Collaborative Research: Increasing wildfires and the loss of legacy carbon from boreal and tundra ecosystems

合作研究：野火增加以及北方和苔原生态系统遗留碳的流失

• 批准号: 2019485
• 负责人: Brendan Rogers
• 金额: $ 17.04万
• 依托单位: Woodwell Climate Research Center, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2019485&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Increasing; wildfires; loss

This research asks how increasing wildfires will change carbon storage in northern ecosystems. Carbon is in all living things, the ocean, the earth, and the atmosphere. Increasing carbon in the atmosphere has led to climate change, which has had major effects across the globe. One effect has been increasing wildfires in northern ecosystems. In these ecosystems, large amounts of carbon are stored in soils. This carbon can be stored for a long time and is sometimes very old. Wildfires that burn these soils can release this old carbon to the atmosphere and cause more climate warming. This project will determine where and when this old carbon is burning. This information will help us understand how increasing wildfires will affect future climate. It will also help fire managers set priorities for where to fight fires. We will share our results with rural northern communities near our research sites and with citizens and youth of Northern Arizona.This research will investigate how increasing wildfires will impact the long-term carbon storage of Arctic ecosystems. Arctic ecosystems store over 40% of terrestrial carbon and have historically been considered carbon sinks. This means they store more carbon than they lose to the atmosphere. Carbon in these ecosystems is primarily stored in soils for long periods, sometimes centuries. Periodic wildfires release some soil carbon to the atmosphere. Any soil carbon that escapes burning in a previous fire is called 'legacy carbon.' Due to climate warming, wildfires have increased in frequency and severity in northern ecosystems. More severe and frequent wildfires can combust legacy carbon and shift Arctic ecosystems from a carbon sink to a carbon source to the atmosphere. The main objective of this research is to determine the processes that control legacy carbon combustion. Understanding where and when legacy carbon combustion is likely to occur is essential for predicting how frequently Arctic ecosystems will shift from a carbon sink to a carbon source. These results will benefit global stakeholders, including policymakers, by improving our understanding of the mechanisms through which environmental change affects the global carbon cycle and climate. For regional and local stakeholders, such as fire managers, this research will improve our ability to identify areas vulnerable to legacy carbon combustion to better prioritize management decisions. We will share our results with fire managers by partnering with the Alaska Fire Science Consortium. We will also engage with rural communities in Interior Alaska by hiring a local guide and communicating our research goals, progress, and findings with community members. Finally, we will engage with citizens, particularly youth, of Northern Arizona about Arctic research by participating in our local festival of science.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项研究探讨了野火的增加将如何改变北方生态系统的碳储存。碳存在于所有生物中，海洋，地球和大气层。大气中碳的增加导致了气候变化，这对地球仪产生了重大影响。一个影响是北方生态系统的野火增加。在这些生态系统中，大量的碳储存在土壤中。这些碳可以储存很长时间，有时非常古老。燃烧这些土壤的野火会将这些旧碳释放到大气中，导致更多的气候变暖。该项目将确定这些旧碳在何时何地燃烧。这些信息将帮助我们了解越来越多的野火将如何影响未来的气候。它还将帮助消防管理人员确定在哪里灭火的优先事项。我们将与我们研究地点附近的北方农村社区以及北方亚利桑那州的公民和青年分享我们的研究结果。这项研究将调查日益增加的野火将如何影响北极生态系统的长期碳储存。北极生态系统储存了超过40%的陆地碳，历史上一直被认为是碳汇。这意味着它们储存的碳比它们流失到大气中的碳要多。这些生态系统中的碳主要储存在土壤中很长一段时间，有时是几个世纪。周期性的野火会将一些土壤碳释放到大气中。任何在之前的火灾中逃脱燃烧的土壤碳被称为“遗留碳”。“由于气候变暖，北方生态系统的野火发生频率和严重程度都有所增加。更严重和更频繁的野火可以燃烧遗留的碳，并将北极生态系统从碳汇转变为大气的碳源。这项研究的主要目的是确定控制遗留碳燃烧的过程。了解遗留碳燃烧可能发生的地点和时间对于预测北极生态系统从碳汇向碳源转变的频率至关重要。这些成果将使包括政策制定者在内的全球利益攸关方受益，使我们更好地了解环境变化影响全球碳循环和气候的机制。对于区域和当地的利益相关者，如火灾管理人员，这项研究将提高我们识别易受遗留碳燃烧影响的地区的能力，以更好地优先考虑管理决策。我们将通过与阿拉斯加消防科学联盟合作，与消防管理人员分享我们的成果。我们还将通过聘请当地导游，并与社区成员沟通我们的研究目标，进展和发现，与阿拉斯加内陆的农村社区进行接触。最后，我们将通过参加当地的科学节，与北方亚利桑那州的公民，特别是年轻人接触北极研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Burned area and carbon emissions across northwestern boreal North America from 2001–2019

• DOI: 10.5194/bg-20-2785-2023
• 发表时间: 2023-07
• 期刊: Biogeosciences
• 影响因子: 4.9
• 作者: S. Potter;S. Cooperdock;S. Veraverbeke;X. Walker;M. Mack;S. Goetz;J. Baltzer;L. Bourgeau-Chavez;A. Burrell;C. Dieleman;N. French;S. Hantson;E. Hoy;L. Jenkins;J. Johnstone;E. Kane;S. Natali;J. Randerson;M. Turetsky;E. Whitman;E. Wiggins;B. Rogers