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CARBON BALANCE OF THE CONTINUOUS PERMAFROST ZONE OF RUSSIA
Citation:
Kolchugina, T. AND T. Vinson. CARBON BALANCE OF THE CONTINUOUS PERMAFROST ZONE OF RUSSIA. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-94/095 (NTIS PB94146347), 1993.
Description:
An increase in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is projected to cause climate warming. arming of the permafrost environment could change the balance between carbon accumulation and decomposition processes and substantially disrupt the equilibrium of the carbon cycle. arming may accelerate the rate. of decomposition, which is limited by low temperatures, and thaw deeper layers of formerly frozen organic soils making them available for decomposition. t the same time, productivity of vegetation may increase in response to warming. he continuous permafrost zone occupies approximately 40 1; of the Russian territory, and five 5k of the land surface area of the world. isruption of the carbon cycle within the permafrost zone in Russia could have a profound effect on the global terrestrial carbon cycle. o evaluate changes in the carbon cycle within the permafrost environment of Russia, it is necessary to quantify the present carbon pools and fluxes. once the carbon balance is established under the present climate, disruptions under a warming climate can be identified.A framework to assess the carbon balance for the continuous permafrost zone of Russia was created. nder the present climate, the phytomass carbon pool was 17.0 Gt (10 9 tons). he mortmass carbon pool was 16.1 Gt. ive vegetation and plant detritus taken together were approximately one-third of the soil carbon pool. he rate of carbon turnover was 1.58 Gt/yr and the rate of humus formation was 0.083 Gt C/yr. he phytomass carbon pool of the permafrost zone was 19 percent of the former Soviet Union (FSU) phytomass pool and three percent of the world biomass carbon pool.