Assessment of winter fluxes of CO2 and CH4 in boreal forest soils of central Alaska estimated by the profile method and the chamber method: a diagnosis of methane emission and implications for the regional carbon budget

Yongwon Kim; Masahito Ueyama; Fumiko Nakagawa; Urumu Tsunogai; Yoshinobu Harazono; Noriyuki Tanaka

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0889.2006.00233.x

Assessment of winter fluxes of CO2 and CH4 in boreal forest soils of central Alaska estimated by the profile method and the chamber method: a diagnosis of methane emission and implications for the regional carbon budget

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Volume 59 (2007): Issue 2

By: Yongwon Kim, Masahito Ueyama, Fumiko Nakagawa, Urumu Tsunogai, Yoshinobu Harazono and Noriyuki Tanaka

Open Access

|Jan 2007

Abstract

This research was carried out to estimate the winter fluxes of CO₂ and CH₄ using the concentration profile method and the chamber method in black spruce forest soils in central Alaska during the winter of 2004/5. The average winter fluxes of CO₂ and CH₄ by chamber and profile methods were 0.24 ± 0.06 (SE; standard error) and 0.21 ± 0.06 gCO₂-C/m²/d, and 21.4 ± 5.6 and 21.4 ± 14 μgCH₄-C/m²/hr. This suggests that the fluxes estimated by the two methods are not significantly different based on a one-way ANOVA with a 95% confidence level. The hypothesis on the processes of CH₄ transport/production/emission in underlying snow-covered boreal forest soils is proven by the pressure differences between air and in soil at 30 cm depth. The winter CO₂ emission corresponds to 23% of the annual CO₂ emitted from Alaska black spruce forest soils, which resulted in the sum of mainly root respiration and microbial respiration during the winter based on the δ¹³CO₂ of .22.5‰. The average wintertime emissions of CO₂ and CH₄ were 49 ± 13 gCO₂-C/m²/season and 0.11 ± 0.07 gCH₄-C/m²/season, respectively. This implies that winter emissions of CO₂ and CH₄ are an important part of the annual carbon budget in seasonally snow-covered terrain of typical boreal forest soils.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2006.00233.x | Journal eISSN: 1600-0889

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Language: English

Page range: 223 - 233

Submitted on: Jan 9, 2006

Accepted on: Aug 18, 2006

Published on: Jan 1, 2007

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 2007 Yongwon Kim, Masahito Ueyama, Fumiko Nakagawa, Urumu Tsunogai, Yoshinobu Harazono, Noriyuki Tanaka, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 59 (2007): Issue 2