Recent Advances and Challenges in Monitoring and Modeling Non-Growing Season Carbon Dioxide Fluxes from the Arctic Boreal Zone

Purpose of Review While previously thought to be negligible, carbon emissions during the non-growing season (NGS) can be a substantial part of the annual carbon budget in the Arctic boreal zone (ABZ), which can shift the carbon balance of these ecosystems from a long-held annual carbon sink towards a net annual carbon source. The purpose of this review is to summarize NGS carbon dioxide (CO2) flux research in the ABZ that has been published within the past 5 years. Recent Findings We explore the processes and magnitudes of CO2 fluxes, and the status of modeling efforts, and evaluate future directions. With technological advances, direct measurements of NGS fluxes are increasing at sites across the ABZ over the past decade, showing ecosystems in the ABZ are a large source of CO2 in the shoulder seasons, with low, consistent, winter emissions. Summary Ecosystem carbon cycling models are being improved with some challenges, such as modeling below ground and snow processes, which are critical to understanding NGS CO2 fluxes. A lack of representative in situ carbon flux data and gridded environmental data are leading limiting factors preventing more accurate predictions of NGS carbon fluxes.

Automated summary

This review summarizes research on non-growing season (NGS) carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes in the Arctic boreal zone (ABZ) published in the past 5 years. It finds that NGS carbon emissions can be a substantial part of the annual carbon budget in the ABZ, shifting the carbon balance from a sink to a source. Improvements in ecosystem carbon cycling models face challenges in modeling below ground and snow processes. Lack of representative carbon flux data and gridded environmental data are limiting factors for accurate predictions of NGS carbon fluxes.