响生态系统过程的问题仍有待进一步探索。从微生物介导的碳氮循环过程入手,重点讨论微生物对气候变化包括温室气体(CO₂,CH₄,N₂O)增加、全球变暖、大气氮沉降等的响应和反馈,并由此提出削减温室气体排放的可能途径和今后发展的方向。     

鄱阳湖苔草湿地甲烷释放特征

2009年5月-2010年4月在鄱阳湖南矶湿地国家级自然保护区选择以灰化苔草为建群种的洲滩,设置土壤-植物系统(TC)、剪除植物地上部分 (TJ)2个试验处理,利用密闭箱-气相色谱法测定了鄱阳湖典型苔草湿地的甲烷(CH₄)释放通量。结果表明:1)TC、TJ 2个试验处理CH₄释放速率变化范围分别为-0.094-17.75 mg · m^-2 · h^-1、-0.122-19.16 mg · m^-2 · h^-1,均表现出明显的季节变化规律;2)地表未淹水期间,剪草处理CH₄释放显著高于非剪草处理(t=2.69, P<0.05);地表淹水达到15 cm后,剪草处理CH₄释放明显低于非剪草处理。3)土壤5 cm温度、土壤水分与2处理非淹水期间CH₄释放速率均呈显著正相关,是非淹水期间CH₄通量变化的主要控制因子,2因子能够共同解释非淹水期苔草湿地65%-74%的CH₄通量变异;4)试验期间,苔草湿地CH₄释放量约为12.77 gC/m²,相当于同期土壤有机质分解碳排放量的4%,甲烷释放的碳消耗不足苔草湿地年NPP的1%。     

黑土稻田CH4与N2O排放及减排措施研究

通过对黑土稻田CH₄和N₂O排放的观测,发现水稻生长季CH₄和N₂O排放量低于全国其它地区稻田CH₄和N₂O排放之间存在互为消长关系(r=-0．513,P<0．05),但在同样施肥水平条件下,间歇灌溉与长期淹灌相比,CH₄排放明显减少而N₂O略有增加,其相对综合温室效应被大大减少且水稻产量未受影响。为此,间歇灌溉可作为减少稻田温室气体排放的水分管理措施。另外,通过对CH₄和N₂O排放的相关微生物过程探讨,揭示产甲烷菌数与CH4排放问呈显著性正相关(R²=0．82,P<0．05),硝化菌数和反硝化菌数与N2O排放有重要关系。     

Effects of permafrost degradation on ecosystems

Permafrost, covering approximately 25% of the land area in the Northern Hemisphere, is one of the key components of terrestrial ecosystem in cold regions. As a product of cold climate, permafrost is extremely sensitive to climate change. Climate warming over past decades has caused degradation in permafrost widely and quickly. Permafrost degradation has the potential to significantly change soil moisture content, alter soil nutrients availability and influence on species composition. In lowland ecosystems the loss of ice-rich permafrost has caused the conversion of terrestrial ecosystem to aquatic ecosystem or wetland. In upland ecosystems permafrost thaw has resulted in replacement of hygrophilous community by xeromorphic community or shrub. Permafrost degradation resulting from climate warming may dramatically change the productivity and carbon dynamics of alpine ecosystems. This paper reviewed the effects of permafrost degradation on ecosystem structure and function. At the same time, we put forward critical questions about the effects of permafrost degradation on ecosystems on Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, included: (1) carry out research about the effects of permafrost degradation on grassland ecosystem and the response of alpine ecosystem to global change; (2) construct long-term and located field observations and research system, based on which predict ecosystem dynamic in permafrost degradation; (3) pay extensive attention to the dynamic of greenhouse gas in permafrost region on Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau and the feedback of greenhouse gas to climate change; (4) quantitative study on the change of water-heat transport in permafrost degradation and the effects of soil moisture and heat change on vegetation growth.     

