Siberian Peatlands a Net Carbon Sink and Global Methane Source Since the Early Holocene

doi:10.1126/science.1090553

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Science 16 January 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5656, pp. 353 - 356
DOI: 10.1126/science.1090553

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Siberian Peatlands a Net Carbon Sink and Global Methane Source Since the Early Holocene

L. C. Smith,¹^,2^* G. M. MacDonald,¹^,3^* A. A. Velichko,⁴ D. W. Beilman,¹ O. K. Borisova,⁴ K. E. Frey,¹ K. V. Kremenetski,¹^,4 Y. Sheng¹

Interpolar methane gradient (IPG) data from ice cores suggestthe "switching on" of a major Northern Hemisphere methane sourcein the early Holocene. Extensive data from Russia's West SiberianLowland show (i) explosive, widespread peatland establishmentbetween 11.5 and 9 thousand years ago, predating comparabledevelopment in North America and synchronous with increasedatmospheric methane concentrations and IPGs, (ii) larger carbonstocks than previously thought (70.2 Petagrams, up to $~$ 26% ofall terrestrial carbon accumulated since the Last Glacial Maximum),and (iii) little evidence for catastrophic oxidation, suggestingthe region represents a long-term carbon dioxide sink and globalmethane source since the early Holocene.

¹ Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095–1524, USA.
² Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095–1524, USA.
³ Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095–1524, USA.
⁴ Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 109017, Russia.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: lsmith{at}geog.ucla.edu (L.C.S.); macdonal{at}geog.ucla.edu (G.M.M.)

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