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Efflux of carbon dioxide from snow‐covered forest floors
Author(s) -
Mariko Shigeru,
Bekku Yukiko,
Koizumi Hiroshi
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1007/bf02348421
Subject(s) - snowpack , snow , evergreen , environmental science , carbon dioxide , deciduous , atmospheric sciences , atmosphere (unit) , temperate climate , hydrology (agriculture) , soil science , ecology , meteorology , geology , geography , biology , geotechnical engineering
The release of CO 2 from the snow surface in winter and the soil surface in summer was directly or indirectly measured in four cool‐temperate deciduous broadleaved and evergreen needle forests. The closed chamber method (CC‐method) and Fick's diffusion model (DM‐method) were used for the direct and indirect measurements, respectively. The winter soil temperatures from the soil surface to 10 cm depth were between 0 and 2°C. The concentration of CO 2 within snowpack increased linearly with increasing snow depth. The average effluxes of CO 2 calculated from the gradients of CO 2 concentration in the snow using the DM‐method ranged from 20 to 75 mg CO 2 m −2 h −1 , while the CC‐method showed the average effluxes of 20 to 50 mg CO 2 m −2 h −1 . These results reveal that the snow thermally insulates the soil, allowing CO 2 production to continue at soil temperatures a little above freezing throughout the winter. Carbon dioxide formed in the soil can move across snowpack up to the atmosphere. The winter/summer ratio of CO 2 emission was estimated to be higher than 7%. Therefore, the snow‐covered soil served as a source of CO 2 in the winter and the effluxes represent an important part of the annual CO 2 budget in snowy regions.