A Pan-arctic Survey about the Meaning of Winter Respiration in Northern High Latitudes

Abstract:

The arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet, with the greatest warming occurring during the winter months. Despite the cold temperatures during the winter, microbial activity continues and leads to a release of soil carbon during a criticial period when plant uptake has ceased. Due to the warming climate, huge pools of carbon stored in permafrost soils are expected to be released to the atmosphere. To identify the annual carbon balance of arctic ecosystems and potential impacts caused by a rise in temperatures, understanding the magnitude of winter respiration is essential. In order to refine current and future estimates of carbon loss from permafrost ecosystems, we conducted a pan-arctic synthesis of winter respiration from northern high latitude regions. We examined differences in cumulative winter respiration among permafrost zones, biomes, ecosystem types, and effects of measurement method on winter respiration estimates. We also examined effect of air temperature and precipitation (Worldclim database) on rates of winter respiration. The database contained 169 measurement points from 46 study sites located throughout the permafrost zones. We found that 21.6 % of annual respiration is happening during non-growing season, which can shift ecosystems from annual sinks during the growing season to net sources of carbon on an annual basis. Across studies, the average carbon loss during the winter was 66 g CO₂-C. There was a strong relationship between mean annual air temperature and winter respiration, and lower respiration in continuous compared to discontinuous permafrost zones and northern areas without permafrost. The present results clarify the contribution of winter respiration to annual carbon balance and show the sensitivity of carbon release to rising temperatures in northern high latitudes. These results suggest that permafrost degradation and increased temperature will lead to a higher release of carbon from the Arctic in wintertime, highlighting the importance of including winter respiration in current and future carbon estimates for the northern region.