Quantifying Net Carbon Exchanges Between the Atmosphere and Terrestrial Biosphere in the Arctic: What Have We Learned through Decade Regional Modeling Studies?

Abstract:

Observed Arctic warming has been projected to continue in this century. Permafrost degradation is thus expected to continue, exposing large amounts of carbon for decomposition. Dynamics of Arctic landscape and hydrology are complicated due to changing climate and thawing permafrost, affecting the carbon biogeochemical cycling in the region. Further, human activities together with changing climate transform the regional land use and land cover, including wildfires, logging, and agricultural land conversion. This presentation will review the effects of factors, controls, and processes as well as landscape types (e.g., forests vs. lakes) on carbon biogeochemistry based on regional modeling studies and observations. Specific effects on carbon dynamics to be discussed will include: 1) thawing permafrost; 2) fire disturbances; 2) atmospheric carbon dioxide; 3) inorganic and organic nitrogen uptake by plants; 4) priming; 5) aerobic and anaerobic organic matter decomposition; and 6) various complexities of microbial physiology of soils. Partitioning the contribution of these processes to regional carbon dynamics shall help us improve the terrestrial biogeochemistry models, an important component of Earth System Models that are used to project our future climate.