基于文献计量的冻土微生物研究态势分析

【背景】全球气候变暖导致的冻土融化加速了微生物对土壤有机碳的降解,产生的温室气体在一定程度上加剧了温室效应,对全球气候变化形成正反馈作用。【目的】本文针对国内外冻土微生物研究的热点和发展趋势进行分析比较,旨在归纳、总结并为今后该领域的研究和发展提供参考和依据。【方法】利用Web of Science核心合集数据库和CNKI数据库检索,运用BIBExcel软件生成高频关键词的共词矩阵,使用UCINET和NetDraw软件完成高频词的网络可视化图谱,并通过SPSS软件实现高频词的聚类分析。【结果】共检索到与冻土微生物相关的国内外文献839篇,其中国外文献713篇、中文文献126篇,国外的发文量和增长率显著高于国内。从高频关键词和共现网络视图上看,国外偏重气候变化、温室气体及微生物群落变化之间的作用关系研究,而国内更偏向于冻土微生物多样性的研究。聚类分析表明,国外研究主要以微生物对有机碳的降解作用及对冻土区乃至全球的影响为主,此外还涉及以冻土微生物为研究对象的火星生命的探究。国内研究主要以冻土微生物多样性、甲烷排放和微生物对污染的降解作用为重点。【结论】国内外对于冻土微生物的研究态势存在异同...     

Bacterial Community Structure in Two Permafrost Wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau and Sanjiang Plain,China

Permafrost wetlands are important methane emission sources and fragile ecosystems sensitive to climate change. Presently, there remains a lack of knowledge regarding bacterial communities, especially methanotrophs in vast areas of permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau in Northwest China and the Sanjiang Plain (SJ) in Northeast China. In this study, 16S rRNA-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) and 454 pyrosequencing were used to identify bacterial communities in soils sampled from a littoral wetland of Lake Namco on the Tibetan Plateau (NMC) and an alluvial wetland on the SJ. Additionally, methanotroph-specific primers targeting particulate methane monooxygenase subunit A gene (pmoA) were used for qPCR and pyrosequencing analysis of methanotrophic community structure in NMC soils. qPCR analysis revealed the presence of 10¹⁰ 16S rRNA gene copies per gram of wet soil in both wetlands, with 10⁸ pmoA copies per gram of wet soil in NMC. The two permafrost wetlands showed similar bacterial community compositions, which differed from those reported in other cold environments. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria , and Chloroflexi were the most abundant phyla in both wetlands, whereas Acidobacteria was prevalent in the acidic wetland SJ only. These four phyla constituted more than 80 % of total bacterial community diversity in permafrost wetland soils, and Methylobacter of type I methanotrophs was overwhelmingly dominant in NMC soils. This study is the first major bacterial sequencing effort of permafrost in the NMC and SJ wetlands, which provides fundamental data for further studies of microbial function in extreme ecosystems under climate change scenarios.     

The impacts of climate change and human activities on biogeochemical cycles on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau

With a pace of about twice the observed rate of global warming, the temperature on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau (Earth's ‘third pole’) has increased by 0.2 °C per decade over the past 50 years, which results in significant permafrost thawing and glacier retreat. Our review suggested that warming enhanced net primary production and soil respiration, decreased methane (CH₄) emissions from wetlands and increased CH₄ consumption of meadows, but might increase CH₄ emissions from lakes. Warming‐induced permafrost thawing and glaciers melting would also result in substantial emission of old carbon dioxide (CO₂) and CH₄. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission was not stimulated by warming itself, but might be slightly enhanced by wetting. However, there are many uncertainties in such biogeochemical cycles under climate change. Human activities (e.g. grazing, land cover changes) further modified the biogeochemical cycles and amplified such uncertainties on the plateau. If the projected warming and wetting continues, the future biogeochemical cycles will be more complicated. So facing research in this field is an ongoing challenge of integrating field observations with process‐based ecosystem models to predict the impacts of future climate change and human activities at various temporal and spatial scales. To reduce the uncertainties and to improve the precision of the predictions of the impacts of climate change and human activities on biogeochemical cycles, efforts should focus on conducting more field observation studies, integrating data within improved models, and developing new knowledge about coupling among carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles as well as about the role of microbes in these cycles.     

