Articles | Volume 20, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-365-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-365-2023
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
24 Jan 2023
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 24 Jan 2023

Permafrost degradation and nitrogen cycling in Arctic rivers: insights from stable nitrogen isotope studies

Adam Francis, Raja S. Ganeshram, Robyn E. Tuerena, Robert G. M. Spencer, Robert M. Holmes, Jennifer A. Rogers, and Claire Mahaffey

Related authors

Molecular level characterization of supraglacial dissolved organic matter sources and exported pools on the southern Greenland Ice Sheet
Eva L. Doting, Ian T. Stevens, Anne M. Kellerman, Pamela E. Rossel, Runa Antony, Amy M. McKenna, Martyn Tranter, Liane G. Benning, Robert G. M. Spencer, Jon R. Hawkings, and Alexandre M. Anesio
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-492,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-492, 2024
Short summary
Global oceanic diazotroph database version 2 and elevated estimate of global oceanic N2 fixation
Zhibo Shao, Yangchun Xu, Hua Wang, Weicheng Luo, Lice Wang, Yuhong Huang, Nona Sheila R. Agawin, Ayaz Ahmed, Mar Benavides, Mikkel Bentzon-Tilia, Ilana Berman-Frank, Hugo Berthelot, Isabelle C. Biegala, Mariana B. Bif, Antonio Bode, Sophie Bonnet, Deborah A. Bronk, Mark V. Brown, Lisa Campbell, Douglas G. Capone, Edward J. Carpenter, Nicolas Cassar, Bonnie X. Chang, Dreux Chappell, Yuh-ling Lee Chen, Matthew J. Church, Francisco M. Cornejo-Castillo, Amália Maria Sacilotto Detoni, Scott C. Doney, Cecile Dupouy, Marta Estrada, Camila Fernandez, Bieito Fernández-Castro, Debany Fonseca-Batista, Rachel A. Foster, Ken Furuya, Nicole Garcia, Kanji Goto, Jesús Gago, Mary R. Gradoville, M. Robert Hamersley, Britt A. Henke, Cora Hörstmann, Amal Jayakumar, Zhibing Jiang, Shuh-Ji Kao, David M. Karl, Leila R. Kittu, Angela N. Knapp, Sanjeev Kumar, Julie LaRoche, Hongbin Liu, Jiaxing Liu, Caroline Lory, Carolin R. Löscher, Emilio Marañón, Lauren F. Messer, Matthew M. Mills, Wiebke Mohr, Pia H. Moisander, Claire Mahaffey, Robert Moore, Beatriz Mouriño-Carballido, Margaret R. Mulholland, Shin-ichiro Nakaoka, Joseph A. Needoba, Eric J. Raes, Eyal Rahav, Teodoro Ramírez-Cárdenas, Christian Furbo Reeder, Lasse Riemann, Virginie Riou, Julie C. Robidart, Vedula V. S. S. Sarma, Takuya Sato, Himanshu Saxena, Corday Selden, Justin R. Seymour, Dalin Shi, Takuhei Shiozaki, Arvind Singh, Rachel E. Sipler, Jun Sun, Koji Suzuki, Kazutaka Takahashi, Yehui Tan, Weiyi Tang, Jean-Éric Tremblay, Kendra Turk-Kubo, Zuozhu Wen, Angelicque E. White, Samuel T. Wilson, Takashi Yoshida, Jonathan P. Zehr, Run Zhang, Yao Zhang, and Ya-Wei Luo
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3673–3709, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3673-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3673-2023, 2023
Short summary
Nitrate isotope investigations reveal future impacts of climate change on nitrogen inputs and cycling in Arctic fjords: Kongsfjorden and Rijpfjorden (Svalbard)
Marta Santos-Garcia, Raja S. Ganeshram, Robyn E. Tuerena, Margot C. F. Debyser, Katrine Husum, Philipp Assmy, and Haakon Hop
Biogeosciences, 19, 5973–6002, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5973-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5973-2022, 2022
Short summary
Tracing the role of Arctic shelf processes in Si and N cycling and export through the Fram Strait: insights from combined silicon and nitrate isotopes
Margot C. F. Debyser, Laetitia Pichevin, Robyn E. Tuerena, Paul A. Dodd, Antonia Doncila, and Raja S. Ganeshram
Biogeosciences, 19, 5499–5520, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5499-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5499-2022, 2022
Short summary
Organic matter characteristics of a rapidly eroding permafrost cliff in NE Siberia (Lena Delta, Laptev Sea region)
Charlotte Haugk, Loeka L. Jongejans, Kai Mangelsdorf, Matthias Fuchs, Olga Ogneva, Juri Palmtag, Gesine Mollenhauer, Paul J. Mann, P. Paul Overduin, Guido Grosse, Tina Sanders, Robyn E. Tuerena, Lutz Schirrmeister, Sebastian Wetterich, Alexander Kizyakov, Cornelia Karger, and Jens Strauss
Biogeosciences, 19, 2079–2094, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2079-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2079-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Biogeochemistry: Stable Isotopes & Other Tracers
