Toward a statistical description of methane emissions from arctic wetlands

Norbert Pirk*, Mikhail Mastepanov, Efrén López-Blanco, Louise Christensen, Hanne Hvidtfeldt Christiansen, Birger Hansen, Magnus Lund, Frans Jan W. Parmentier, Kirstine Skov, Torben R. Christensen

*Corresponding author for this work

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    Abstract

    Methane (CH4) emissions from arctic tundra typically follow relations with soil temperature and water table depth, but these process-based descriptions can be difficult to apply to areas where no measurements exist. We formulated a description of the broader temporal flux pattern in the growing season based on two distinct CH4 source components from slow and fast-turnover carbon. We used automatic closed chamber flux measurements from NE Greenland (74°N), W Greenland (64°N), and Svalbard (78°N) to identify and discuss these components. The temporal separation was well-suited in NE Greenland, where the hypothesized slow-turnover carbon peaked at a time significantly related to the timing of snowmelt. The temporally wider component from fast-turnover carbon dominated the emissions in W Greenland and Svalbard. Altogether, we found no dependence of the total seasonal CH4 budget to the timing of snowmelt, and warmer sites and years tended to yield higher CH4 emissions.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalAmbio
    Volume46
    Issue numberSuppl. 1
    Pages (from-to)70-80
    Number of pages11
    ISSN0044-7447
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Keywords

    • Emission
    • Greenland
    • Methane
    • Svalbard
    • Tundra

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