Warming and Increased Respiration Have Transformed an Alpine Steppe Ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau From a Carbon Dioxide Sink Into a Source

Hanbo Yun; Jing Tang; Ludovica D’Imperio; Xiaobo Wang; Yang Qu; Licheng Liu; Qianlai Zhuang; Wenxin Zhang; Qingbai Wu; Anping Chen; Qing Zhu; Deliang Chen; Bo Elberling

doi:10.1029/2021JG006406

Warming and Increased Respiration Have Transformed an Alpine Steppe Ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau From a Carbon Dioxide Sink Into a Source

Hanbo Yun, Jing Tang, Ludovica D’Imperio, Xiaobo Wang, Yang Qu, Licheng Liu, Qianlai Zhuang, Wenxin Zhang, Qingbai Wu, Anping Chen, Qing Zhu, Deliang Chen, Bo Elberling

Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cold region ecosystems store vast amounts of soil organic carbon (C), which upon warming and decomposition can affect the C balance and potentially change these ecosystems from C sinks to carbon dioxide (CO₂) sources. We quantified the decadal year-round CO₂ flux from an alpine steppe-ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau using eddy covariance and automatic chamber approaches during a period of significant warming (0.13°C per 10 years; and 0.18°C in the non-growing season alone: 1st October to next 30th April). The results showed that ongoing climate change, mainly warming within the topsoil layers, is the main reason for the site’s change from a sink for to a source of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Non-growing-season ecosystem respiration accounted for 51% of the annual ecosystem respiration and has increased significantly. The growing seasons (1st May to 30th September) were consistent CO₂ sink periods without significant changes over the study period. Observations revealed high-emission events from the end of the non-growing season to early in the growing season (1st March to fifteenth May), which significantly (p < 0.01) increased at a rate of 22.6 g C m⁻² decade⁻¹, ranging from 14.6 ± 10.7 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ in 2012 to 35.3 ± 12.1 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ in 2017. Structural equation modeling suggested that active layer warming was the key factor in explaining changes in ecosystem respiration, leading to significant changes in net ecosystem exchange over the period 2011–2020 and indicated that these changes have already transformed the ecosystem from a CO₂ sink into a source. These results can be used to improve our understanding of the sensitivity of ecosystem respiration to increased warming during the non-growing period.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e2021JG006406
Journal	Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
Volume	127
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JG006406
State	Published - Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was facilitated in part by support provided by the following programs: This study was funded by the Scientific Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. YJKYYQ20190012 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41501083). We acknowledge Opening Research Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SKLFSE201812 and SKLFSE201702). Hanbo Yun acknowledges the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA19070504) and National Cryosphere Desert Data Center, Northwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Qing Zhu was supported by the Reducing Uncertainties in Biogeochemical Interactions through Synthesis and Computation (RUBISCO) Scientific Focus Area, which is sponsored by the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM) Program under the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy Office of Science. Yang Qu thanks the School of Urban and Regional Science, East China Normal University (Research on Asian Water Tower Changes 13902‐412125‐20018/005). Wenxin Zhang was supported by the Swedish Research Council VR starting grant 2020‐0533 and the Swedish National Space Agency project grant 209/19 and Bo Elberling by the Danish National Research Foundation (CENPERM DNRF100). We would like to thank Yongzhi Liu, Guilong Wu, Ji Chen, and Guojun Liu for their tremendous help in collecting field data over all these years. Thanks to Professor Per‐Erik Jansson for providing assistance with the non‐growing season data analysis.

