Developing Indicators of CO2 Flux from Arctic Wetlands
Abstract
The study of carbon flux from Arctic wetlands is a top research priority as our climate continues to change. Currently, wetlands are considered to be a global sink of carbon dioxide, but anthropogenic impacts are affecting the health of wetlands which may cause them to shift from sinks to sources of carbon. Despite previous research on the role of wetlands in the carbon cycle, their ability to sequester and release carbon under a changing climate is still poorly understood; thus, wetlands are not considered adequately in many climate change scenarios, and they are underrepresented in global carbon assessments. Scientists have attempted to explain the variability of carbon flux from wetlands through a variety of factors, but more research is needed to better understand the potential variables that may be driving variations in carbon dioxide flux. In this research, we analyze data from fourteen wetland sites in the Arctic region from Ameriflux and Euroflux micrometeorological flux towers which employ eddy covariance methods in order to examine a crucial uncertainty regarding the evolution of the carbon cycle in wetland ecosystems. We first evaluate how carbon dioxide flux and several environmental variables - air temperature, relative humidity, evapotranspiration, precipitation, and the amount of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) - are changing over time. We then investigate the influence of these variables on carbon dioxide flux by constructing multiple Bayesian models. Analysis of these Arctic sites indicate that nearly every site is a sink for carbon dioxide with strong interannual variability. Additionally, there appears to be significant trends among the variables over time with the potential to influence carbon dioxide flux. Through this unique synthesis, we can better understand the role wetlands play in the global carbon cycle under climate variability and climate change allowing us to explore a fundamental cycle of our ever-changing planet.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFM.B11C0462A
- Keywords:
-
- 0414 Biogeochemical cycles;
- processes;
- and modeling;
- BIOGEOSCIENCESDE: 0475 Permafrost;
- cryosphere;
- and high-latitude processes;
- BIOGEOSCIENCESDE: 0480 Remote sensing;
- BIOGEOSCIENCESDE: 0497 Wetlands;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES