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Letters to Nature

Nature 431, 440-443 (23 September 2004) | doi:10.1038/nature02887; Received 4 January 2004; Accepted 20 July 2004

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Ecosystem carbon storage in arctic tundra reduced by long-term nutrient fertilization

Michelle C. Mack1,4, Edward A. G. Schuur1,4, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte2, Gaius R. Shaver3 & F. Stuart Chapin, III2

  1. Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
  2. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA
  3. The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
  4. These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence to: Michelle C. Mack1,4 Email: mcmack@ufl.edu

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Global warming is predicted to be most pronounced at high latitudes, and observational evidence over the past 25 years suggests that this warming is already under way1. One-third of the global soil carbon pool is stored in northern latitudes2, so there is considerable interest in understanding how the carbon balance of northern ecosystems will respond to climate warming3, 4. Observations of controls over plant productivity in tundra and boreal ecosystems5, 6 have been used to build a conceptual model of response to warming, where warmer soils and increased decomposition of plant litter increase nutrient availability, which, in turn, stimulates plant production and increases ecosystem carbon storage6, 7. Here we present the results of a long-term fertilization experiment in Alaskan tundra, in which increased nutrient availability caused a net ecosystem loss of almost 2,000 grams of carbon per square meter over 20 years. We found that annual aboveground plant production doubled during the experiment. Losses of carbon and nitrogen from deep soil layers, however, were substantial and more than offset the increased carbon and nitrogen storage in plant biomass and litter. Our study suggests that projected release of soil nutrients associated with high-latitude warming may further amplify carbon release from soils, causing a net loss of ecosystem carbon and a positive feedback to climate warming.

  1. Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
  2. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA
  3. The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA
  4. These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence to: Michelle C. Mack1,4 Email: mcmack@ufl.edu

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