U.S.
Geological Survey
Open-File Report 02-62
Fate of Carbon in Alaskan Landscapes Project Database for Soils from Eddy Covariance Tower Sites, Delta Junction, AK
By
Stagg King, Jennifer Harden, Kristen L. Manies, Jennie Munster, and L. Douglas White
Soils in
Alaska, and in high latitude terrestrial ecosystems in general, contain
significant amounts of organic carbon, most of which is believed to have
accumulated since the start of the Holocene about 10 ky before present.
High latitude soils are estimated to contain 30-40% of terrestrial soil
carbon (Melillo et al., 1995; McGuire and Hobbie, 1997), or ~ 300-400
Gt C (Gt = 1015 g), which equals about half of the current atmospheric
burden of carbon. Boreal forests in particular are estimated to have more
soil carbon than any other terrestrial biome (Post et al., 1982; Chapin
and Matthews, 1993). The relations among net primary production, soil
carbon storage, recurrent fire disturbance, nutrients, the hydrologic
cycle, permafrost and geomorphology are poorly understood in boreal forest.
Fire disturbance has been suggested to play a key role in the interactions
among the complex biogeochemical processes influencing carbon storage
in boreal forest soils (Harden et al., 2000; Zhuang et al., 2002). There has been an observed increase in fire disturbance in North American boreal black spruce (Picea mariana) forests in recent decades (Murphy et al., 1999; Kasichke et al., 2000), concurrent with increases in Alaskan boreal and arctic surface temperatures and warming of permafrost (Osterkamp and Romanofsky, 1999). Understanding the role of fire in long term carbon storage and how recent changes in fire frequency and severity may influence future high latitude soil carbon pools is necessary for those working to understand or mitigate the effects of global climate change. |
Download the entire report (including table 1) as a Portable Document Format file (132 KB)
Download table 2 as a PDF file (64 KB)
Download table 3 as an Excel spreadsheet (44 KB)
Download table 4 as an Excel spreadsheet (44 KB)
Download table 5 as an Excel spreadsheet (36 KB)
Download table 6 as an Excel spreadsheet (48 KB)
For questions about the content of this report, contact Kristen Manies
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Maintained by: Carolyn Donlin
Created: 2-20-02
Last modified: 3-15-02 (cad)