Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Winter regulation of tundra litter carbon and nitrogen dynamics

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mass and nitrogen (N) dynamics of leaf litter measured in Alaskan tussock tundra differed greatly from measurements of these processes made in temperate ecosystems. Nearly all litter mass and N loss occurred during the winter when soils were mostly frozen. Litter lost mass during the first summer, but during the subsequent two summers when biological activity was presumably higher than it is during winter, litter mass remained constant and litter immobilized N. By contrast, litter lost significant mass and N over both winters of measurement. Mass loss and N dynamics were unaffected by microsite variation in soil temperature and moisture. Whether wintertime mass and N loss resulted from biological activity during winter or from physical processes (e.g., fragmentation or leaching) associated with freeze-thaw is unknown, but has implications for how future climate warming will alter carbon (C) and N cycling in tundra. We hypothesize that spring runoff over permafrost as soils melt results in significant losses of C and N from litter, consistent with the observed influx of terrestrial organic matter to tundra lakes and streams after snow melt and the strong N limitation of terrestrial primary production.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bleak AT (1970) Disappearance of plant material under a winter snow cover. Ecology 51: 915–917

    Google Scholar 

  • Busby JR, Bliss LC & Hamilton CD (1978) Microclimate control of growth rates and habitats of the boreal forest mosses,Tomenthypnum nitens andHylocomium splendens. Ecol. Monogr. 48: 95–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III & Bloom A (1976) Phosphate absorption: adaptation of tundra graminoids to low temperature, low-phosphorus environment. Polar Biol. 2: 37–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III, Fetcher N, Kielland K, Everett KR & Linkins AE (1988) Productivity and nutrient cycling of Alaskan tundra: Enhancement by flowing soil water. Ecology 69: 693–702

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III & Kedrowski RA (1983) Seasonal changes in nitrogen and phosphorus fractions and autumn retranslocation in evergreen and deciduous taiga trees. Ecology 64: 376–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III, Moilanen L & Kielland K (1993) Preferential use of organic nitrogen for growth by a non-mycorrhizal arctic sedge. Nature 361: 150–153

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III & Shaver GR (1988) Differences in carbon and nutrient fractions among arctic growth forms. Oecologia 77: 506–514

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III, Van Cleve K & Chapin MC (1979) Soil temperature and nutrient cycling in the tussock growth form ofEriophorum vaginatum. J. Ecol. 67: 169–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Clymo RS & Hayward PM (1982) The ecology ofSphagnum. In: Smith AJE (Ed) Bryophyte Ecology (pp 229–289). Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Coxson DS & Parkinson D (1987) Winter respiratory activity in Aspen woodland forest floor litter and soils. Soil Biol. Biochem. 19: 49–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards NT (1975) Effects of temperature and moisture on carbon dioxide evolution in a mixed deciduous forest floor. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 39: 361–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Flanagan PW & Veum AK (1974) Relationships between respiration, weight loss, temperature, and moisture in organic residues on tundra. In: Holding AJ, Heal OW, Maclean SF Jr. & Flanagan PW (Eds) Soil Organisms and Decomposition in Tundra (pp 249–277). Tundra Biome Steering Committee, Stockholm

    Google Scholar 

  • Giblin AE, Laundre JA, Nadelhoffer KJ & Shaver GR (1994) Measuring nutrient availability in arctic soils using ion exchange resins: a field test. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 58: 1154–1162

    Google Scholar 

  • Gosz JR, Likens GE & Bormann FH (1973) Nutrient release from decomposing leaf and branch litter in the Hubbard Brook forest, New Hampshire. Ecol. Monogr. 43: 173–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Hågvar S & Kjøndal BR (1981) Decomposition of birch leaves: dry weight loss, chemical changes, and effects of artificial acid rain. Pedobiologia 22: 232–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Heal OW, Latter PM & Howson G (1978) A study of the rates of decomposition of organic matter. In: Heal OW & Perkins DF (Eds) Production Ecology of British Moorlands and Montane Grasslands (pp 136–159). Springer-Verlag, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinzman LD, Kane DL, Gieck RE & Everett KR (1991) Hydrologic and thermal properties of the active layer in the Alaskan Arctic. Cold Reg. Sci. Technol. 19: 95–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobbie SE (In press) Temperature and plant species control over litter decomposition in Alaskan tundra. Ecol. Monogr.

  • Ivarson KC & Sowden FJ (1970) Effect of frost action and storage of soil at freezing temperatures on the free amino acids, free sugars and respiratory activity of soil. Can. J. Soil Sci. 50: 191–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane DL, Hinzman LD, Woo M & Everett KR (1992) Arctic hydrology and climate change. In: Chapin FS III, Jefferies RL, Reynolds JF, Shaver GR & Svoboda J (Eds) Arctic Ecosystems in a Changing Climate: An Ecophysiological Perspective (pp 35–57). Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Kielland K (1990) Processes controlling nitrogen release and turnover in arctic tundra. PhD, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

  • Kling GW (1995) Land-water interactions: the influence of terrestrial diversity on aquatic ecosystems. In: Chapin FS III & Körner C (Eds) Arctic and Alpine Biodiversity: Patterns, Causes and Ecosystem Consequences (pp 297–310). Springer-Verlag, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Kucera CL & Kirkham DR (1971) Soil respiration studies in tallgrass prairie in Missouri. Ecology 52: 912–915

