Soil carbon stocks in forest-tundra ecotones along a 500 km latitudinal gradient in northern Norway.

ABSTRACT: As shrubs and trees are advancing into tundra ecosystems due to climate warming, litter input and microclimatic conditions affecting litter decomposition are likely to change. To assess how the upward shift of high-latitude treeline ecotones might affect soil organic carbon stocks (SOC), we sampled SOC stocks in the surface layers of 14 mountain birch forest-tundra ecotones along a 500 km latitudinal transect in northern Norway. Our objectives were to examine: (1) how SOC stocks differ between forest and tundra soils, and (2) the relative role of topography, vegetation and climate in explaining variability in SOC stock sizes. Overall, forest soils had higher SOC stocks (median: 2.01 kg m^-2) than tundra soils (median: 1.33 kg m^-2). However, SOC storage varied greatly w

SUBMITTER: Devos CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9349290 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature