Ecosystem development and carbon cycle on a glacier foreland in the high Arctic, Ny-Alesund, Svalbard.
The Arctic terrestrial ecosystem is thought to be extremely susceptible to climate change. However, because of the diverse responses of ecosystem components to change, an overall response of the ecosystem carbon cycle to climate change is still hard to predict. In this review, we focus on several recent studies conducted to clarify the pattern of the carbon cycle on the deglaciated area of Ny-Alesund, Svalbard in the high Arctic. Vegetation cover and soil carbon pools tended to increase with the progress of succession. However, even in the latter stages of succession, the size of the soil carbon pool was much smaller than those reported for the low Arctic tundra. Cryptogams contributed the major proportion of phytomass in the later stages. However, because of water limitation, their net primary production was smaller than that of the vascular plants. The compartment model that incorporated major carbon pools and flows suggested that the ecosystem of the later stages is likely to be a net sink of carbon at least for the summer season. Based on the eco-physiological characteristics of the major ecosystem components, we suggest several possible scenarios of future changes in the ecosystem carbon cycle.
Nakatsubo
Takayuki
T
Department of Environmental Dynamics and Management, Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan. kuyakat@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Bekku
Yukiko Sakata
YS
Uchida
Masaki
M
Muraoka
Hiroyuki
H
Kume
Atsushi
A
Ohtsuka
Toshiyuki
T
Masuzawa
Takehiro
T
Kanda
Hiroshi
H
Koizumi
Hiroshi
H
D001110:Arctic Regions; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002980:Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D046448:Ice Cover; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013538:Svalbard
D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon