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Andreas Persson

Andreas Persson

Senior lecturer

Andreas Persson

Is the subarctic landscape still a carbon sink? Evidence from a detailed catchment balance

Author

  • Erik J. Lundin
  • Jonatan Klaminder
  • Reiner Giesler
  • Andreas Persson
  • David Olefeldt
  • Michal Heliasz
  • Torben R. Christensen
  • Jan Karlsson

Summary, in English

Climate warming raises the question whether high-latitude landscape still function as net carbon (C) sinks. By compiling an integrated C balance for an intensely studied subarctic catchment, we show that this catchment's C balance is not likely to be a strong current sink of C, a commonly held assumption. In fact, it is more plausible (71% probability) that the studied catchment functions as a C source (-11 ± 20 g C m-2 yr-1). Analyses of individual fluxes indicate that soil and aquatic C losses offset C sequestering in other landscape components (e.g., peatlands and aboveground forest biomass). Our results stress the importance of fully integrated catchment C balance estimates and highlight the importance of upland soils and their interaction with the aquatic network for the catchment C balance.

Department/s

  • Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
  • MERGE: ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate

Publishing year

2016-03-16

Language

English

Pages

1988-1995

Publication/Series

Geophysical Research Letters

Volume

43

Issue

5

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Topic

  • Climate Research

Keywords

  • aquatic ecosystems
  • carbon balance
  • sink
  • source
  • subarctic
  • terrestrial ecosystems

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0094-8276