Abstract
Alpine ecosystems are predicted to be severely affected by climate change. Cold, wet oceanic-alpine environments may also accumulate large total ecosystem carbon (C) pools, but have rarely been investigated. We assessed C pools and fluxes on a toposequence of oceanic-alpine habitats from blanket mire and boreal Calluna heath to Racomitrium heath, Nardus snowbed and alpine Calluna heath. We quantified C pools in vegetation and soils for each habitat and compared these with C inputs from net primary production (NPP) and outputs via decomposition, measured in a 3-year litter bag experiment. We also investigated principle drivers (temperature, moisture, community composition) of C pool and flux differences between habitats. Total ecosystem C pools were large; 11–26 kg C m−2 in alpine habitats and 50 kg C m−2 in blanket mire. Within the alpine zone C storage was greatest in the snowbed. Litter decomposition was slow in all habitats (k = 0.09–0.29 y−1) while NPP was within the range reported for continental alpine systems. C pool sizes and C fluxes did not vary consistently with altitude but reflected topographic gradients of temperature and moisture within the alpine zone. Oceanic-alpine ecosystems contain large stores of C which may be vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Scottish Natural Heritage for permission to work at the Allt a’Mharcaidh site and the UK Environmental Change Network for provision of air temperature data. Luigi Spezia of Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland provided advice on statistical analysis. This work was funded by the Scottish Government Rural and Environmental Research and Analysis Directorate.
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Britton, A.J., Helliwell, R.C., Lilly, A. et al. An integrated assessment of ecosystem carbon pools and fluxes across an oceanic alpine toposequence. Plant Soil 345, 287–302 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0781-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0781-3