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Research Article

Cold season emissions dominate the Arctic tundra methane budget

Donatella Zona, Beniamino Gioli, View ORCID ProfileRóisín Commane, Jakob Lindaas, Steven C. Wofsy, Charles E. Miller, Steven J. Dinardo, Sigrid Dengel, Colm Sweeney, Anna Karion, Rachel Y.-W. Chang, John M. Henderson, Patrick C. Murphy, Jordan P. Goodrich, Virginie Moreaux, Anna Liljedahl, Jennifer D. Watts, John S. Kimball, David A. Lipson, and Walter C. Oechel
PNAS January 5, 2016 113 (1) 40-45; first published December 22, 2015; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1516017113
Donatella Zona
aDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182;
bDepartment of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom;
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  • For correspondence: dzona@mail.sdsu.edu
Beniamino Gioli
cInstitute of Biometeorology, National Research Council, Firenze, 50145, Italy;
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Róisín Commane
dSchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
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  • ORCID record for Róisín Commane
Jakob Lindaas
dSchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
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Steven C. Wofsy
dSchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
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Charles E. Miller
eJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099;
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Steven J. Dinardo
eJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099;
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Sigrid Dengel
fDepartment of Physics, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland;
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Colm Sweeney
gCooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80304;
hEarth System Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO 80305;
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Anna Karion
gCooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80304;
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Rachel Y.-W. Chang
dSchool of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
iDepartment of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4R2;
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John M. Henderson
jAtmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., Lexington, MA 02421;
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Patrick C. Murphy
aDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182;
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Jordan P. Goodrich
aDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182;
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Virginie Moreaux
aDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182;
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Anna Liljedahl
kWater and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7340;
lInternational Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7340;
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Jennifer D. Watts
mNumerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, College of Forestry & Conservation, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812;
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John S. Kimball
mNumerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, College of Forestry & Conservation, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812;
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David A. Lipson
aDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182;
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Walter C. Oechel
aDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182;
nDepartment of Earth, Environment and Ecosystems, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
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  1. Edited by Mark H. Thiemens, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved November 17, 2015 (received for review August 12, 2015)

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Significance

Arctic ecosystems are major global sources of methane. We report that emissions during the cold season (September to May) contribute ≥50% of annual sources of methane from Alaskan tundra, based on fluxes obtained from eddy covariance sites and from regional fluxes calculated from aircraft data. The largest emissions were observed at the driest site (<5% inundation). Emissions of methane in the cold season are linked to the extended “zero curtain” period, where soil temperatures are poised near 0 °C, indicating that total emissions are very sensitive to soil climate and related factors, such as snow depth. The dominance of late season emissions, sensitivity to soil conditions, and importance of dry tundra are not currently simulated in most global climate models.

Abstract

Arctic terrestrial ecosystems are major global sources of methane (CH4); hence, it is important to understand the seasonal and climatic controls on CH4 emissions from these systems. Here, we report year-round CH4 emissions from Alaskan Arctic tundra eddy flux sites and regional fluxes derived from aircraft data. We find that emissions during the cold season (September to May) account for ≥50% of the annual CH4 flux, with the highest emissions from noninundated upland tundra. A major fraction of cold season emissions occur during the “zero curtain” period, when subsurface soil temperatures are poised near 0 °C. The zero curtain may persist longer than the growing season, and CH4 emissions are enhanced when the duration is extended by a deep thawed layer as can occur with thick snow cover. Regional scale fluxes of CH4 derived from aircraft data demonstrate the large spatial extent of late season CH4 emissions. Scaled to the circumpolar Arctic, cold season fluxes from tundra total 12 ± 5 (95% confidence interval) Tg CH4 y−1, ∼25% of global emissions from extratropical wetlands, or ∼6% of total global wetland methane emissions. The dominance of late-season emissions, sensitivity to soil environmental conditions, and importance of dry tundra are not currently simulated in most global climate models. Because Arctic warming disproportionally impacts the cold season, our results suggest that higher cold-season CH4 emissions will result from observed and predicted increases in snow thickness, active layer depth, and soil temperature, representing important positive feedbacks on climate warming.

  • permafrost
  • aircraft
  • fall
  • winter
  • warming

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: dzona{at}mail.sdsu.edu.
  • ↵2D.Z. and B.G. contributed equally to this work.

  • Author contributions: D.Z., D.A.L., and W.C.O. designed research; D.Z., D.A.L., and W.C.O. performed research; R.C., J.L., S.C.W., C.E.M., S.J.D., C.S., A.K., R.Y.-W.C., and J.M.H. supported the collection and preparation of the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment data; J.D.W. and J.S.K. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; D.Z., B.G., P.C.M., J.P.G., V.M., A.L., J.D.W., J.S.K., and W.C.O. analyzed data; R.C., J.L, and S.C.W. analyzed the aircraft data; and D.Z., B.G., R.C., S.C.W., C.E.M., S.J.D., S.D., C.S., A.K., R.Y.-W.C., J.M.H., P.C.M., A.L., J.D.W., J.S.K., D.A.L., and W.C.O. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • Data deposition: The data reported in this paper have been deposited in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center, Oak Ridge data repository (dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1300 and dx.doi.org/10.3334/CDIAC/hippo_010).

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1516017113/-/DCSupplemental.

Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.

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Cold season Arctic tundra methane fluxes
Donatella Zona, Beniamino Gioli, Róisín Commane, Jakob Lindaas, Steven C. Wofsy, Charles E. Miller, Steven J. Dinardo, Sigrid Dengel, Colm Sweeney, Anna Karion, Rachel Y.-W. Chang, John M. Henderson, Patrick C. Murphy, Jordan P. Goodrich, Virginie Moreaux, Anna Liljedahl, Jennifer D. Watts, John S. Kimball, David A. Lipson, Walter C. Oechel
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan 2016, 113 (1) 40-45; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1516017113

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Cold season Arctic tundra methane fluxes
Donatella Zona, Beniamino Gioli, Róisín Commane, Jakob Lindaas, Steven C. Wofsy, Charles E. Miller, Steven J. Dinardo, Sigrid Dengel, Colm Sweeney, Anna Karion, Rachel Y.-W. Chang, John M. Henderson, Patrick C. Murphy, Jordan P. Goodrich, Virginie Moreaux, Anna Liljedahl, Jennifer D. Watts, John S. Kimball, David A. Lipson, Walter C. Oechel
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan 2016, 113 (1) 40-45; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1516017113
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