Climate warming has direct and indirect effects on microbes associated with carbon cycling in northern lakes

Northern lakes disproportionately influence the global carbon cycle, and may do so more in the future depending on how their microbial communities respond to climate warming. Microbial communities can change because of the direct effects of climate warming on their metabolism and the indirect effects of climate warming on groundwater connectivity from thawing of surrounding permafrost, especially at lower landscape positions. Here we used shotgun metagenomics to compare the taxonomic and functional gene composition of sediment microbes in 19 peatland lakes across a 1600-km permafrost transect in boreal western Canada. We found microbes responded differently to the loss of regional permafrost cover than to increases in local groundwater connectivity. These results suggest that both the direct and indirect effects of climate warming, which were respectively associated with loss of permafrost and subsequent changes in groundwater connectivity interact to change microbial composition and function. Archaeal methanogens and genes involved in all major methanogenesis pathways were more abundant in warmer regions with less permafrost, but higher groundwater connectivity partly offset these effects. Bacterial community composition and methanotrophy genes did not vary with regional permafrost cover, and the latter changed similarly to methanogenesis with groundwater connectivity. Finally, we found an increase in sugar utilization genes in regions with less permafrost, which may further fuel methanogenesis. These results provide the microbial mechanism for observed increases in methane emissions associated with loss of permafrost cover in this region and suggest that future emissions will primarily be controlled by archaeal methanogens over methanotrophic bacteria as northern lakes warm. Our study more generally suggests that future predictions of aquatic carbon cycling will be improved by considering how climate warming exerts both direct effects associated with regional-scale permafrost thaw and indirect effects associated with local hydrology.     

低温湿地甲烷古菌及其介导的甲烷产生途径

甲烷是重要的温室气体,低温湿地是大气甲烷的重要来源,因为湿地土壤中生活着大量的微生物包括甲烷古菌,它们将有机物降解转化为甲烷.本文总结了近年来低温湿地甲烷古菌群落组成、甲烷产生途径及其与环境的关系.研究显示,乙酸是低温湿地中主要的产甲烷物质,氢产甲烷过程主要发生在中温地区或酸性泥炭土中,而在盐碱水域中甲醇、甲胺是甲烷的重要底物.位于我国青藏高原的若尔盖湿地具有高海拔但低纬度的地理特征,我们的前期研究却显示甲醇在该湿地的甲烷排放中具有重要贡献.相应地,低温湿地中的甲烷古菌主要是利用甲基类化合物/乙酸的甲烷八叠球菌目和氢营养型的甲烷微球菌目.然而不同类型湿地甲烷排放途径及甲烷古菌的差异主要与环境的土壤类型、pH及植被类型相关,如刚毛荸荠生长的若尔盖湿地土壤中来源于甲醇的甲烷占全部甲烷的l7％;而木里苔草土壤中乙酸是产甲烷的主要前体物质.尽管已知冷适应的甲烷古菌在低温湿地的甲烷排放中发挥重要作用,但目前获得培养的嗜冷甲烷古菌却很少.冷响应的组学研究显示甲烷古菌的冷适应涉及到全局性生物学过程.     

An ecological perspective on methane emissions from northern wetlands

Wetlands are significant sources of atmospheric methane, an important radiatively active ‘greenhouse’ gas that accounts for an estimated 12% of total greenhouse warming. Since global climate models predict the greatest temperature and precipitation changes at high latitudes, and as the largest areas of wetland (346 × 10⁶ha) are in the boreal and subarctic regions (40–70°N), recent research has focused on Identifying the factors that control methane emission from northern wetlands. Over the past few years, the database has expanded tremendously, and much progress has been made in understanding the environmental controls on methane emission at small spatial and temporal scales. However, we now need to broaden our understanding of regional differences in methane emission, ecological responses of northern wetlands to climate change, and the effect of other perturbations such as drainage and flooding.     

基于过程模型的青藏高原湿地甲烷排放格局评估

甲烷(CH_4)是大气中最丰富的碳氢化合物,是仅次于二氧化碳(CO_2)的温室气体。湿地是甲烷的重要来源,在全球碳循环中发挥着重要作用,其排放的甲烷占所有天然甲烷排放源的70%,占全球甲烷排放总量的24.8%。青藏高原平均海拔4000 m以上,占有中国约三分之一的湿地。近几十年来,由于全球气候变暖和降水增加,该地区甲烷排放率和湿地面积都发生着巨大变化,因此,青藏高原湿地CH_4排放的长期变化在很大程度上仍存在较大的不确定性。利用TRIPLEX-GHG模型模拟了青藏高原湿地1978—2008年CH_4排放的动态特征,研究结果表明:(1)1978—2008年青藏高原湿地CH_4排放速率呈逐渐增加趋势。(2)青藏高原大多数湿地区域CH_4排放速率为0—6.13 g CH_4 m~(-2 )a~(-1);东北部分湿地区域CH_4排放速率为6.14—20.19 g CH_4 m~(-2 )a~(-1);较高的CH_4排放速率分布于青藏高原南部湿地区域,为56.14—74.97 g CH_4 m~(-2 )a~(-1)。(3)青藏高原湿地CH_4排放量在1978、1990、2000年和2008年分别为0.21、0.23、0.27和0.32 Tg CH_4 a~(-1)。在1978—1990年,尽管CH_4排放速率增加,但湿地面积减少,因此这一时期青藏高原湿地CH_4排放量并未发生明显变化。随后由于降水增加和冰川融化,使得湿地面积逐渐增加,青藏高原湿地CH_4排放量也呈现增加趋势。     

