Earlier snowmelt may lead to late season declines in plant productivity and carbon sequestration in Arctic tundra ecosystems

Donatella Zona; Peter M. Lafleur; Koen Hufkens; Barbara Bailey; Beniamino Gioli; George Burba; Jordan P. Goodrich; Anna K. Liljedahl; Eugénie S. Euskirchen; Jennifer D. Watts; Mary Farina; John S. Kimball; Martin Heimann; Mathias Göckede; Martijn Pallandt; Torben R. Christensen; Mikhail Mastepanov; Efrén López-Blanco; Marcin Jackowicz-Korczynski; Albertus J. Dolman; Luca Belelli Marchesini; Roisin Commane; Steven C. Wofsy; Charles E. Miller; David A. Lipson; Josh Hashemi; Kyle A. Arndt; Lars Kutzbach; David Holl; Julia Boike; Christian Wille; Torsten Sachs; Aram Kalhori; Xia Song; Xiaofeng Xu; Elyn R. Humphreys; Charles D. Koven; Oliver Sonnentag; Gesa Meyer; Gabriel H. Gosselin; Philip Marsh; Walter C. Oechel

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-07561-1

Earlier snowmelt may lead to late season declines in plant productivity and carbon sequestration in Arctic tundra ecosystems

Donatella Zona
, Peter M. Lafleur
, Koen Hufkens
, Barbara Bailey
, Beniamino Gioli
, George Burba
, Jordan P. Goodrich
, Anna K. Liljedahl
, Eugénie S. Euskirchen
, Jennifer D. Watts
, Mary Farina
, John S. Kimball
, Martin Heimann
, Mathias Göckede
, Martijn Pallandt
, Torben R. Christensen
, Mikhail Mastepanov
, Efrén López-Blanco
, Marcin Jackowicz-Korczynski
, Albertus J. Dolman

Luca Belelli Marchesini, Roisin Commane, Steven C. Wofsy, Charles E. Miller, David A. Lipson, Josh Hashemi, Kyle A. Arndt, Lars Kutzbach, David Holl, Julia Boike, Christian Wille, Torsten Sachs, Aram Kalhori, Xia Song, Xiaofeng Xu, Elyn R. Humphreys, Charles D. Koven, Oliver Sonnentag, Gesa Meyer, Gabriel H. Gosselin, Philip Marsh, Walter C. Oechel

Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Arctic warming is affecting snow cover and soil hydrology, with consequences for carbon sequestration in tundra ecosystems. The scarcity of observations in the Arctic has limited our understanding of the impact of covarying environmental drivers on the carbon balance of tundra ecosystems. In this study, we address some of these uncertainties through a novel record of 119 site-years of summer data from eddy covariance towers representing dominant tundra vegetation types located on continuous permafrost in the Arctic. Here we found that earlier snowmelt was associated with more tundra net CO₂ sequestration and higher gross primary productivity (GPP) only in June and July, but with lower net carbon sequestration and lower GPP in August. Although higher evapotranspiration (ET) can result in soil drying with the progression of the summer, we did not find significantly lower soil moisture with earlier snowmelt, nor evidence that water stress affected GPP in the late growing season. Our results suggest that the expected increased CO₂ sequestration arising from Arctic warming and the associated increase in growing season length may not materialize if tundra ecosystems are not able to continue sequestering CO₂ later in the season.

Original language	English
Article number	3986
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07561-1
State	Published - Dec 2022

Funding

The complete list of funding bodies that supported this study is included in the SI Appendix. DZ, WCO, XX, and DAL acknowledge support from the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation (NSF) (award number 1204263, and 1702797) with additional logistical support funded by the NSF Office of Polar Programs, from the NASA Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE), an Earth Ventures (EV-1) investigation, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and from the NASA ABoVE (NNX15AT74A; NNX16AF94A) Program. JDW acknowledges support from NASA NNH17ZDA001N-NIP. The Alaskan sites are located on land owned by the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation (UIC). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 727890, and by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) UAMS Grant (NE/P002552/1), and from the NOAA Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies (NOAA-CESSRST) under the Cooperative Agreement Grant # NA16SEC4810008. Part of the analysis was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). The complete list of funding bodies that supported this study is included in the SI Appendix. DZ, WCO, XX, and DAL acknowledge support from the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation (NSF) (award number 1204263, and 1702797) with additional logistical support funded by the NSF Office of Polar Programs, from the NASA Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE), an Earth Ventures (EV-1) investigation, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and from the NASA ABoVE (NNX15AT74A; NNX16AF94A) Program. JDW acknowledges support from NASA NNH17ZDA001N-NIP. The Alaskan sites are located on land owned by the Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation (UIC). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 727890, and by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) UAMS Grant (NE/P002552/1), and from the NOAA Cooperative Science Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies (NOAA-CESSRST) under the Cooperative Agreement Grant # NA16SEC4810008. Part of the analysis was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004).

