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Permafrost – Physical Aspects, Carbon Cycling, Databases and Uncertainties

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Recarbonization of the Biosphere

Abstract

Permafrost is defined as ground that remains below 0°C for at least 2 consecutive years. About 24% of the northern hemisphere land area is underlain by permafrost. The thawing of permafrost has the potential to influence the climate system through the release of carbon (C) from northern high latitude terrestrial ecosystems, but there is substantial uncertainty about the sensitivity of the C cycle to thawing permafrost. Soil C can be mobilized from permafrost in response to changes in air temperature, directional changes in water balance, fire, thermokarst, and flooding. Observation networks need to be implemented to understand responses of permafrost and C at a range of temporal and spatial scales. The understanding gained from these observation networks needs to be integrated into modeling frameworks capable of representing how the responses of permafrost C will influence the trajectory of climate in the future.

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Abbreviations

AOGCMs:

Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models

C:

carbon

CO2 :

carbon dioxide

CAVM:

Circum Arctic Vegetation Map

CALM:

Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring network

C4MIP:

Coupled Carbon Cycle Climate Model Intercomparison Project

DOC:

dissolved organic carbon

ECHAM:

European Centre/Hamburg Model

GTN-P:

Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost

GHG:

greenhouse gas

IPCC:

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

MAAT:

mean annual air temperatures

CH4 :

methane

OM:

organic matter

Pg C:

1 Pg = 1 billion metric tons = 1015 g = 1 Gt

RCM:

Regional Climate Model

SOC:

soil organic carbon

SOM:

soil organic matter

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Telegrafenberg A6, 14473, Potsdam, Germany

    Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, Hugues Lantuit, Sina Muster & Paul Overduin

  2. Institute of Environmental Physics, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Kurt Roth

  3. Inorganic and Isotope Geochemistry, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany

    Torsten Sachs

  4. Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Sebastian Westermann

  5. U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    A. David McGuire

Authors
  1. Julia Boike
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  2. Moritz Langer
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  3. Hugues Lantuit
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  4. Sina Muster
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  5. Kurt Roth
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  6. Torsten Sachs
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  7. Paul Overduin
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  8. Sebastian Westermann
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  9. A. David McGuire
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julia Boike .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. OARDC, Carbon Management &, Ohio State University, Coffey Road 2021, Columbus, 43210, Ohio, USA

    Rattan Lal

  2. , Global Contract for Sustainability, IASS Inst. for Adv. Sust. Studies, Berliner Str. 130, Potsdam, 14467, Brandenburg, Germany

    Klaus Lorenz

  3. , Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, Potsdam, 14473, Germany

    Reinhard F. Hüttl

  4. , Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg 309G, Potsdam, 14473, Brandenburg, Germany

    Bernd Uwe Schneider

  5. Walter-Flex-Str. 3, Bonn, 53113, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Joachim von Braun

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Boike, J. et al. (2012). Permafrost – Physical Aspects, Carbon Cycling, Databases and Uncertainties. In: Lal, R., Lorenz, K., Hüttl, R., Schneider, B., von Braun, J. (eds) Recarbonization of the Biosphere. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4159-1_8

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