Soil carbon and nitrogen across wetland types in discontinuous permafrost zone of the Xiao Xing'an Mountains, northeastern China

Abstract

Abstract Soil organic carbon (SOC) in high latitude ecosystems is potentially vulnerable to global climate change. However, the distribution of SOC and total nitrogen (N) is still unknown for the boreal wetlands. In this study, we collected soil samples from different wetlands in the discontinuous permafrost zone of the Xiao Xing'an Mountains, northeastern China. Permafrost was only present in the bogs and fens in this zone. Soil C concentrations were significantly correlated with total N concentrations and bulk density ( P P > 0.05), suggesting that future global warming and vegetation change would not significantly affect soil C and total N storage in upper soil layers in wetlands. However, vegetation changes are likely to increase the depth of the permafrost active layer under permafrost degradation, release deep soil C, and add C to the atmosphere over the coming decades.