Funding Information:
This work was facilitated in part by support provided by the following programs: This study was funded by the Scientific Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. YJKYYQ20190012 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41501083). We acknowledge Opening Research Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SKLFSE201812 and SKLFSE201702). Hanbo Yun acknowledges the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA19070504) and National Cryosphere Desert Data Center, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Qing Zhu was supported by the Reducing Uncertainties in Biogeochemical Interactions through Synthesis and Computation (RUBISCO) Scientific Focus Area, which is sponsored by the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM) Program under the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy Office of Science. Yang Qu thanks the School of Urban and Regional Science, East China Normal University (Research on Asian Water Tower Changes 13902-412125-20018/005). Wenxin Zhang was supported by the Swedish Research Council VR starting grant 2020-0533 and the Swedish National Space Agency project grant 209/19 and Bo Elberling by the Danish National Research Foundation (CENPERM DNRF100). We would like to thank Yongzhi Liu, Guilong Wu, Ji Chen, and Guojun Liu for their tremendous help in collecting field data over all these years. Thanks to Professor Per-Erik Jansson for providing assistance with the non-growing season data analysis.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Tibetan Plateau
alpine steppe ecosystem
automatic chamber
carbon sink
eddy covariance
soil respiration

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1029/2021JG006406

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Yun, H., Tang, J., D’Imperio, L., Wang, X., Qu, Y., Liu, L., Zhuang, Q., Zhang, W., Wu, Q., Chen, A., Zhu, Q., Chen, D., & Elberling, B. (2022). Warming and Increased Respiration Have Transformed an Alpine Steppe Ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau From a Carbon Dioxide Sink Into a Source. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 127(1), Article e2021JG006406. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JG006406

Yun, H, Tang, J, D’Imperio, L, Wang, X, Qu, Y, Liu, L, Zhuang, Q, Zhang, W, Wu, Q, Chen, A, Zhu, Q, Chen, D & Elberling, B 2022, 'Warming and Increased Respiration Have Transformed an Alpine Steppe Ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau From a Carbon Dioxide Sink Into a Source', Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, vol. 127, no. 1, e2021JG006406. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JG006406

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title = "Warming and Increased Respiration Have Transformed an Alpine Steppe Ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau From a Carbon Dioxide Sink Into a Source",

abstract = "Cold region ecosystems store vast amounts of soil organic carbon (C), which upon warming and decomposition can affect the C balance and potentially change these ecosystems from C sinks to carbon dioxide (CO2) sources. We quantified the decadal year-round CO2 flux from an alpine steppe-ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau using eddy covariance and automatic chamber approaches during a period of significant warming (0.13°C per 10 years; and 0.18°C in the non-growing season alone: 1st October to next 30th April). The results showed that ongoing climate change, mainly warming within the topsoil layers, is the main reason for the site{\textquoteright}s change from a sink for to a source of CO2 in the atmosphere. Non-growing-season ecosystem respiration accounted for 51% of the annual ecosystem respiration and has increased significantly. The growing seasons (1st May to 30th September) were consistent CO2 sink periods without significant changes over the study period. Observations revealed high-emission events from the end of the non-growing season to early in the growing season (1st March to fifteenth May), which significantly (p < 0.01) increased at a rate of 22.6 g C m−2 decade−1, ranging from 14.6 ± 10.7 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2012 to 35.3 ± 12.1 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2017. Structural equation modeling suggested that active layer warming was the key factor in explaining changes in ecosystem respiration, leading to significant changes in net ecosystem exchange over the period 2011–2020 and indicated that these changes have already transformed the ecosystem from a CO2 sink into a source. These results can be used to improve our understanding of the sensitivity of ecosystem respiration to increased warming during the non-growing period.",

keywords = "Tibetan Plateau, alpine steppe ecosystem, automatic chamber, carbon sink, eddy covariance, soil respiration",

author = "Hanbo Yun and Jing Tang and Ludovica D{\textquoteright}Imperio and Xiaobo Wang and Yang Qu and Licheng Liu and Qianlai Zhuang and Wenxin Zhang and Qingbai Wu and Anping Chen and Qing Zhu and Deliang Chen and Bo Elberling",

