Temperature sensitivity of CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes from coarse woody debris in northern boreal forests

authored by

Liudmila Mukhortova, Natalia Pashenova, Maria Meteleva, Leonid Krivobokov, Georg Guggenberger

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) are recognized as the main greenhouse gases causing climate warming. In forest ecosystems, the death of trees leads to the formation of coarse woody debris (CWD) that is one of the sources of greenhouse gas emissions due to wood decomposi-tion. We quantified the CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes from CWD of larch (Larix gmelinii (Rupr.)) and birch (Betula tortuosa Ledeb.) collected in the northern boreal forests of Central Siberia. The CWD samples were incubated at +5, +15 and +25^◦ C. The CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes showed strong correlations with temperature, moisture, decomposition stage and the type of wood’s rot. The temperature coefficient Q₁₀ indicated higher temperature sensitivity of CO₂ flux within the temperature interval from +5 to +15^◦ C than from +15 to +25^◦ C. Methane flux had higher temperature sensitivity within the interval from +15 to +25^◦ C. It was found that, in boreal forests, CWD of early decay stage can serve as a source of methane to the atmosphere when air temperatures increased above +15^◦ C. Strong positive correlation between CH₄ production and CO₂ emission indicated a biological source and supported findings on aerobic origin of the main process contributing to the CH₄ flux from decomposing CWD.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Soil Science
Section Soil Chemistry

External Organisation(s)

Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)

Type

Article

Journal

FORESTS

Volume

12

ISSN

1999-4907

Publication date

14.05.2021

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Forestry

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 - Climate Action

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.3390/f12050624 (Access: Open)