Green house gas flux at high latitudes – constraints and susceptibility to a changing climate

Abstract:

High latitude boreal forests and peatlands contribute importantly to the land-atmosphere exchange of both carbon dioxide and methane. High latitude biomes are also identified as most vulnerable to changing climate. High latitudes are characterized by a strong seasonality in incoming solar radiation, weather conditions and biogeochemical processes. The strong seasonality in incoming solar radiation, not to change in response to a changing climate, constitute firm constraints on how changes in air temperature, evapotranspiration and precipitation will affect biogeochemical processes underlying the land atmosphere exchange of green house gases. Timing of the soil frost thaw and plant phenology thus constitutes two master controls on how fluxes of both CO2 and CH4 will be affected by weather conditions. In addition also the wintertime conditions importantly affect GHG fluxes both during winter time as well as during the succeeding summer. Examples will primarily be given for peatlands and coniferous forests.