note = "Funding Information: This work was facilitated in part by support provided by the following programs: This study was funded by the Scientific Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. YJKYYQ20190012 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41501083). We acknowledge Opening Research Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SKLFSE201812 and SKLFSE201702). Hanbo Yun acknowledges the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA19070504) and National Cryosphere Desert Data Center, Northwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Qing Zhu was supported by the Reducing Uncertainties in Biogeochemical Interactions through Synthesis and Computation (RUBISCO) Scientific Focus Area, which is sponsored by the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM) Program under the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy Office of Science. Yang Qu thanks the School of Urban and Regional Science, East China Normal University (Research on Asian Water Tower Changes 13902‐412125‐20018/005). Wenxin Zhang was supported by the Swedish Research Council VR starting grant 2020‐0533 and the Swedish National Space Agency project grant 209/19 and Bo Elberling by the Danish National Research Foundation (CENPERM DNRF100). We would like to thank Yongzhi Liu, Guilong Wu, Ji Chen, and Guojun Liu for their tremendous help in collecting field data over all these years. Thanks to Professor Per‐Erik Jansson for providing assistance with the non‐growing season data analysis. Funding Information: This work was facilitated in part by support provided by the following programs: This study was funded by the Scientific Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. YJKYYQ20190012 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41501083). We acknowledge Opening Research Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SKLFSE201812 and SKLFSE201702). Hanbo Yun acknowledges the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA19070504) and National Cryosphere Desert Data Center, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Qing Zhu was supported by the Reducing Uncertainties in Biogeochemical Interactions through Synthesis and Computation (RUBISCO) Scientific Focus Area, which is sponsored by the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM) Program under the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy Office of Science. Yang Qu thanks the School of Urban and Regional Science, East China Normal University (Research on Asian Water Tower Changes 13902-412125-20018/005). Wenxin Zhang was supported by the Swedish Research Council VR starting grant 2020-0533 and the Swedish National Space Agency project grant 209/19 and Bo Elberling by the Danish National Research Foundation (CENPERM DNRF100). We would like to thank Yongzhi Liu, Guilong Wu, Ji Chen, and Guojun Liu for their tremendous help in collecting field data over all these years. Thanks to Professor Per-Erik Jansson for providing assistance with the non-growing season data analysis. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.",

year = "2022",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1029/2021JG006406",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "127",

journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences",

issn = "2169-8953",

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T1 - Warming and Increased Respiration Have Transformed an Alpine Steppe Ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau From a Carbon Dioxide Sink Into a Source

AU - Yun, Hanbo

AU - Tang, Jing

AU - D’Imperio, Ludovica

AU - Wang, Xiaobo

AU - Qu, Yang

AU - Liu, Licheng

AU - Zhuang, Qianlai

AU - Zhang, Wenxin

AU - Wu, Qingbai

AU - Chen, Anping

AU - Zhu, Qing

AU - Chen, Deliang

AU - Elberling, Bo

N1 - Funding Information: This work was facilitated in part by support provided by the following programs: This study was funded by the Scientific Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. YJKYYQ20190012 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41501083). We acknowledge Opening Research Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SKLFSE201812 and SKLFSE201702). Hanbo Yun acknowledges the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA19070504) and National Cryosphere Desert Data Center, Northwest Institute of Eco‐Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Qing Zhu was supported by the Reducing Uncertainties in Biogeochemical Interactions through Synthesis and Computation (RUBISCO) Scientific Focus Area, which is sponsored by the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM) Program under the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy Office of Science. Yang Qu thanks the School of Urban and Regional Science, East China Normal University (Research on Asian Water Tower Changes 13902‐412125‐20018/005). Wenxin Zhang was supported by the Swedish Research Council VR starting grant 2020‐0533 and the Swedish National Space Agency project grant 209/19 and Bo Elberling by the Danish National Research Foundation (CENPERM DNRF100). We would like to thank Yongzhi Liu, Guilong Wu, Ji Chen, and Guojun Liu for their tremendous help in collecting field data over all these years. Thanks to Professor Per‐Erik Jansson for providing assistance with the non‐growing season data analysis. Funding Information: This work was facilitated in part by support provided by the following programs: This study was funded by the Scientific Instrument Developing Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. YJKYYQ20190012 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41501083). We acknowledge Opening Research Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SKLFSE201812 and SKLFSE201702). Hanbo Yun acknowledges the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA19070504) and National Cryosphere Desert Data Center, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Qing Zhu was supported by the Reducing Uncertainties in Biogeochemical Interactions through Synthesis and Computation (RUBISCO) Scientific Focus Area, which is sponsored by the Earth and Environmental Systems Modeling (EESM) Program under the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy Office of Science. Yang Qu thanks the School of Urban and Regional Science, East China Normal University (Research on Asian Water Tower Changes 13902-412125-20018/005). Wenxin Zhang was supported by the Swedish Research Council VR starting grant 2020-0533 and the Swedish National Space Agency project grant 209/19 and Bo Elberling by the Danish National Research Foundation (CENPERM DNRF100). We would like to thank Yongzhi Liu, Guilong Wu, Ji Chen, and Guojun Liu for their tremendous help in collecting field data over all these years. Thanks to Professor Per-Erik Jansson for providing assistance with the non-growing season data analysis. Publisher Copyright: © 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

