The paleoclimatic footprint in the soil carbon stock of the Tibetan permafrost region

Jinzhi Ding, Tao Wang (), Shilong Piao, Pete Smith, Ganlin Zhang, Zhengjie Yan, Shuai Ren, Dan Liu, Shiping Wang, Shengyun Chen, Fuqiang Dai, Jinsheng He, Yingnian Li, Yongwen Liu, Jiafu Mao, Altaf Arain, Hanqin Tian, Xiaoying Shi, Yuanhe Yang, Ning Zeng and Lin Zhao
Additional contact information
Jinzhi Ding: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Tao Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shilong Piao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Pete Smith: University of Aberdeen
Ganlin Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhengjie Yan: Lanzhou University
Shuai Ren: Peking University
Dan Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shiping Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shengyun Chen: State Key Laboratory of Cryosphere Science Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources Chinese Academy of Sciences
Fuqiang Dai: Chongqing Technology and Business University
Jinsheng He: Peking University
Yingnian Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yongwen Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jiafu Mao: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Altaf Arain: McMaster University
Hanqin Tian: Auburn University
Xiaoying Shi: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Yuanhe Yang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ning Zeng: University of Maryland
Lin Zhao: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Tibetan permafrost largely formed during the late Pleistocene glacial period and shrank in the Holocene Thermal Maximum period. Quantifying the impacts of paleoclimatic extremes on soil carbon stock can shed light on the vulnerability of permafrost carbon in the future. Here, we synthesize data from 1114 sites across the Tibetan permafrost region to report that paleoclimate is more important than modern climate in shaping current permafrost carbon distribution, and its importance increases with soil depth, mainly through forming the soilʼs physiochemical properties. We derive a new estimate of modern soil carbon stock to 3 m depth by including the paleoclimate effects, and find that the stock ( $${\mathrm{36}}{\mathrm{.6}}_{{\mathrm{ - 2}}{\mathrm{.4}}}^{{\mathrm{ + 2}}.3}$$ 36 .6 -2 .4 +2 . 3 PgC) is triple that predicted by ecosystem models (11.5 ± 4.2 s.e.m PgC), which use pre-industrial climate to initialize the soil carbon pool. The discrepancy highlights the urgent need to incorporate paleoclimate information into model initialization for simulating permafrost soil carbon stocks.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12214-5

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