Winter carbon losses in wetland ecosystem under current and future climates

高纬度寒冷地区，包括北极和加拿大北部地区，变暖的速度是地球其他地区的两倍多，其中冬季变暖最快。即使在零下的温度下，微生物呼吸作用这一二氧化碳排放的主要过程也会随着气候变暖而增加，因此冬季是碳循环的关键时期。因此，随着气候变暖，预计非生长期（秋、冬、春）的二氧化碳排放量将增加。然而，对目前来自寒冷地区生态系统的NGS二氧化碳排放量的估计存在很大的不确定性。加拿大的温带至亚北极湿地和永久冻土泥炭地储存着大量的碳，在未来气候变暖的情况下，这些碳很容易流失。因此，了解在NGS期间调节控制温室气体排放过程的因素，对于预测这些脆弱的碳储量的命运以及制定气候适应和减缓战略至关重要。以这些关键的生态系统为重点，我们将加拿大各大学多学科的领导者与联邦政府的科学家和政策制定者聚集在一起，确定NGS碳循环的驱动因素，开发基于过程的环境模型，并估算二氧化碳排放量。在这一过程中，我们将填补关于NGS排放的知识空白，提供数据和工具，以评估减缓冬季变暖对控制泛加拿大湿地生态系统碳损失的影响。通过历史数据综合、实验室实验和建模相结合，拟开展的研究将侧重于：1)确定驱动微生物NGS碳循环的水文和气候因素；2)将获得的信息和数据整合到描述控制NGS排放的基本过程的模型中，以便纳入加拿大森林部门碳预算模型（CBM-CFS）。这将提高我们跟踪和预测寒冷地区湿地生态系统碳通量的能力，并提出改进的、基于证据的建议，以估计冬季碳损失和评估缓解战略。

High latitude cold regions, including Arctic and northern areas of Canada, are warming more than twice as fast**as the rest of the planet, with the greatest warming occurring during the winter. Given that a major process**responsible for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, microbial respiration, increases with warming even at**sub-zero temperatures, winter is a critical period for carbon cycling. Consequently, CO2 emissions during the**non-growing season (NGS; fall, winter, spring) are expected to increase as the climate warms. However, there**is large uncertainty in estimates of current NGS CO2 emissions from cold region ecosystems. Canada's**temperate to subarctic wetlands and permafrost peatlands hold large stores of carbon which are susceptible to**loss under future climate warming scenarios. Therefore, understanding the factors which regulate the processes**controlling greenhouse gas emissions during the NGS is critical for predicting the fate of these vulnerable**carbon stocks and for creating climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. With a focus on these critical**ecosystems, we bring together Canadian leaders from multiple disciplines from across universities with federal**government scientists and policy makers to determine the drivers of NGS carbon cycling, develop**process-based environmental models, and estimate CO2 emissions. In doing so, we will address the knowledge**gaps on NGS emissions to provide data and tools to evaluate the impact of winter warming mitigation in**controlling carbon losses from pan-Canadian wetland ecosystems. Through a combination of historical data**synthesis, laboratory experiments and modelling, the proposed research will focus on 1) determining the**hydrological and climatic factors driving microbial NGS carbon cycling; and 2) integrating the information and**data gained into models describing the underlying processes controlling NGS emissions for incorporation into**the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS). This will advance our ability to track**and predict carbon fluxes in cold regions wetland ecosystems and make improved, evidence-based**recommendations to estimate winter carbon losses and evaluate mitigation strategies.