Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e2024JG008191 |
| Journal | Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences |
| Volume | 129 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| Publication status | Published - 31 Aug 2024 |
Abstract
Boreal forests fix substantial amounts of atmospheric carbon (C). However, the timescales at which this C is cycled through the ecosystem are not yet well understood. To elucidate the temporal dynamics between photosynthesis, allocation and respiration, we assessed the radiocarbon ((Formula presented.)) disequilibrium (D) between different C pools and the current atmosphere to understand the fate of C in a boreal forest ecosystem. Samples of vegetation, fungi, soil and atmospheric (Formula presented.) were collected at the Integrated Carbon Observation System station Svartberget in northern Sweden. Additionally, we analyzed the (Formula presented.) C- (Formula presented.) from incubated topsoil and forest floor soil respiration (FFSR) collected over a 24-hr cycle, and calculated the (Formula presented.) C signature of the total ecosystem respiration (Re) using the Miller-Tans method. We found that vegetation pools presented a positive D enriched with bomb (Formula presented.), suggesting a fast-cycling rate (months to years) for living biomass and intermediate (years to decades) for dead biomass. In contrast, mineral soils showed a negative D, indicating minimal incorporation of bomb (Formula presented.). FFSR showed diurnal (Formula presented.) C variability (mean = 8.5‰), suggesting predominance of autotrophic respiration of recently fixed labile C. Calculations for (Formula presented.) C in Re (median = 12.7‰) demonstrate the predominance of C fixed from days to decades. Although the boreal forest stores significant amounts of C, most of it is in the soil organic layer and the vegetation, where it is cycled relatively fast. Only minimal amounts of recent C are incorporated into the mineral soil over long timescales despite the current stocks in soils being relatively old.
Keywords
- boreal forest ecosystem, carbon cycle timescales, carbon storage, radiocarbon isotopic disequilibrium, soil respiration, total ecosystem respiration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Forestry
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Aquatic Science
- Environmental Science(all)
- Ecology
- Environmental Science(all)
- Water Science and Technology
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Soil Science
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Atmospheric Science
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
- Palaeontology
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In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 129, No. 9, e2024JG008191, 31.08.2024.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Radiocarbon Isotopic Disequilibrium Shows Little Incorporation of New Carbon in Mineral Soils of a Boreal Forest Ecosystem
AU - Tangarife-Escobar, Andrés
AU - Guggenberger, Georg
AU - Feng, Xiaojuan
AU - Muñoz, Estefanía
AU - Chanca, Ingrid
AU - Peichl, Matthias
AU - Smith, Paul
AU - Sierra, Carlos A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).
PY - 2024/8/31
Y1 - 2024/8/31
N2 - Boreal forests fix substantial amounts of atmospheric carbon (C). However, the timescales at which this C is cycled through the ecosystem are not yet well understood. To elucidate the temporal dynamics between photosynthesis, allocation and respiration, we assessed the radiocarbon ((Formula presented.)) disequilibrium (D) between different C pools and the current atmosphere to understand the fate of C in a boreal forest ecosystem. Samples of vegetation, fungi, soil and atmospheric (Formula presented.) were collected at the Integrated Carbon Observation System station Svartberget in northern Sweden. Additionally, we analyzed the (Formula presented.) C- (Formula presented.) from incubated topsoil and forest floor soil respiration (FFSR) collected over a 24-hr cycle, and calculated the (Formula presented.) C signature of the total ecosystem respiration (Re) using the Miller-Tans method. We found that vegetation pools presented a positive D enriched with bomb (Formula presented.), suggesting a fast-cycling rate (months to years) for living biomass and intermediate (years to decades) for dead biomass. In contrast, mineral soils showed a negative D, indicating minimal incorporation of bomb (Formula presented.). FFSR showed diurnal (Formula presented.) C variability (mean = 8.5‰), suggesting predominance of autotrophic respiration of recently fixed labile C. Calculations for (Formula presented.) C in Re (median = 12.7‰) demonstrate the predominance of C fixed from days to decades. Although the boreal forest stores significant amounts of C, most of it is in the soil organic layer and the vegetation, where it is cycled relatively fast. Only minimal amounts of recent C are incorporated into the mineral soil over long timescales despite the current stocks in soils being relatively old.
AB - Boreal forests fix substantial amounts of atmospheric carbon (C). However, the timescales at which this C is cycled through the ecosystem are not yet well understood. To elucidate the temporal dynamics between photosynthesis, allocation and respiration, we assessed the radiocarbon ((Formula presented.)) disequilibrium (D) between different C pools and the current atmosphere to understand the fate of C in a boreal forest ecosystem. Samples of vegetation, fungi, soil and atmospheric (Formula presented.) were collected at the Integrated Carbon Observation System station Svartberget in northern Sweden. Additionally, we analyzed the (Formula presented.) C- (Formula presented.) from incubated topsoil and forest floor soil respiration (FFSR) collected over a 24-hr cycle, and calculated the (Formula presented.) C signature of the total ecosystem respiration (Re) using the Miller-Tans method. We found that vegetation pools presented a positive D enriched with bomb (Formula presented.), suggesting a fast-cycling rate (months to years) for living biomass and intermediate (years to decades) for dead biomass. In contrast, mineral soils showed a negative D, indicating minimal incorporation of bomb (Formula presented.). FFSR showed diurnal (Formula presented.) C variability (mean = 8.5‰), suggesting predominance of autotrophic respiration of recently fixed labile C. Calculations for (Formula presented.) C in Re (median = 12.7‰) demonstrate the predominance of C fixed from days to decades. Although the boreal forest stores significant amounts of C, most of it is in the soil organic layer and the vegetation, where it is cycled relatively fast. Only minimal amounts of recent C are incorporated into the mineral soil over long timescales despite the current stocks in soils being relatively old.
KW - boreal forest ecosystem
KW - carbon cycle timescales
KW - carbon storage
KW - radiocarbon isotopic disequilibrium
KW - soil respiration
KW - total ecosystem respiration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202838316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2024JG008191
DO - 10.1029/2024JG008191
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85202838316
VL - 129
JO - Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
JF - Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
SN - 2169-8953
IS - 9
M1 - e2024JG008191
ER -