NET EMISSIONS OF CH4 AND CO2 IN ALASKA: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE REGION'S GREENHOUSE GAS BUDGET
Corresponding Editor: M. L. Goulden.
Abstract
We used a biogeochemistry model, the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM), to study the net methane (CH4) fluxes between Alaskan ecosystems and the atmosphere. We estimated that the current net emissions of CH4 (emissions minus consumption) from Alaskan soils are 3 Tg CH4/yr. Wet tundra ecosystems are responsible for 75% of the region's net emissions, while dry tundra and upland boreal forests are responsible for 50% and 45% of total consumption over the region, respectively. In response to climate change over the 21st century, our simulations indicated that CH4 emissions from wet soils would be enhanced more than consumption by dry soils of tundra and boreal forests. As a consequence, we projected that net CH4 emissions will almost double by the end of the century in response to high‐latitude warming and associated climate changes. When we placed these CH4 emissions in the context of the projected carbon budget (carbon dioxide [CO2] and CH4) for Alaska at the end of the 21st century, we estimated that Alaska will be a net source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere of 69 Tg CO2 equivalents/yr, that is, a balance between net methane emissions of 131 Tg CO2 equivalents/yr and carbon sequestration of 17 Tg C/yr (62 Tg CO2 equivalents/yr).
Number of times cited: 36
- Christopher Potter, Ecosystem carbon emissions from 2015 forest fires in interior Alaska, Carbon Balance and Management, 13, 1, (2018).
- A. David McGuire, Hélène Genet, Zhou Lyu, Neal Pastick, Sarah Stackpoole, Richard Birdsey, David D'Amore, Yujie He, T. Scott Rupp, Robert Striegl, Bruce K. Wylie, Xiaoping Zhou, Qianlai Zhuang and Zhiliang Zhu, Assessing historical and projected carbon balance of Alaska: A synthesis of results and policy/management implications, Ecological Applications, 28, 6, (1396-1412), (2018).
- Zhou Lyu, Hélène Genet, Yujie He, Qianlai Zhuang, A. David McGuire, Alec Bennett, Amy Breen, Joy Clein, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Kristofer Johnson, Tom Kurkowski, Neal J. Pastick, T. Scott Rupp, Bruce K. Wylie and Zhiliang Zhu, The role of environmental driving factors in historical and projected carbon dynamics of wetland ecosystems in Alaska, Ecological Applications, 28, 6, (1377-1395), (2018).
- Neal J. Pastick, Paul Duffy, Hélène Genet, T. Scott Rupp, Bruce K. Wylie, Kristofer D. Johnson, M. Torre Jorgenson, Norman Bliss, A. David McGuire, Elchin E. Jafarov and Joseph F. Knight, Historical and projected trends in landscape drivers affecting carbon dynamics in Alaska, Ecological Applications, 27, 5, (1383-1402), (2017).
- Eric J. Chapman, Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz, Daniel L. Childers, Merritt R. Turetsky and Mark P. Waldrop, Soil microbial community composition is correlated to soil carbon processing along a boreal wetland formation gradient, European Journal of Soil Biology, 10.1016/j.ejsobi.2017.08.001, 82, (17-26), (2017).
- Hanqin Tian, Guangsheng Chen, Chaoqun Lu, Xiaofeng Xu, Daniel J. Hayes, Wei Ren, Shufen Pan, Deborah N. Huntzinger and Steven C. Wofsy, North American terrestrial CO2 uptake largely offset by CH4 and N2O emissions: toward a full accounting of the greenhouse gas budget, Climatic Change, 10.1007/s10584-014-1072-9, 129, 3-4, (413-426), (2014).
- Elizabeth M. Herndon, Ziming Yang, John Bargar, Noemie Janot, Tom Z. Regier, David E. Graham, Stan D. Wullschleger, Baohua Gu and Liyuan Liang, Geochemical drivers of organic matter decomposition in arctic tundra soils, Biogeochemistry, 10.1007/s10533-015-0165-5, 126, 3, (397-414), (2015).
- Zeli Tan and Qianlai Zhuang, Arctic lakes are continuous methane sources to the atmosphere under warming conditions, Environmental Research Letters, 10.1088/1748-9326/10/5/054016, 10, 5, (054016), (2015).
- Corey J.A. Bradshaw and Ian G. Warkentin, Global estimates of boreal forest carbon stocks and flux, Global and Planetary Change, 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.02.004, 128, (24-30), (2015).
