Northern Hemisphere permafrost affected land ar­ eas contain abont twice as mnch carbon as the global at­ mosphere. This vast carbon pool is vnlnerable to acceler­ ated losses throngh mobilization and decomposition nnder projected global warming. Satellite data records sparming the past 3 decades indicate widespread redactions ( ~ 0.81.3 days decade “ ̂ ) in the mean aimnal snow cover extent and...

The Loess Plateau of China is a unique geographical unit characterized by extensive loess distribution, serious soil erosion, low vegetation coverage and high soil carbonate content. Since the 1950s, the Chinese government has made great efforts to control soil erosion and restore vegetation, including large-scale tree plantation in the 1970s, integrated soil erosion control in the 1980s and 19...

The indirect responses of soil microbiota to changes in plant physiology effected by elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide have the potential to alter nutrient availability and soil carbon storage. We measured fine root density, microbial biomass nitrogen, rates of nitrogen mineralization and nitrification, substrate utilization by soil bacteria and extracellular enzyme activities (EEA) associate...

Drought potentially affects carbon balance and growth of trees, but little is known to what extent soil plays a role in the trade-off between carbon gain and growth investment. In the present study, we analyzed leaf non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) as an indicator of the balance of photosynthetic carbon gain and carbon use, as well as growth of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) saplings, wh...

Recent observations suggest that permafrost thaw may create two completely different soil environments: aerobic in relatively well-drained uplands and anaerobic in poorly drained wetlands. The soil oxygen availability will dictate the rate of permafrost carbon release as carbon dioxide (CO2) and as methane (CH4), and the overall effects of these emitted greenhouse gases on climate. The objectiv...

In model terrestrial ecosystems maintained for three plant generations at elevated concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, increases in photosynthetically fixed carbon were allocated below ground, raising concentrations of dissolved organic carbon in soil. These effects were then transmitted up the decomposer food chain. Soil microbial biomass was unaffected, but the composition of soil f...

Stabilization of organic matter in soil is important for natural ecosystem to sequestrate carbon and mitigate greenhouse gas emission. It is largely unknown what factors govern the preservation of organic carbon in soil, casting shadow on predicting the response of soil to climate change. Iron oxide was suggested as an important mineral preserving soil organic carbon. However, ferric minerals a...

Climate warming affects permafrost soil carbon pools in two opposing ways: enhanced vegetation growth leads to higher carbon inputs to the soil, whereas permafrost melting accelerates decomposition and hence carbon release. Here, we study the spatial and temporal dynamics of these two processes under scenarios of climate change and evaluate their influence on the carbon balance of the permafros...

Eliasson, P.E. 2007. Impacts of climate change on carbon and nitrogen cycles in boreal forest ecosystems. Doctor’s dissertation. ISSN: 1652-6880, ISBN: 978-91-576-7388-6 It is well known that soil carbon stocks decrease considerably in response to soil warming, but experimental data have shown that the loss of carbon declines within decades in apparent acclimation. An explanation to such findin...