PY - 2022/1

Y1 - 2022/1

N2 - Cold region ecosystems store vast amounts of soil organic carbon (C), which upon warming and decomposition can affect the C balance and potentially change these ecosystems from C sinks to carbon dioxide (CO2) sources. We quantified the decadal year-round CO2 flux from an alpine steppe-ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau using eddy covariance and automatic chamber approaches during a period of significant warming (0.13°C per 10 years; and 0.18°C in the non-growing season alone: 1st October to next 30th April). The results showed that ongoing climate change, mainly warming within the topsoil layers, is the main reason for the site’s change from a sink for to a source of CO2 in the atmosphere. Non-growing-season ecosystem respiration accounted for 51% of the annual ecosystem respiration and has increased significantly. The growing seasons (1st May to 30th September) were consistent CO2 sink periods without significant changes over the study period. Observations revealed high-emission events from the end of the non-growing season to early in the growing season (1st March to fifteenth May), which significantly (p < 0.01) increased at a rate of 22.6 g C m−2 decade−1, ranging from 14.6 ± 10.7 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2012 to 35.3 ± 12.1 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2017. Structural equation modeling suggested that active layer warming was the key factor in explaining changes in ecosystem respiration, leading to significant changes in net ecosystem exchange over the period 2011–2020 and indicated that these changes have already transformed the ecosystem from a CO2 sink into a source. These results can be used to improve our understanding of the sensitivity of ecosystem respiration to increased warming during the non-growing period.

AB - Cold region ecosystems store vast amounts of soil organic carbon (C), which upon warming and decomposition can affect the C balance and potentially change these ecosystems from C sinks to carbon dioxide (CO2) sources. We quantified the decadal year-round CO2 flux from an alpine steppe-ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau using eddy covariance and automatic chamber approaches during a period of significant warming (0.13°C per 10 years; and 0.18°C in the non-growing season alone: 1st October to next 30th April). The results showed that ongoing climate change, mainly warming within the topsoil layers, is the main reason for the site’s change from a sink for to a source of CO2 in the atmosphere. Non-growing-season ecosystem respiration accounted for 51% of the annual ecosystem respiration and has increased significantly. The growing seasons (1st May to 30th September) were consistent CO2 sink periods without significant changes over the study period. Observations revealed high-emission events from the end of the non-growing season to early in the growing season (1st March to fifteenth May), which significantly (p < 0.01) increased at a rate of 22.6 g C m−2 decade−1, ranging from 14.6 ± 10.7 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2012 to 35.3 ± 12.1 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2017. Structural equation modeling suggested that active layer warming was the key factor in explaining changes in ecosystem respiration, leading to significant changes in net ecosystem exchange over the period 2011–2020 and indicated that these changes have already transformed the ecosystem from a CO2 sink into a source. These results can be used to improve our understanding of the sensitivity of ecosystem respiration to increased warming during the non-growing period.

KW - Tibetan Plateau

KW - alpine steppe ecosystem

KW - automatic chamber

KW - carbon sink

KW - eddy covariance

KW - soil respiration

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ER -

Warming and Increased Respiration Have Transformed an Alpine Steppe Ecosystem on the Tibetan Plateau From a Carbon Dioxide Sink Into a Source

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Keywords

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