Dataset Information

Unexpectedly minor nitrous oxide emissions from fluvial networks draining permafrost catchments of the East Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

ABSTRACT: Streams and rivers emit substantial amounts of nitrous oxide (N₂O) and are therefore an essential component of global nitrogen (N) cycle. Permafrost soils store a large reservoir of dormant N that, upon thawing, can enter fluvial networks and partly degrade to N₂O, yet the role of waterborne release of N₂O in permafrost regions is unclear. Here we report N₂O concentrations and fluxes during different seasons between 2016 and 2018 in four watersheds on the East Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Thawing permafrost soils are known to emit N₂O at a high rate, but permafrost rivers draining the East Qinghai-Tibet Plateau behave as unexpectedly minor sources of atmospheric N₂O. Such low N₂O fluxes are associated with low riverine dissolved inorganic N (DIN) after terrestrial plant uptake, unfavorable conditions for N₂O generation via denitrification, and low N₂O yield due to a small ratio of nitrite reductase: nitrous oxide reductase in these rivers. We estimate fluvial N₂O emissions of 0.432 - 0.463 Gg N₂O-N yr^-1 from permafrost landscapes on the entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is marginal (~0.15%) given their areal contribution to global streams and rivers (0.7%). However, we suggest that these permafrost-affected rivers can shift from minor sources to strong emitters in the warmer future, likely giving rise to the permafrost non-carbon feedback that intensifies warming.

SUBMITTER: Zhang L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8854393 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Unexpectedly minor nitrous oxide emissions from fluvial networks draining permafrost catchments of the East Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Zhang Liwei L Zhang Sibo S Xia Xinghui X Battin Tom J TJ Liu Shaoda S Wang Qingrui Q Liu Ran R Yang Zhifeng Z Ni Jinren J Stanley Emily H EH

Nature communications 20220217 1

Streams and rivers emit substantial amounts of nitrous oxide (N2O) and are therefore an essential component of global nitrogen (N) cycle. Permafrost soils store a large reservoir of dormant N that, upon thawing, can enter fluvial networks and partly degrade to N2O, yet the role of waterborne release of N2O in permafrost regions is unclear. Here we report N2O concentrations and fluxes during different seasons between 2016 and 2018 in four watersheds on ...[more]

PMID: 35177650

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Project description:Understanding the processes that influence the structure of biotic communities is one of the major ecological topics, and both stochastic and deterministic processes are expected to be at work simultaneously in most communities. Here, we investigated the vertical distribution patterns of bacterial communities in a 10-m-long soil core taken within permafrost of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. To get a better understanding of the forces that govern these patterns, we examined the diversity and structure of bacterial communities, and the change in community composition along the vertical distance (spatial turnover) from both taxonomic and phylogenetic perspectives. Measures of taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity revealed that bacterial community composition changed continuously along the soil core, and showed a vertical distance-decay relationship. Multiple stepwise regression analysis suggested that bacterial alpha diversity and phylogenetic structure were strongly correlated with soil conductivity and pH but weakly correlated with depth. There was evidence that deterministic and stochastic processes collectively drived bacterial vertically-structured pattern. Bacterial communities in five soil horizons (two originated from the active layer and three from permafrost) of the permafrost core were phylogenetically random, indicator of stochastic processes. However, we found a stronger effect of deterministic processes related to soil pH, conductivity, and organic carbon content that were structuring the bacterial communities. We therefore conclude that the vertical distribution of bacterial communities was governed primarily by deterministic ecological selection, although stochastic processes were also at work. Furthermore, the strong impact of environmental conditions (for example, soil physicochemical parameters and seasonal freeze-thaw cycles) on these communities underlines the sensitivity of permafrost microorganisms to climate change and potentially subsequent permafrost thaw.

Dataset Information

Unexpectedly minor nitrous oxide emissions from fluvial networks draining permafrost catchments of the East Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Publications

Unexpectedly minor nitrous oxide emissions from fluvial networks draining permafrost catchments of the East Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Similar Datasets

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