Assessing the Impacts of Fire and Insect Disturbances on the Terrestrial Carbon Budgets of Forested Areas in Canada, Alaska, and the Western United States

Status

Completed

Start Date

July, 2018

Scenic view of the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon.

Because it is an important regulator of terrestrial carbon cycling in North America, extensive research on natural and human disturbances has been carried out as part of the North American Carbon Program and the CarboNA project. A synthesis of various components of this research was carried out and the results are presented in the papers contained in this special section.

While the synthesis primarily focused on the effects of fire, insects/disease, and harvesting on terrestrial carbon cycling in forests, several groups focused on the effects of disturbance on woody encroachment in western dry lands of the United States and on soil carbon present in northern high‐latitude regions. We present a summary of the results from these papers along with the findings and recommendations from the disturbance synthesis.

Overview
People
Resources

Project Description

Because it is an important regulator of terrestrial carbon cycling in North America, extensive research on natural and human disturbances has been carried out as part of the North American Carbon Program and the CarboNA project(link is external). A synthesis of various components of this research was carried out and the results are presented in the papers contained in this special section.

While the synthesis primarily focused on the effects of fire, insects/disease, and harvesting on terrestrial carbon cycling in forests, several groups focused on effects of disturbance on woody encroachment in Western United States dry lands and on soil carbon present in northern high‐latitude regions. This paper presents a summary of the results from these papers, along with the findings and recommendations from the disturbance synthesis.

Key Personnel

Project Contact

Person

Roger D. Ottmar

Research Forester-Emeritus Scientist

https://research.fs.usda.gov/about/people/roger.ottmar

Collaborators

Co-Investigators:
- Eric Kasischke, University of Maryland
- Nancy French, Michigan Technological University
- David McGuire, University of Alaska Fairbanks
- Werner Kurz, Pacific Forestry Centre, Canada
- William de Groot, Northern Forestry Centre, Canada
- Ron Hall, Northern Forestry Centre, Canada
- Jennifer Harden, U.S. Geological Survey
Partners:
- National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA)
- North American Carbon Program

Publications

Natalie A. Griffiths, Paul J. Hanson, Daniel M. Ricciuto, Colleen M. Iversen, Anna M. Jensen, Avni Malhotra, Karis J. McFarlane, Richard J. Norby, Khachik Sargsyan, Stephen D. Sebestyen, Xiaoying Shi, Anthony P. Walker, Eric J. Ward, Jeffrey Warren, David J. Weston. 2017. Temporal and Spatial Variation in Peatland Carbon Cycling and Implications for Interpreting Responses of an Ecosystem-Scale Warming Experiment
Rajan K. Chakrabarty, Madhu Gyawali, Reddy L. N. Yatavelli, Apoorva Pandey, Adam C. Watts, Joseph Knue, Lung-Wen A. Chen, Robert Pattison, Anna Tsibart, Vera Samburova, Hans Moosmuller. 2016. Brown carbon aerosols from burning of boreal peatlands: microphysical properties, emission factors, and implications for direct radiative forcing
John Kirkland, Tara Barrett. 2016. Colossal carbon! Disturbance and biomass dynamics in Alaska's national forests
Robert Smith, Sarah Jovan, Bruce McCune. 2015. Evaluating carbon stores at the earth-atmosphere interface: moss and lichen mats of subarctic Alaska
David V. D'Amore, Richard T. Edwards, Paul Herendeen, Eran Hood, Jason B. Fellman. 2015. Dissolved organic carbon fluxes from hydropedologic units in Alaskan coastal temperate rainforest watersheds
Tara M. Barrett. 2014. Storage and flux of carbon in live trees, snags, and logs in the Chugach and Tongass national forests
S.M. Natali, E.A.G. Schuur, E. Webb, C.E. Hicks Pries, K.G. Crummer. 2014. Permafrost degradation stimulates carbon loss from experimentally warmed tundra
H. Genet, A. D. McGuire, K. Barrett., A. Breen, E. S. Euskirchen, J. F. Johnstone, E. S. Kasischke, A. M. Melvin, A. Bennett, M. C. Mack, T. S. Rupp, A. E. G. Schuur, M. R. M. R. Turetsky, F. Yuan. 2013. Modeling the effects of fire severity and climate warming on active layer thickness and soil carbon storage of black spruce forests across the landscape in interior Alaska
Eric S. Kasischke, Elizabeth E. Hoy. 2012. Controls on carbon consumption during Alaskan wildland fires
Kristofer Johnson, Jennifer Harden, A. David McGuire, Norman B. Bliss, James G. Bockheim, Mark Clark, Teresa Nettleton-Hollingsworth, M. Torre Jorgenson, Evan Kane, Michelle Mack, Johathan ODonnell, Chien-Lu Ping, Edward A.G. Schuur, Merritt R. Turetsky, David W. Valentine. 2011. Soil carbon distribution in Alaska in relation to soil-forming factors
Guido Grosse, Jennifer Harden, Merritt Turetsky, A. David McGuire, Philip Camill, Charles Tarnocai, Steve Frolking, Edward Schuur, Torre Jorgenson, Sergei Marchenko, Vladimir Romanovsky, Kimberly P. Wickland, Nancy French, Mark Waldrop, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Robert G. Streigl. 2011. Vulnerability of high-latitude soil organic carbon in North America to disturbance
S.M. Natali, E.A.G. Schuur, C. Trucco, C.E. Hicks Pries, K.G. Crummer, A.F. Baron Lopez. 2011. Effects of experimental warming of air, soil and permafrost on carbon balance in Alaskan tundra
Michelle C. Mack, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Teresa Hollingsworth, Randi R. Jandt, Edward A.G. Schuur, Gaius R. Shaver, David L. Verbyla. 2011. Carbon loss from an unprecedented Arctic tundra wildfire
Steven D. Allison, Tracy B. Gartner, Michelle C. Mack, Krista McGuire, Kathleen Treseder. 2010. Nitrogen alters carbon dynamics during early succession in boreal forest
Merritt R. Turetsky, Evan S. Kane, Jennifer W. Harden, Roger D. Ottmar, Kristen L. Maines, Elizabeth Hoy, Eric S. Kasischke. 2010. Recent acceleration of biomass burning and carbon losses in Alaskan forests and peatlands
Beverly E. Law, Dave Turner, John Campbell, Michael Lefsky, Michael Guzy, Osbert Sun, Steve Van Tuyl, Warren B. Cohen. 2006. Chapter 9: Carbon fluxes across regions.
Olga N. Krankina, Mark E. Harmon, Warren B. Cohen, Doug R. Oetter, Olga Zyrina, Maureen V. Duane. 2004. Carbon stores, sinks, and sources in forests of northwestern Russia: can we reconcile forest inventories with remote sensing results?
Walter C. Oechel, Steven J. Hastings, George Vourlitis, Mitchell Jenkins, George Riechers, Nancy E. Grulke. 1993. Recent change of artic tundra ecosystems from a net carbon dioxide sink to a source

Last updated January 17, 2024