Mapping Belowground Carbon Pools and Potential Vulnerability in the
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Abstract
Permafrost regions store an estimated half of the global belowground
organic carbon pool and twice the global atmospheric carbon level. A
warming climate results in increased carbon gas emission, therefore
knowing more about the amount and composition of organic carbon stored
in permafrost regions is crucial for understanding feedbacks on global
climate change. Using the Yukon-Kukskowim (YK) Delta, Alaska as a study
site, we quantified belowground carbon pools and their potential
vulnerability to release into the atmosphere as greenhouse gasses. We
identified relevant landcover classes (burned and unburned upland peat
plateaus, wetlands, ponds/lakes) in the YK Delta, from which we
quantified total belowground carbon pools (30cm) and assessed the
composition of the organic matter using Fourier-transform infrared
spectroscopy. To characterize the size and distribution of soil carbon
pools in the YK Delta, we built a Random Forest Machine Learning model
that mapped the spatial distribution of soil carbon to a depth of 30 cm
over a 1910 km2 watershed. The map product was produced in Google Earth
Engine and used covariates that include, but are not limited to,
Worldview2 high-resolution optical imagery (2m), ArcticDEM (5m), and
Sentinel-2 level 1C multispectral imagery (10 m), including NDVI. We
found substantial variation across landcover classes in soil
characteristics that affect organic matter vulnerability, including
gravimetric water content, thaw depth, bulk density, and percent carbon.
Compared to upland areas, thaw depths were significantly deeper in
wetlands and lakes, where we detected no surface permafrost (to 1m).
Soil carbon content (%) was greatest in moss-dominated wetlands;
however, these areas also had the lowest bulk density. Carbon pools and
organic matter characteristics also varied between burned and unburned
areas. Therefore, we expect that carbon vulnerability varies by
landcover class and that future carbon emissions are driven by total
carbon pools, thaw depths, and composition of the carbon stored in
organic matter pools. These carbon pool and vulnerability maps will
contribute to better understanding the impacts of subarctic warming and
are critical for developing a more accurate assessment of carbon cycling
feedbacks from permafrost regions on global climate change.