- Xiaoxue Zhu, Caiyun Luo, Shiping Wang, Zhenhua Zhang, Shujuan Cui, Xiaoying Bao, Lili Jiang, Yaoming Li, Xine Li, Qi Wang and Yang Zhou, Effects of warming, grazing/cutting and nitrogen fertilization on greenhouse gas fluxes during growing seasons in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.09.008, 214-215, (506-514), (2015).
- Qianlai Zhuang, Xudong Zhu, Yujie He, Catherine Prigent, Jerry M Melillo, A David McGuire, Ronald G Prinn and David W Kicklighter, Influence of changes in wetland inundation extent on net fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane in northern high latitudes from 1993 to 2004, Environmental Research Letters, 10.1088/1748-9326/10/9/095009, 10, 9, (095009), (2015).
- Jon Moen, Lucy Rist, Kevin Bishop, F. S. Chapin, David Ellison, Timo Kuuluvainen, Hans Petersson, Klaus J. Puettmann, Jeremy Rayner, Ian G. Warkentin and Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Eye on the Taiga: Removing Global Policy Impediments to Safeguard the Boreal Forest, Conservation Letters, 7, 4, (408-418), (2014).
- Yujie He, Miriam C. Jones, Qianlai Zhuang, Christopher Bochicchio, Benjamin S. Felzer, Erik Mason and Zicheng Yu, Evaluating CO2 and CH4 dynamics of Alaskan ecosystems during the Holocene Thermal Maximum, Quaternary Science Reviews, 10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.12.019, 86, (63-77), (2014).
- Rachel Y.-W. Chang, Charles E. Miller, Steven J. Dinardo, Anna Karion, Colm Sweeney, Bruce C. Daube, John M. Henderson, Marikate E. Mountain, Janusz Eluszkiewicz, John B. Miller, Lori M. P. Bruhwiler and Steven C. Wofsy, Methane emissions from Alaska in 2012 from CARVE airborne observations, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 10.1073/pnas.1412953111, 111, 47, (16694-16699), (2014).
- Daniel J Hayes, David W Kicklighter, A David McGuire, Min Chen, Qianlai Zhuang, Fengming Yuan, Jerry M Melillo and Stan D Wullschleger, The impacts of recent permafrost thaw on land–atmosphere greenhouse gas exchange, Environmental Research Letters, 10.1088/1748-9326/9/4/045005, 9, 4, (045005), (2014).
- David M. Tratt, Kerry N. Buckland, Jeffrey L. Hall, Patrick D. Johnson, Eric R. Keim, Ira Leifer, Karl Westberg and Stephen J. Young, Airborne visualization and quantification of discrete methane sources in the environment, Remote Sensing of Environment, 154, (74), (2014).
- Carmel E Johnston, Stephanie A Ewing, Jennifer W Harden, Ruth K Varner, Kimberly P Wickland, Joshua C Koch, Christopher C Fuller, Kristen Manies and M Torre Jorgenson, Effect of permafrost thaw on CO 2 and CH 4 exchange in a western Alaska peatland chronosequence , Environmental Research Letters, 10.1088/1748-9326/9/8/085004, 9, 8, (085004), (2014).
- Yujie He, Qianlai Zhuang, A. David McGuire, Yaling Liu and Min Chen, Alternative ways of using field‐based estimates to calibrate ecosystem models and their implications for carbon cycle studies, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 118, 3, (983-993), (2013).
- Qianlai Zhuang, Min Chen, Kai Xu, Jinyun Tang, Eri Saikawa, Yanyu Lu, Jerry M. Melillo, Ronald G. Prinn and A. David McGuire, Response of global soil consumption of atmospheric methane to changes in atmospheric climate and nitrogen deposition, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 27, 3, (650-663), (2013).
- Xudong Zhu, Qianlai Zhuang, Zhangcai Qin, Mikhail Glagolev and Lulu Song, Estimating wetland methane emissions from the northern high latitudes from 1990 to 2009 using artificial neural networks, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 27, 2, (592-604), (2013).
- Christopher Potter, Steven Klooster and Vanessa Genovese, Alaska ecosystem carbon fluxes estimated from MODIS satellite data inputs from 2000 to 2010, Carbon Balance and Management, 10.1186/1750-0680-8-12, 8, 1, (12), (2013).
- Frans-Jan W. Parmentier, Torben R. Christensen, Lise Lotte Sørensen, Søren Rysgaard, A. David McGuire, Paul A. Miller and Donald A. Walker, The impact of lower sea-ice extent on Arctic greenhouse-gas exchange, Nature Climate Change, 10.1038/nclimate1784, 3, 3, (195-202), (2013).
