Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Soil carbon loss in warmed subarctic grasslands is rapid and restricted to topsoil

Verbrigghe, Niel ; Leblans, Niki I.W. ; Sigurdsson, Bjarni D. ; Vicca, Sara ; Fang, Chao ; Fuchslueger, Lucia ; Soong, Jennifer L. ; Weedon, James T. ; Poeplau, Christopher and Ariza-Carricondo, Cristina , et al. (2022) In Biogeosciences 19(14). p.3381-3393
Abstract

Global warming may lead to carbon transfers from soils to the atmosphere, yet this positive feedback to the climate system remains highly uncertain, especially in subsoils . Using natural geothermal soil warming gradients of up to +6.4C in subarctic grasslands , we show that soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks decline strongly and linearly with warming (-2.8tha-1C-1). Comparison of SOC stock changes following medium-term (5 and 10 years) and long-term (>50 years) warming revealed that all SOC stock reduction occurred within the first 5 years of warming, after which continued warming no longer reduced SOC stocks. This rapid equilibration of SOC observed in Andosol suggests a critical role for ecosystem adaptations to warming and could... (More)

Global warming may lead to carbon transfers from soils to the atmosphere, yet this positive feedback to the climate system remains highly uncertain, especially in subsoils . Using natural geothermal soil warming gradients of up to +6.4C in subarctic grasslands , we show that soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks decline strongly and linearly with warming (-2.8tha-1C-1). Comparison of SOC stock changes following medium-term (5 and 10 years) and long-term (>50 years) warming revealed that all SOC stock reduction occurred within the first 5 years of warming, after which continued warming no longer reduced SOC stocks. This rapid equilibration of SOC observed in Andosol suggests a critical role for ecosystem adaptations to warming and could imply short-lived soil carbon-climate feedbacks. Our data further revealed that the soil C loss occurred in all aggregate size fractions and that SOC stock reduction was only visible in topsoil (0-10cm). SOC stocks in subsoil (10-30cm), where plant roots were absent, showed apparent conservation after >50 years of warming. The observed depth-dependent warming responses indicate that explicit vertical resolution is a prerequisite for global models to accurately project future SOC stocks for this soil type and should be investigated for soils with other mineralogies.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Biogeosciences
volume
19
issue
14
pages
13 pages
publisher
Copernicus GmbH
external identifiers
  • scopus:85135092756
ISSN
1726-4170
DOI
10.5194/bg-19-3381-2022
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3b16e899-6fd1-4252-b05a-6debf4aa1003
date added to LUP
2022-10-21 09:43:22
date last changed
2022-10-21 09:43:22
@article{3b16e899-6fd1-4252-b05a-6debf4aa1003,
  abstract     = {{<p>Global warming may lead to carbon transfers from soils to the atmosphere, yet this positive feedback to the climate system remains highly uncertain, especially in subsoils . Using natural geothermal soil warming gradients of up to +6.4C in subarctic grasslands , we show that soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks decline strongly and linearly with warming (-2.8tha-1C-1). Comparison of SOC stock changes following medium-term (5 and 10 years) and long-term (&gt;50 years) warming revealed that all SOC stock reduction occurred within the first 5 years of warming, after which continued warming no longer reduced SOC stocks. This rapid equilibration of SOC observed in Andosol suggests a critical role for ecosystem adaptations to warming and could imply short-lived soil carbon-climate feedbacks. Our data further revealed that the soil C loss occurred in all aggregate size fractions and that SOC stock reduction was only visible in topsoil (0-10cm). SOC stocks in subsoil (10-30cm), where plant roots were absent, showed apparent conservation after &gt;50 years of warming. The observed depth-dependent warming responses indicate that explicit vertical resolution is a prerequisite for global models to accurately project future SOC stocks for this soil type and should be investigated for soils with other mineralogies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Verbrigghe, Niel and Leblans, Niki I.W. and Sigurdsson, Bjarni D. and Vicca, Sara and Fang, Chao and Fuchslueger, Lucia and Soong, Jennifer L. and Weedon, James T. and Poeplau, Christopher and Ariza-Carricondo, Cristina and Bahn, Michael and Guenet, Bertrand and Gundersen, Per and Gunnarsdóttir, Gunnhildur E. and Kätterer, Thomas and Liu, Zhanfeng and Maljanen, Marja and Marañón-Jiménez, Sara and Meeran, Kathiravan and Oddsdóttir, Edda S. and Ostonen, Ivika and Peñuelas, Josep and Richter, Andreas and Sardans, Jordi and Sigurðsson, Páll and Torn, Margaret S. and Van Bodegom, Peter M. and Verbruggen, Erik and Walker, Tom W.N. and Wallander, Håkan and Janssens, Ivan A.}},
  issn         = {{1726-4170}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{14}},
  pages        = {{3381--3393}},
  publisher    = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
  series       = {{Biogeosciences}},
  title        = {{Soil carbon loss in warmed subarctic grasslands is rapid and restricted to topsoil}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3381-2022}},
  doi          = {{10.5194/bg-19-3381-2022}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}