Assessing the impact of fire on the seasonal dynamics of atmospheric CO2 at high northern latitudes
Abstract
We combined eddy covariance, remote sensing, and atmospheric transport modeling approaches to examine the impact of fire in the boreal forest on atmospheric carbon dioxide trends. Eddy covariance measurements from three sites in interior Alaska that form a chronosequence of time since fire provide evidence that the onset of CO2 drawdown is delayed by approximately 3 weeks in post fire ecosystems because of a shift from evergreen conifer (Picea mariana) to broadleaf deciduous (Populus tremuloides) plant functional types. While not all successional trajectories involve a shift from evergreen to deciduous species, an analysis of satellite-derived NDVI in fire scars across boreal North America provides evidence for significant, widespread delays in the onset of leaf area and consequently NPP in the decade following fire disturbance. Taken together, the NEP and NPP data suggest that increased levels of fire disturbance within the boreal zone would decrease biome CO2 uptake during the early part of the growing season and could potentially offset changes caused by spring warming.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002AGUFM.A11E..09R
- Keywords:
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- 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions;
- 1615 Biogeochemical processes (4805);
- 1640 Remote sensing