    Google Scholar 

  • Lousier JD & Parkinson D (1975) Litter decomposition in a cool temperate deciduous forest. Can. J. Bot. 54: 419–436

    Google Scholar 

  • Marion GM & Black CH (1986) The effect of time and temperature on nitrogen mineralization in arctic tundra soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 51: 1501–1508

    Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell B (1992) Arctic climate: potential for change under global warming. In: Chapin FS III, Jefferies RL, Reynolds JF, Shaver GR & Svoboda J (Eds) Arctic Ecosystems in a Changing Climate: An Ecophysiological Perspective (pp 11–34). Academic Press, San Diego, California, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • McBrayer JF & Cromack K Jr (1980) Effect of snow-pack on oak-litter breakdown and nutrient release in a Minnesota forest. Pedobiologia 20: 47–54

    Google Scholar 

  • McKane RB, Rastetter EB, Shaver GR, Nadelhoffer KJ, Giblin AE, Laundre JA & Chapin FS III (In preparation) Analysis of the effects of climate change on carbon storage of arctic tundra

  • Melillo JM, Aber JD, Linkins AE, Ricca A, Fry B & Nadelhoffer KJ (1989) Carbon and nitrogen dynamics along the decay continuum: Plant litter to soil organic matter. Plant Soil 115: 189–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Melillo JM, Aber JD & Muratore JF (1982) Nitrogen and lignin control of hardwood leaf litter decomposition dynamics. Ecology 63: 621–626

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray KJ, Harley PC, Beyers J, Walz H & Tenhunen JD (1989) Water content effects on photosynthetic response ofSphagnum mosses from the foothills of the Philip Smith Mountains, Alaska. Oecologia 79: 244–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadelhoffer KJ, Giblin AE, Shaver GR & Laundre JA (1991) Effects of temperature and substrate quality on element mineralization in six arctic soils. Ecology 72: 242–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadelhoffer KJ, Giblin AE, Shaver GR & Linkins AE (1992) Microbial processes and plant nutrient availability in arctic soils. In: Chapin FS III, Jefferies RL, Reynolds JF, Shaver GR & Svoboda J (Eds) Arctic Ecosystems in a Changing Climate: An Ecophysiological perspective (pp 281–300). Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Oechel WC, Hastings SJ, Vourlitis G, Jenkins M, Riechers G & Grulke N (1993) Recent change of Arctic tundra ecosystems from a net carbon dioxide sink to a source. Nature 361: 520–523

    Google Scholar 

  • Pastor J, Stillwell MA & Tilman D (1987) Little bluestem litter dynamics in Minnesota old fields. Oecologia 72: 327–330

    Google Scholar 

  • Paul EA & Clark FE (1989) Soil microbiology and biochemistry. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson BJ, Corliss TL, Kriet K & Hobbie JE (1992) Nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and export for the upper Kuparuk River on the North Slope of Alaska in 1980. Hydrobiologia 240: 61–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Read DJ (1991) Mycorrhizas in ecosystems. Experientia 47: 376–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Reiners WA (1968) Carbon dioxide evolution from the floor of three Minnesota forests. Ecology 49: 471–483

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan MG, Melillo JM & Ricca A (1989) A comparison of methods for determining proximate carbon fractions of forest litter. Can. J. For. Res. 20: 166–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver GR & Billings WD (1975) Root production and root turnover in a wet tundra ecosystem, Barrow, Alaska. Ecology 56: 401–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver GR, Billings WD, Chapin FS III, Giblin AE, Nadelhoffer KJ, Oechel WC & Rastetter EB (1992) Global change and the carbon balance of arctic ecosystems. BioScience 61: 415–435

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver GR & Chapin FS III (1986) Effect of fertilizer on production and biomass of tussock tundra, Alaska, U.S.A. Arct. Alp. Res. 18: 261–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Skogland T, Lomeland S & Goksøyr J (1988) Respiratory burst after freezing and thawing of soil: experiments with soil bacteria. Soil Biol. Biochem. 20: 851–856

    Google Scholar 

  • Staaf H & Berg B (1981) Accumulation and release of plant nutrients in decomposing Scots pine needle litter. Long-term decomposition in a Scots pine forest II. Can. J. Bot. 60: 1561–1568

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend AR, Vitousek PM & Holland EA (1992) Tropical soils could dominate the short-term carbon cycle feedbacks to increased global temperatures. Climatic Change 22: 293–303

    Google Scholar 

  • Whalen SC & Cornwell JC (1985) Nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic carbon cycling in an arctic lake. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 42: 797–808

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiant HV (1967) Influence of temperature on the rate of soil respiration. J. Forest. 65: 489–490

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimov SA, Semiletov IP, Davidov SP, Voropaev IV, Prosyannikov SF, Wong CS & Chan Y-H (1993) Wintertime CO2 emission from soils of northeastern Siberia. Arctic 46: 197–204

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Sarah E. Hobbie

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, CA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, 94720-3140, Berkeley, CA

    Sarah E. Hobbie & F. Stuart Chapin III

Authors
  1. Sarah E. Hobbie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. F. Stuart Chapin III
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah E. Hobbie.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hobbie, S.E., Chapin, F.S. Winter regulation of tundra litter carbon and nitrogen dynamics. Biogeochemistry 35, 327–338 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02179958

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02179958

Key words

Search

Navigation