Carbon Dioxide Exchange Responses to Changes in Water Table and Surface Warming of Coastal Tundra at Barrow, Alaska

Although low in productivity, arctic ecosystems store close to 20% of the global soil carbon as a result of low decomposition rates enhanced by high soil moisture availability and low temperatures. Expected global climatic changes are likely to significantly increase the temperature in the Arctic, disturbing surface soil moisture patterns and potentially increasing turnover of soil organic matter, thus reversing the role of the Arctic as a carbon sink. Our goal was to determine the short-term ecosystem CO₂ exchange response to drying, flooding, and warming, and understand the potential effects that climatic changes could have on the long-term carbon balance of the Arctic. We carried out this study during the growing seasons from 2006 to 2008 on the coastal plain near Barrow, Alaska. We used a 62 ha thawed lake, divided into three sections: drained, flooded and intermediate treatments. Temperature treated plots were replicated within each water treatment category using open top chambers. We assessed ecosystem responses to water and temperature treatments as: ecosystem respiration (ER), gross primary photosynthesis (GPP) and net ecosystem balance (NEE) using chamber-based measurements. We found a strong CO₂ exchange response to changes in water table and surface temperature. However, the magnitude of the response differed among carbon flux components. Although flooding increased NEE, the increase was more a result of a decrease in ER rather than an increase in GPP. High water tables can also reduce GPP by submerging leaf area, especially that of mosses. Drying increased ER and GPP, however, species composition and microtopography position affected the magnitude of the changes ultimately affecting NEE. Areas dominated by mosses experienced a reduction of sink capacity, whereas areas dominated by vascular plants experienced an increase in NEE regardless of the drying of the moss layer. Warming affected all CO₂ flux components. GPP increased in all treatments except in areas with high standing water. Similarly, ER had a positive response to warming. In intermediate and flooding conditions warming increased NEE, whereas in the drained treatment warming accelerated the drying of the moss layer, thus increasing ER and slightly reducing NEE. In the short-term, our data suggest a positive response to flooding, and a negative response to draining. In the long-term, potential increased vascular plant growth could offset carbon losses resulting from increases in GPP.