Variation in CO2 and CH4 fluxes among land cover types in heterogeneous Arctic tundra in northeastern Siberia

Abstract

Arctic tundra is facing unprecedented warming, resulting in shifts in the vegetation, thaw regimes, and potentially in the ecosystem–atmosphere exchange of carbon (C). However, the estimates of regional carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) budgets are highly uncertain. We measured CO2 and CH4 fluxes, vegetation composition and leaf area index (LAI), thaw depth, and soil wetness in Tiksi (71∘ N, 128∘ E), a heterogeneous site located within the prostrate dwarf-shrub tundra zone in northeastern Siberia. Using the closed chamber method, we determined the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2, ecosystem respiration in the dark (ER), ecosystem gross photosynthesis (Pg), and CH4 flux during the growing season. We applied a previously developed high-spatial-resolution land cover map over an area of 35.8 km2 for spatial extrapolation. Among the land cover types varying from barren to dwarf-shrub tundra and tundra wetlands, the NEE and Pg at the photosynthetically active photon flux density of 800 µmol m−2 h−1 (NEE800 and Pg800) were greatest in the graminoid-dominated habitats, i.e., streamside meadow and fens, with NEE800 and Pg800 of up to −21 (uptake) and 28 mmol m−2 h−1, respectively. Vascular LAI was a robust predictor of both NEE800 and Pg800 and, on a landscape scale, the fens were disproportionately important for the summertime CO2 sequestration. Dry tundra, including the dwarf-shrub and lichen tundra, had smaller CO2 exchange rates. The fens were the largest source of CH4, while the dry mineral soil tundra consumed atmospheric CH4, which on a landscape scale amounted to −9 % of the total CH4 balance during the growing season. The largest seasonal mean CH4 consumption rate of 0.02 mmol m−2 h−1 occurred in sand- and stone-covered barren areas. The high consumption rate agrees with the estimate based on the eddy covariance measurements at the same site. We acknowledge the uncertainty involved in spatial extrapolations due to a small number of replicates per land cover type. This study highlights the need to distinguish different land cover types including the dry tundra habitats to account for their different CO2 and CH4 flux patterns, especially the consumption of atmospheric CH4, when estimating tundra C exchange on a larger spatial scale.