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Successional Changes in Carbon Stocks After Logging and Deforestation for Agriculture in Interior Alaska: Implications for Boreal Climate Feedbacks

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Abstract

The large boreal carbon (C) stocks in Alaska are vulnerable to losses from disturbance, such as clearcut logging and deforestation for agricultural development. Here we investigated impacts of logging in uplands and agricultural deforestation in lowlands on C and nitrogen (N) stocks in Interior Alaska, using chronosequences, and synthesized results from other studies in the boreal region. Two years after logging, ecosystem C stocks in upland forests were reduced by 11 kg m−2 (46% of the original ecosystem C stock), mainly as a consequence of stem removal. Soil C and N stocks increased over the first few years after logging, but returned to pre-harvest levels during the following decades to century. Studies across the boreal region showed that mean initial C loss was four times greater, but long-term C cycling was similar in logged as compared to burned forests. Agricultural development in Alaskan lowlands permanently reduced ecosystem C stocks, reaching losses of 11 kg m−2 (34% of the ecosystem C stock) on non-permafrost soils after several decades and 31 kg m−2 (69%) on permafrost soils over 6 years. These C losses are much more rapid than the 5–6 kg m−2 over 500 years that models project to be lost by warming or warming-plus-wildfire in lowland boreal forests. If economic incentives and climate warming augment boreal land-use change in lowlands because of improved agricultural opportunities and performance, this could magnify warming-induced C loss and amplify climate warming. These impacts can be reduced by conserving permafrost-dominated sites for C storage and focusing agriculture on permafrost-free sites.

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Acknowledgments

We thank David Maxell of the Division of Forestry, Department of Natural Resources, State of Alaska for help with clearcut site selection; Dennis Mulligan, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA, Fairbanks AK for soil classification; Glenn Juday for assistance with the old logging sites, Steve Sparrow for supervision of the agricultural project, and Kristiina Regina for providing unpublished data. We further acknowledge Darleen Masiak, Lola Oliver, Dan Uliassi, Jonathan Henkelman, and Orly Grünzweig for technical help, and Daniel Gliksman for statistical advice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

    J. M. Grünzweig

  2. Department of Forest Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, 99775, USA

    D. W. Valentine

  3. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, 99775, USA

    F. S. Chapin III

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  1. J. M. Grünzweig
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  2. D. W. Valentine
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  3. F. S. Chapin III
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Correspondence to J. M. Grünzweig.

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Author Contributions

All authors conceived and designed the experiments. JMG performed the experiments; DWV and FSC supervised them. JMG analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; DWV and FSC contributed to the writing process and provided editorial advice.

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Grünzweig, J.M., Valentine, D.W. & Chapin, F.S. Successional Changes in Carbon Stocks After Logging and Deforestation for Agriculture in Interior Alaska: Implications for Boreal Climate Feedbacks. Ecosystems 18, 132–145 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-014-9817-x

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