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Monitoring the Multi-Year Carbon Balance of a Subarctic Palsa Mire with Micrometeorological Techniques

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Abstract

This article reports a dataset on 8 years of monitoring carbon fluxes in a subarctic palsa mire based on micrometeorological eddy covariance measurements. The mire is a complex with wet minerotrophic areas and elevated dry palsa as well as intermediate sub-ecosystems. The measurements document primarily the emission originating from the wet parts of the mire dominated by a rather homogenous cover of Eriophorum angustifolium. The CO2/CH4 flux measurements performed during the years 2001–2008 showed that the areas represented in the measurements were a relatively stable sink of carbon with an average annual rate of uptake amounting to on average −46 g C m−2 y−1 including an equally stable loss through CH4 emissions (18–22 g CH4–C m−2 y−1). This consistent carbon sink combined with substantial CH4 emissions is most likely what is to be expected as the permafrost under palsa mires degrades in response to climate warming.

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Acknowledgments

The presented study was supported by the EU funded GREENCYCLES-RTN. The Stordalen mire tower has also seen support of Swedish Research Councils VR and FORMAS, the Danish Natural Science Research Council as well as the Crafoord foundation and the Royal Swedish Physiographical Society. The authors are grateful to the staff at the Abisko Scientific Research Station, in particular the former Director Terry V. Callaghan, for invaluable support through the years in multiple aspects of the work at Stordalen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Torben R. Christensen, Marcin Jackowicz-Korczyński, Michal Heliasz & Mikhail Mastepanov

  2. Climate Change Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Erik Palménin aukio 1, 00560, Helsinki, Finland

    Mika Aurela

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 8C, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Patrick Crill

  4. Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Oester Voldgade 10, 1350, Copenhagen K, Denmark

    Thomas Friborg

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  1. Torben R. Christensen
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  2. Marcin Jackowicz-Korczyński
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  3. Mika Aurela
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Correspondence to Torben R. Christensen.

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Christensen, T.R., Jackowicz-Korczyński, M., Aurela, M. et al. Monitoring the Multi-Year Carbon Balance of a Subarctic Palsa Mire with Micrometeorological Techniques. AMBIO 41 (Suppl 3), 207–217 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0302-5

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