Funders	Funder number
NNH17ZDA001N-NIP, NNX16AF94A, NNX15AT74A
1204263, 1702797
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences	NE/P002552/1
727890
NA16SEC4810008
Natural Environment Research Council

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Zona, D., Lafleur, P. M., Hufkens, K., Bailey, B., Gioli, B., Burba, G., Goodrich, J. P., Liljedahl, A. K., Euskirchen, E. S., Watts, J. D., Farina, M., Kimball, J. S., Heimann, M., Göckede, M., Pallandt, M., Christensen, T. R., Mastepanov, M., López-Blanco, E., Jackowicz-Korczynski, M., ... Oechel, W. C. (2022). Earlier snowmelt may lead to late season declines in plant productivity and carbon sequestration in Arctic tundra ecosystems. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 3986. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07561-1

@article{d928345430184220a861b91f277726f6,

title = "Earlier snowmelt may lead to late season declines in plant productivity and carbon sequestration in Arctic tundra ecosystems",

abstract = "Arctic warming is affecting snow cover and soil hydrology, with consequences for carbon sequestration in tundra ecosystems. The scarcity of observations in the Arctic has limited our understanding of the impact of covarying environmental drivers on the carbon balance of tundra ecosystems. In this study, we address some of these uncertainties through a novel record of 119 site-years of summer data from eddy covariance towers representing dominant tundra vegetation types located on continuous permafrost in the Arctic. Here we found that earlier snowmelt was associated with more tundra net CO2 sequestration and higher gross primary productivity (GPP) only in June and July, but with lower net carbon sequestration and lower GPP in August. Although higher evapotranspiration (ET) can result in soil drying with the progression of the summer, we did not find significantly lower soil moisture with earlier snowmelt, nor evidence that water stress affected GPP in the late growing season. Our results suggest that the expected increased CO2 sequestration arising from Arctic warming and the associated increase in growing season length may not materialize if tundra ecosystems are not able to continue sequestering CO2 later in the season.",

author = "Donatella Zona and Lafleur, \{Peter M.\} and Koen Hufkens and Barbara Bailey and Beniamino Gioli and George Burba and Goodrich, \{Jordan P.\} and Liljedahl, \{Anna K.\} and Euskirchen, \{Eug{\'e}nie S.\} and Watts, \{Jennifer D.\} and Mary Farina and Kimball, \{John S.\} and Martin Heimann and Mathias G{\"o}ckede and Martijn Pallandt and Christensen, \{Torben R.\} and Mikhail Mastepanov and Efr{\'e}n L{\'o}pez-Blanco and Marcin Jackowicz-Korczynski and Dolman, \{Albertus J.\} and Marchesini, \{Luca Belelli\} and Roisin Commane and Wofsy, \{Steven C.\} and Miller, \{Charles E.\} and Lipson, \{David A.\} and Josh Hashemi and Arndt, \{Kyle A.\} and Lars Kutzbach and David Holl and Julia Boike and Christian Wille and Torsten Sachs and Aram Kalhori and Xia Song and Xiaofeng Xu and Humphreys, \{Elyn R.\} and Koven, \{Charles D.\} and Oliver Sonnentag and Gesa Meyer and Gosselin, \{Gabriel H.\} and Philip Marsh and Oechel, \{Walter C.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/s41598-022-07561-1",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

journal = "Scientific Reports",

issn = "2045-2322",

publisher = "Nature Research",

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Zona, D, Lafleur, PM, Hufkens, K, Bailey, B, Gioli, B, Burba, G, Goodrich, JP, Liljedahl, AK, Euskirchen, ES, Watts, JD, Farina, M, Kimball, JS, Heimann, M, Göckede, M, Pallandt, M, Christensen, TR, Mastepanov, M, López-Blanco, E, Jackowicz-Korczynski, M, Dolman, AJ, Marchesini, LB, Commane, R, Wofsy, SC, Miller, CE, Lipson, DA, Hashemi, J, Arndt, KA, Kutzbach, L, Holl, D, Boike, J, Wille, C, Sachs, T, Kalhori, A, Song, X, Xu, X, Humphreys, ER, Koven, CD, Sonnentag, O, Meyer, G, Gosselin, GH, Marsh, P & Oechel, WC 2022, 'Earlier snowmelt may lead to late season declines in plant productivity and carbon sequestration in Arctic tundra ecosystems', Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, 3986. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07561-1

