Diurnal evolution of the temperature sensitivity of CO2 efflux in permafrost soils under control and warm conditions

Julien Fouché; Catherine Keller; Michel Allard; Jean Paul Ambrosi

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.089

Diurnal evolution of the temperature sensitivity of CO₂ efflux in permafrost soils under control and warm conditions

Sci Total Environ. 2017 Mar 1:581-582:161-173. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.089. Epub 2017 Jan 3.

Authors

Julien Fouché¹, Catherine Keller², Michel Allard³, Jean Paul Ambrosi²

Affiliations

¹ Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD UMR 34 CEREGE, Technopôle de l'Environnement Arbois-Méditerranée, BP80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France; Centre d'Études Nordiques, Université Laval, pav. Abitibi-Price, Québec, QC G1K 7P4, Canada; Department of Geography, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada. Electronic address: julien.fouche@queensu.ca.
² Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD UMR 34 CEREGE, Technopôle de l'Environnement Arbois-Méditerranée, BP80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France.
³ Centre d'Études Nordiques, Université Laval, pav. Abitibi-Price, Québec, QC G1K 7P4, Canada.

PMID: 28062107
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.12.089

Abstract

Cryosols contain ~33% of the global soil organic carbon. Cryosol warming and permafrost degradation may enhance the CO₂ release to the atmosphere through the microbial decomposition. Despite the large carbon pool, the permafrost carbon feedback on the climate remains uncertain. In this study, we aimed at better understanding the diurnal evolution of the temperature sensitivity of CO₂ efflux in Cryosols. A Histic Cryosol and a Turbic Cryosol were instrumented in tussock tundra ecosystems near Salluit (Nunavik, Canada). Open top chambers were installed during summer 2011 and the ground temperature, the soil moisture and meteorological variables were recorded hourly while the ecosystem respiration was measured three times per day every second day with opaque and closed dynamic chambers in control and warm stations. Despite warmer conditions, the average CO₂ efflux at the control stations at the Histic site (1.29±0.45μmolCO₂m^-2s^-1) was lower than at the Turbic site (2.30±0.74μmolCO₂m^-2s^-1). The increase in CO₂ efflux with warming was greater in the Histic Cryosol (~39%) than in the Turbic Cryosol (~16%). Our study showed that the temperature sensitivity of the ecosystem respiration evolved during the day and decreased with the experimental warming. Both sites exhibited diurnal hysteresis loops between CO₂ efflux and the soil surface temperature. The width of hysteresis loops increased with the solar radiation and decreased along the growing season. We developed simple linear models that took into account the diurnal evolution of the temperature sensitivity of CO₂ efflux and we estimated the seasonal cumulative carbon release to the atmosphere. The calculation using solely diurnal measurements significantly differed from the seasonal carbon release modelled hourly. Our study highlighted that the time of the day when measurements are performed should be taken into account to accurately estimate the seasonal carbon release from tundra ecosystems.

Keywords: Arctic tundra; Diurnal hysteresis loops; Histic Cryosol; Permafrost carbon feedback; Q(10); Turbic Cryosol.