Landscape controls of CH4 fluxes in a catchment of the forest tundra ecotone in northern Siberia

Terrestrial ecosystems in northern high latitudes exchange large amounts of methane (CH₄) with the atmosphere. Climate warming could have a great impact on CH₄ exchange, in particular in regions where degradation of permafrost is induced. In order to improve the understanding of the present and future methane dynamics in permafrost regions, we studied CH₄ fluxes of typical landscape structures in a small catchment in the forest tundra ecotone in northern Siberia. Gas fluxes were measured using a closed‐chamber technique from August to November 2003 and from August 2006 to July 2007 on tree‐covered mineral soils with and without permafrost, on a frozen bog plateau, and on a thermokarst pond. For areal integration of the CH₄ fluxes, we combined field observations and classification of functional landscape structures based on a high‐resolution Quickbird satellite image. All mineral soils were net sinks of atmospheric CH₄. The magnitude of annual CH₄ uptake was higher for soils without permafrost (1.19 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) than for soils with permafrost (0.37 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). In well‐drained soils, significant CH₄ uptake occurred even after the onset of ground frost. Bog plateaux, which stored large amounts of frozen organic carbon, were also a net sink of atmospheric CH₄ (0.38 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Thermokarst ponds, which developed from permafrost collapse in bog plateaux, were hot spots of CH₄ emission (approximately 200 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Despite the low area coverage of thermokarst ponds (only 2.1% of the total catchment area), emissions from these sites resulted in a mean catchment CH₄ emission of 3.8 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Export of dissolved CH₄ with stream water was insignificant. The results suggest that mineral soils and bog plateaux in this region will respond differently to increasing temperatures and associated permafrost degradation. Net uptake of atmospheric CH₄ in mineral soils is expected to gradually increase with increasing active layer depth and soil drainage. Changes in bog plateaux will probably be much more rapid and drastic. Permafrost collapse in frozen bog plateaux would result in high CH₄ emissions that act as positive feedback to climate warming.     

Effects of experimental warming of air,soil and permafrost on carbon balance in Alaskan tundra

The carbon (C) storage capacity of northern latitude ecosystems may diminish as warming air temperatures increase permafrost thaw and stimulate decomposition of previously frozen soil organic C. However, warming may also enhance plant growth so that photosynthetic carbon dioxide (CO₂) uptake may, in part, offset respiratory losses. To determine the effects of air and soil warming on CO₂ exchange in tundra, we established an ecosystem warming experiment – the Carbon in Permafrost Experimental Heating Research (CiPEHR) project – in the northern foothills of the Alaska Range in Interior Alaska. We used snow fences coupled with spring snow removal to increase deep soil temperatures and thaw depth (winter warming) and open‐top chambers to increase growing season air temperatures (summer warming). Winter warming increased soil temperature (integrated 5–40 cm depth) by 1.5 °C, which resulted in a 10% increase in growing season thaw depth. Surprisingly, the additional 2 kg of thawed soil C m^?2 in the winter warming plots did not result in significant changes in cumulative growing season respiration, which may have been inhibited by soil saturation at the base of the active layer. In contrast to the limited effects on growing‐season C dynamics, winter warming caused drastic changes in winter respiration and altered the annual C balance of this ecosystem by doubling the net loss of CO₂ to the atmosphere. While most changes to the abiotic environment at CiPEHR were driven by winter warming, summer warming effects on plant and soil processes resulted in 20% increases in both gross primary productivity and growing season ecosystem respiration and significantly altered the age and sources of CO₂ respired from this ecosystem. These results demonstrate the vulnerability of organic C stored in near surface permafrost to increasing temperatures and the strong potential for warming tundra to serve as a positive feedback to global climate change.