Climatic controls on leaf wax hydrogen isotope ratios in terrestrial and marine sediments along a hyperarid-to-humid gradient
Nestor Gaviria-Lugo, Charlotte Läuchli, Hella Wittmann, Anne Bernhardt, Patrick Frings, Mahyar Mohtadi, Oliver Rach, and Dirk Sachse
Biogeosciences, 20, 4433–4453, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4433-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4433-2023, 2023
Short summary
Fractionation of stable carbon isotopes during microbial propionate consumption in anoxic rice paddy soils
Ralf Conrad and Peter Claus
Biogeosciences, 20, 3625–3635, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3625-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3625-2023, 2023
Short summary
Sources and sinks of carbonyl sulfide inferred from tower and mobile atmospheric observations in the Netherlands
Alessandro Zanchetta, Linda M. J. Kooijmans, Steven van Heuven, Andrea Scifo, Hubertus A. Scheeren, Ivan Mammarella, Ute Karstens, Jin Ma, Maarten Krol, and Huilin Chen
Biogeosciences, 20, 3539–3553, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3539-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3539-2023, 2023
Short summary
Downpour dynamics: outsized impacts of storm events on unprocessed atmospheric nitrate export in an urban watershed
Joel T. Bostic, David M. Nelson, and Keith N. Eshleman
Biogeosciences, 20, 2485–2498, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2485-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2485-2023, 2023
Short summary
The hidden role of dissolved organic carbon in the biogeochemical cycle of carbon in modern redox-stratified lakes
Robin Havas, Christophe Thomazo, Miguel Iniesto, Didier Jézéquel, David Moreira, Rosaluz Tavera, Jeanne Caumartin, Elodie Muller, Purificación López-García, and Karim Benzerara
Biogeosciences, 20, 2405–2424, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2405-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2405-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Amon, R. M. W., Rinehart, A. J., Duan, S., Louchouarn, P., Prokushkin, A., Guggenberger, G., Bauch, D., Stedmon, C., Raymond, P. A., Holmes, R. M., McClelland, J. W., Peterson, B. J., Walker, S. A., and Zhulidov, A. V.: Dissolved organic matter sources in large Arctic rivers, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 94, 217–237, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GCA.2012.07.015, 2012. 
Anisimov, O. and Reneva, S.: Permafrost and changing climate: the Russian perspective, Ambio, 35, 169–175, https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447(2006)35[169:pacctr]2.0.co;2, . 
Beermann, F., Langer, M., Wetterich, S., Strauss, J., Boike, J., Fiencke, C., Schirrmeister, L., Pfeiffer, E.-M., and Kutzback, L.: Permafrost thaw and liberation of inorganic nitrogen in Eastern Siberia, Permafrost Perigl., 28, 605–618, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1958, 2017. 
Berhe, A. A., Harte, J., Harden, J. W., and Torn, M. S.: The Significance of the Erosion-induced Terrestrial Carbon Sink, BioScience, Narnia, 57, 337–346, https://doi.org/10.1641/B570408, 2007. 
Botrel, M., Bristow, L. A., Altabet, M. A., Gregory-Eaves, I., and Maranger, R.: Assimilation and nitrification in pelagic waters: insights using dual nitrate stable isotopes (δ15N, δ18O) in a shallow lake, Biogeochemistry, Springer International Publishing, 135, 221–237, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-017-0369-y, 2017. 
Download
Co-editor-in-chief
Vast areas of permafrost are being degraded by climate change, which can release substantial quantities of nutrients into rivers and the ocean. This study shows how nitrogen isotopes can be used to determine how climate change affects the fluxes of nitrogen to the Arctic Ocean through permafrost melt.
Short summary
Climate change is causing extensive permafrost degradation and nutrient releases into rivers with great ecological impacts on the Arctic Ocean. We focused on nitrogen (N) release from this degradation and associated cycling using N isotopes, an understudied area. Many N species are released at degradation sites with exchanges between species. N inputs from permafrost degradation and seasonal river N trends were identified using isotopes, helping to predict climate change impacts.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint