Regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest carbon uptake
While many studies have examined carbon dynamics of boreal ecosystems following wildfire, research on forest-atmosphere carbon fluxes during widespread smoke events from adjacent active wildfires is limited. We examined eddy covariance carbon exchange adjacent to the May 2011 Utikuma Complex wildfir...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Communications |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adf498 |
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| author | B Van Huizen D K Thompson S L Wilkinson R M Petrone L E Chasmer N Kljun M D Flannigan K J Devito J M Waddington |
| author_facet | B Van Huizen D K Thompson S L Wilkinson R M Petrone L E Chasmer N Kljun M D Flannigan K J Devito J M Waddington |
| author_sort | B Van Huizen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While many studies have examined carbon dynamics of boreal ecosystems following wildfire, research on forest-atmosphere carbon fluxes during widespread smoke events from adjacent active wildfires is limited. We examined eddy covariance carbon exchange adjacent to the May 2011 Utikuma Complex wildfire in central Alberta, Canada. Over a one-week period while the wildfire was burning <10 km from the flux footprint of the tower, net ecosystem CO _2 exchange decreased to almost zero, likely due to smoke-related reductions in photosynthetically active radiation greatly diminishing photosynthesis. The smoke event caused a direct reduction in forest CO _2 sequestration by 0.7 Tg CO _2 during the fire period. As the smoke affected area was 120 times greater than the burnt area itself, this additional carbon reduction was equivalent to ~30% of gross carbon emissions from the fire. We argue that smoke-related inhibition of photosynthesis via reduced light availability should be considered when investigating the net impacts of high-intensity boreal wildfires on the net radiative forcing and global carbon balance. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dd8a9ab1764b4ff8864b340d7413f2b9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2515-7620 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-dd8a9ab1764b4ff8864b340d7413f2b92025-08-20T03:39:19ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Communications2515-76202025-01-017808100210.1088/2515-7620/adf498Regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest carbon uptakeB Van Huizen0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8422-7592D K Thompson1S L Wilkinson2R M Petrone3L E Chasmer4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8062-1530N Kljun5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9650-2184M D Flannigan6K J Devito7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8216-0985J M Waddington8School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo , Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, CanadaNatural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, P6A 2E5, CanadaSchool of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University , Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, CanadaDepartment of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo , Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, CanadaDepartment of Geography, University of Lethbridge , Lethbridge, Alberta, T1K 3M4, CanadaCentre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University , 223 62 Lund, SwedenNatural Resource Science, Thompson Rivers University , Kamloops, BC, V2C 0C8, CanadaDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta , Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E3, CanadaSchool of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University , Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, CanadaWhile many studies have examined carbon dynamics of boreal ecosystems following wildfire, research on forest-atmosphere carbon fluxes during widespread smoke events from adjacent active wildfires is limited. We examined eddy covariance carbon exchange adjacent to the May 2011 Utikuma Complex wildfire in central Alberta, Canada. Over a one-week period while the wildfire was burning <10 km from the flux footprint of the tower, net ecosystem CO _2 exchange decreased to almost zero, likely due to smoke-related reductions in photosynthetically active radiation greatly diminishing photosynthesis. The smoke event caused a direct reduction in forest CO _2 sequestration by 0.7 Tg CO _2 during the fire period. As the smoke affected area was 120 times greater than the burnt area itself, this additional carbon reduction was equivalent to ~30% of gross carbon emissions from the fire. We argue that smoke-related inhibition of photosynthesis via reduced light availability should be considered when investigating the net impacts of high-intensity boreal wildfires on the net radiative forcing and global carbon balance.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adf498Boreal PlainswildfireCO2smokeecosystem productivityaspen |
| spellingShingle | B Van Huizen D K Thompson S L Wilkinson R M Petrone L E Chasmer N Kljun M D Flannigan K J Devito J M Waddington Regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest carbon uptake Environmental Research Communications Boreal Plains wildfire CO2 smoke ecosystem productivity aspen |
| title | Regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest carbon uptake |
| title_full | Regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest carbon uptake |
| title_fullStr | Regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest carbon uptake |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest carbon uptake |
| title_short | Regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest carbon uptake |
| title_sort | regional wildfire smoke reduces boreal forest carbon uptake |
| topic | Boreal Plains wildfire CO2 smoke ecosystem productivity aspen |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adf498 |
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