Permafrost collapse after shrub removal shifts tundra ecosystem to a methane source
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Permafrost collapse after shrub removal shifts tundra ecosystem to a methane source. / Nauta, Ake L.; Heijmans, Monique P.D.; Blok, Daan; Limpens, Juul; Elberling, Bo; Gallagher, Angela; Li, Bingxi; Petrov, Roman E.; Maximov, Trofim C.; van Huissteden, Jacobus; Berendse, Frank.
In: Nature Climate Change, Vol. 5, 2015, p. 67-70.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Permafrost collapse after shrub removal shifts tundra ecosystem to a methane source
AU - Nauta, Ake L.
AU - Heijmans, Monique P.D.
AU - Blok, Daan
AU - Limpens, Juul
AU - Elberling, Bo
AU - Gallagher, Angela
AU - Li, Bingxi
AU - Petrov, Roman E.
AU - Maximov, Trofim C.
AU - van Huissteden, Jacobus
AU - Berendse, Frank
N1 - CENPERM[2015] Cover story Nature Climate Change January 2015 issue
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Arctic tundra ecosystems are warming almost twice as fast asthe global average1. Permafrost thaw and the resulting releaseof greenhouse gases from decomposing soil organic carbonhave the potential to accelerate climate warming2,3. In recentdecades, Arctic tundra ecosystems have changed rapidly4,including expansion of woody vegetation5,6, in response tochanging climate conditions. How such vegetation changescontribute to stabilization or destabilization of the permafrostis unknown. Here we present six years of field observationsin a shrub removal experiment at a Siberian tundra site.Removing the shrub part of the vegetation initiated thawingof ice-rich permafrost, resulting in collapse of the originallyelevated shrub patches into waterlogged depressions withinfive years. This thaw pond development shifted the plots froma methane sink into a methane source. The results of ourfield experiment demonstrate the importance of the vegetationcover for protection of the massive carbon reservoirs storedin the permafrost and illustrate the strong vulnerability ofthese tundra ecosystems to perturbations. If permafrostthawing can more frequently trigger such local permafrostcollapse, methane-emitting wet depressions could becomemore abundant in the lowland tundra landscape, at the cost ofpermafrost-stabilizing low shrub vegetation.
AB - Arctic tundra ecosystems are warming almost twice as fast asthe global average1. Permafrost thaw and the resulting releaseof greenhouse gases from decomposing soil organic carbonhave the potential to accelerate climate warming2,3. In recentdecades, Arctic tundra ecosystems have changed rapidly4,including expansion of woody vegetation5,6, in response tochanging climate conditions. How such vegetation changescontribute to stabilization or destabilization of the permafrostis unknown. Here we present six years of field observationsin a shrub removal experiment at a Siberian tundra site.Removing the shrub part of the vegetation initiated thawingof ice-rich permafrost, resulting in collapse of the originallyelevated shrub patches into waterlogged depressions withinfive years. This thaw pond development shifted the plots froma methane sink into a methane source. The results of ourfield experiment demonstrate the importance of the vegetationcover for protection of the massive carbon reservoirs storedin the permafrost and illustrate the strong vulnerability ofthese tundra ecosystems to perturbations. If permafrostthawing can more frequently trigger such local permafrostcollapse, methane-emitting wet depressions could becomemore abundant in the lowland tundra landscape, at the cost ofpermafrost-stabilizing low shrub vegetation.
U2 - 10.1038/NCLIMATE2446
DO - 10.1038/NCLIMATE2446
M3 - Letter
VL - 5
SP - 67
EP - 70
JO - Nature Climate Change
JF - Nature Climate Change
SN - 1758-678X
ER -
ID: 130241989