Ecosystem carbon storage in arctic tundra reduced by long-term nutrient fertilization

Michelle C. Mack (), Edward A. G. Schuur, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Gaius R. Shaver and F. Stuart Chapin
Additional contact information
Michelle C. Mack: University of Florida
Edward A. G. Schuur: University of Florida
M. Syndonia Bret-Harte: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Gaius R. Shaver: Marine Biological Laboratory
F. Stuart Chapin: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Nature, 2004, vol. 431, issue 7007, 440-443

Abstract: Abstract Global warming is predicted to be most pronounced at high latitudes, and observational evidence over the past 25 years suggests that this warming is already under way1. One-third of the global soil carbon pool is stored in northern latitudes2, so there is considerable interest in understanding how the carbon balance of northern ecosystems will respond to climate warming3,4. Observations of controls over plant productivity in tundra and boreal ecosystems5,6 have been used to build a conceptual model of response to warming, where warmer soils and increased decomposition of plant litter increase nutrient availability, which, in turn, stimulates plant production and increases ecosystem carbon storage6,7. Here we present the results of a long-term fertilization experiment in Alaskan tundra, in which increased nutrient availability caused a net ecosystem loss of almost 2,000 grams of carbon per square meter over 20 years. We found that annual aboveground plant production doubled during the experiment. Losses of carbon and nitrogen from deep soil layers, however, were substantial and more than offset the increased carbon and nitrogen storage in plant biomass and litter. Our study suggests that projected release of soil nutrients associated with high-latitude warming may further amplify carbon release from soils, causing a net loss of ecosystem carbon and a positive feedback to climate warming.

Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02887 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:431:y:2004:i:7007:d:10.1038_nature02887

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature02887

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().