Boreal permafrost thaw and N cycling
PublicationFinger, R., Turetsky, M.R., Kielland, K., Mack, M.C., Ruess, R.W., & Euskirchen, E.S. (2016). Effects of permafrost thaw on nitrogen availability and plant-soil interactions in a boreal Alaskan lowland. Journal of Ecology. 104, 1542-1554.
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Currently, many lowland areas in the North American boreal forest are experiencing permafrost thaw, resulting in landscape changes as forests underlain with permafrost are replaced with thawed wetlands. My M.S. research investigated how such landscape level changes alter key biogeochemical cycles, by specifically focusing on the limiting nutrient nitrogen (N). This was one of the first studies to find that the conversion of forest to wetlands associated with permafrost thaw in boreal lowlands increases plant N availability, and that vegetation N uptake strategies respond to additional N sources. Additionally, I evaluated plausible mechanisms and key ecological principles for increasing N availability following permafrost thaw, including increasing rates of decomposition and N microbial mineralization due to increasing temperatures, and the potential for permafrost fertilization, especially at depth.
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