TY - JOUR

T1 - Earlier snowmelt may lead to late season declines in plant productivity and carbon sequestration in Arctic tundra ecosystems

AU - Zona, Donatella

AU - Lafleur, Peter M.

AU - Hufkens, Koen

AU - Bailey, Barbara

AU - Gioli, Beniamino

AU - Burba, George

AU - Goodrich, Jordan P.

AU - Liljedahl, Anna K.

AU - Euskirchen, Eugénie S.

AU - Watts, Jennifer D.

AU - Farina, Mary

AU - Kimball, John S.

AU - Heimann, Martin

AU - Göckede, Mathias

AU - Pallandt, Martijn

AU - Christensen, Torben R.

AU - Mastepanov, Mikhail

AU - López-Blanco, Efrén

AU - Jackowicz-Korczynski, Marcin

AU - Dolman, Albertus J.

AU - Marchesini, Luca Belelli

AU - Commane, Roisin

AU - Wofsy, Steven C.

AU - Miller, Charles E.

AU - Lipson, David A.

AU - Hashemi, Josh

AU - Arndt, Kyle A.

AU - Kutzbach, Lars

AU - Holl, David

AU - Boike, Julia

AU - Wille, Christian

AU - Sachs, Torsten

AU - Kalhori, Aram

AU - Song, Xia

AU - Xu, Xiaofeng

AU - Humphreys, Elyn R.

AU - Koven, Charles D.

AU - Sonnentag, Oliver

AU - Meyer, Gesa

AU - Gosselin, Gabriel H.

AU - Marsh, Philip

AU - Oechel, Walter C.

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - Arctic warming is affecting snow cover and soil hydrology, with consequences for carbon sequestration in tundra ecosystems. The scarcity of observations in the Arctic has limited our understanding of the impact of covarying environmental drivers on the carbon balance of tundra ecosystems. In this study, we address some of these uncertainties through a novel record of 119 site-years of summer data from eddy covariance towers representing dominant tundra vegetation types located on continuous permafrost in the Arctic. Here we found that earlier snowmelt was associated with more tundra net CO2 sequestration and higher gross primary productivity (GPP) only in June and July, but with lower net carbon sequestration and lower GPP in August. Although higher evapotranspiration (ET) can result in soil drying with the progression of the summer, we did not find significantly lower soil moisture with earlier snowmelt, nor evidence that water stress affected GPP in the late growing season. Our results suggest that the expected increased CO2 sequestration arising from Arctic warming and the associated increase in growing season length may not materialize if tundra ecosystems are not able to continue sequestering CO2 later in the season.

AB - Arctic warming is affecting snow cover and soil hydrology, with consequences for carbon sequestration in tundra ecosystems. The scarcity of observations in the Arctic has limited our understanding of the impact of covarying environmental drivers on the carbon balance of tundra ecosystems. In this study, we address some of these uncertainties through a novel record of 119 site-years of summer data from eddy covariance towers representing dominant tundra vegetation types located on continuous permafrost in the Arctic. Here we found that earlier snowmelt was associated with more tundra net CO2 sequestration and higher gross primary productivity (GPP) only in June and July, but with lower net carbon sequestration and lower GPP in August. Although higher evapotranspiration (ET) can result in soil drying with the progression of the summer, we did not find significantly lower soil moisture with earlier snowmelt, nor evidence that water stress affected GPP in the late growing season. Our results suggest that the expected increased CO2 sequestration arising from Arctic warming and the associated increase in growing season length may not materialize if tundra ecosystems are not able to continue sequestering CO2 later in the season.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85126857135

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-022-07561-1

DO - 10.1038/s41598-022-07561-1

M3 - Article

C2 - 35314726

AN - SCOPUS:85126857135

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 12

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

IS - 1

M1 - 3986

ER -

Earlier snowmelt may lead to late season declines in plant productivity and carbon sequestration in Arctic tundra ecosystems

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