Abstract

Non-growing season CO₂ emissions from Arctic tundra remain a major uncertainty in forecasting climate change consequences of permafrost thaw. We present the first time series of soil and microbial CO₂ emissions from a graminoid tundra based on year-round in situ measurements of the radiocarbon content of soil CO₂ (Δ¹⁴CO₂) and of bulk soil C (Δ¹⁴C), microbial activity, and temperature. Combining these data with land-atmosphere CO₂ exchange allows estimates of the proportion and mean age of microbial CO₂ emissions year-round. We observe a seasonal shift in emission sources from fresh carbon during the growing season (August Δ¹⁴CO₂ = 74 ± 4.7‰, 37% ± 3.4% microbial, mean ± se) to increasingly older soil carbon in fall and winter (March Δ¹⁴CO₂ = 22 ± 1.3‰, 47% ± 8% microbial). Thus, rising soil temperatures and emissions during fall and winter are depleting aged soil carbon pools in the active layer and thawing permafrost and further accelerating climate change.