- Hanqin Tian, Chaoqun Lu, Guangsheng Chen, Bo Tao, Shufen Pan, Stephen J Del Grosso, Xiaofeng Xu, Lori Bruhwiler, Steven C Wofsy, Eric A Kort and Stephen A Prior, Contemporary and projected biogenic fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide in North American terrestrial ecosystems, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10, 10, (528-536), (2012).
- Katey M. Walter Anthony, Peter Anthony, Guido Grosse and Jeffrey Chanton, Geologic methane seeps along boundaries of Arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers, Nature Geoscience, 5, 6, (419), (2012).
- Xiaofeng Xu and Hanqin Tian, Methane exchange between marshland and the atmosphere over China during 1949–2008, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 26, 2, (2012).
- Abdulghani Hasan, Petter Pilesjö and Andreas Persson, On generating digital elevation models from liDAR data – resolution versus accuracy and topographic wetness index indices in northern peatlands, Geodesy and Cartography, 10.3846/20296991.2012.702983, 38, 2, (57-69), (2012).
- Jane M. Wolken, Teresa N. Hollingsworth, T. Scott Rupp, F. Stuart Chapin, Sarah F. Trainor, Tara M. Barrett, Patrick F. Sullivan, A. David McGuire, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Paul E. Hennon, Erik A. Beever, Jeff S. Conn, Lisa K. Crone, David V. D'Amore, Nancy Fresco, Thomas A. Hanley, Knut Kielland, James J. Kruse, Trista Patterson, Edward A. G. Schuur, David L. Verbyla and John Yarie, Evidence and implications of recent and projected climate change in Alaska's forest ecosystems, Ecosphere, 2, 11, (1-35), (2011).
- Jinyun Tang and Qianlai Zhuang, Modeling soil thermal and hydrological dynamics and changes of growing season in Alaskan terrestrial ecosystems, Climatic Change, 10.1007/s10584-010-9988-1, 107, 3-4, (481-510), (2010).
- A. D. McGUIRE, D. J. HAYES, D. W. KICKLIGHTER, M. MANIZZA, Q. ZHUANG, M. CHEN, M. J. FOLLOWS, K. R. GURNEY, J. W. McCLELLAND, J. M. MELILLO, B. J. PETERSON and R. G. PRINN, An analysis of the carbon balance of the Arctic Basin from 1997 to 2006, Tellus B, 62, 5, (455-474), (2010).
- A David McGuire, Robie W Macdonald, Edward AG Schuur, Jennifer W Harden, Peter Kuhry, Daniel J Hayes, Torben R Christensen and Martin Heimann, The carbon budget of the northern cryosphere region, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 10.1016/j.cosust.2010.05.003, 2, 4, (231-236), (2010).
- S. Wang, X. Yang, X. Lin, Y. Hu, C. Luo, G. Xu, Z. Zhang, A. Su, X. Chang, Z. Chao and J. Duan, Methane emission by plant communities in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: a new experimental study of alpine meadows and oat pasture, Biology Letters, 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0123, 5, 4, (535-538), (2009).
- F. Stuart Chapin III, Jack McFarland, A. David McGuire, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Roger W. Ruess and Knut Kielland, The changing global carbon cycle: linking plant–soil carbon dynamics to global consequences, Journal of Ecology, 97, 5, (840-850), (2009).
- M. R. Turetsky, C. C. Treat, M. P. Waldrop, J. M. Waddington, J. W. Harden and A. D. McGuire, Short‐term response of methane fluxes and methanogen activity to water table and soil warming manipulations in an Alaskan peatland, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 113, G3, (2008).
- Q. Zhuang and W. S. Reeburgh, Introduction to special section on Synthesis of Recent Terrestrial Methane Emission Studies, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 113, G3, (2008).
- K.E Ruckstuhl, E.A Johnson and K Miyanishi, Introduction. The boreal forest and global change, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 10.1098/rstb.2007.2196, 363, 1501, (2243-2247), (2008).
- Stephen Sitch, A. David McGuire, John Kimball, Nicola Gedney, John Gamon, Ryan Engstrom, Annett Wolf, Qianlai Zhuang, Joy Clein and Kyle C. McDonald, ASSESSING THE CARBON BALANCE OF CIRCUMPOLAR ARCTIC TUNDRA USING REMOTE SENSING AND PROCESS MODELING, Ecological Applications, 17, 1, (213-234), (2007).




