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Landscape Patterns of Carbon Dioxide Exchange in Tundra Ecosystems

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Landscape Function and Disturbance in Arctic Tundra

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 120))

Abstract

Ecosystem carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange is important because it is an indicator of energy captured by the system, it is related via decomposition to nutrient turnover, and long-term carbon storage and release affect atmospheric CO2 concentrations and the global carbon budget. The large amount of carbon stored in northern soils — and the potential for its release to the atmosphere with climate warming (Miller 1981) — has stimulated much research on ecosystem gas exchange in the Arctic. This work has focused primarily on the potential response of these systems to shifts in climate factors (Oechel and Billings 1992). Because of its stature, tundra is one of the few natural ecosystems for which whole-system CO2 fluxes have been determined (e.g., Grulke et al. 1990; Oechel et al. 1992, 1993; Tenhunen et al. 1995), because relatively small chambers can be placed over “representative patches” of tundra vegetation (Grulke et al. 1990; Vourlitis et al. 1993).

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Authors
  1. S. F. Oberbauer
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  2. W. Cheng
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  3. C. T. Gillespie
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  4. B. Ostendorf
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  5. A. Sala
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  6. R. Gebauer
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  7. R. A. Virginia
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  8. J. D. Tenhunen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Duke University, Phytotron Building, Box 90340, 27708, Durham, NC, USA

    James F. Reynolds

  2. Lehrstuhl für Pflanzenökologie II Bayreuth Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystem Research (BITÖK), Universität Bayreuth, D-95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    John D. Tenhunen

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Oberbauer, S.F. et al. (1996). Landscape Patterns of Carbon Dioxide Exchange in Tundra Ecosystems. In: Reynolds, J.F., Tenhunen, J.D. (eds) Landscape Function and Disturbance in Arctic Tundra. Ecological Studies, vol 120. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-01145-4_11

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