Merritt Turetsky and colleagues have compiled a synthesis of methane emissions from 71 sites around the planet including my MSc data from the Tanana River Flood Plain in Interior Alaska.  The study results suggest that water table and temperature are dominant controls on methane flux in pristine bogs and swamps, while other processes, such as vascular transport are important in pristine fens.  Therefore, methane emissions from different wetland types need to be considered separately in order to accurately estimate global wetland methane release.

Turetsky MR, Kotowska A, Bubier J, Dise NB, Crill P, Hornibrook ERC, Minkkinen K, Moore TR, Myers-Smith IH, Nykänen H, Olefeldt D, Rinne J, Saarnio S, Shurpali N, Tuittila E-S, Waddington JM, White JR, Wickland KP and Wilmking M. 2014. A synthesis of methane emissions from 71 northern, temperate, and subtropical wetlands. Global Change Biology. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12580

Measuring methane fluxes on the Tanana River Floodplain in Interior Alaska

The sTUNDRA working group met for two weeks in Leipzig, Germany at the iDiv Centre for biodiversity research to meet to discuss how to scale tundra shrub expansion from site to biome.  We had a great time planning our scientific approach and getting down to beginning our data analysis integrating remotely-sensed and plot-scale data of tundra vegetation change.  This working group establishes a new synthesis in collaboration with the ITEX and ShrubHub research networks.

Spelling out iDiv on our day exploring the city of Leipzig!

Welcome to the new Tundra Ecology Lab webpage!