PNAS – Conrad-Rooney et al. (2025): Declining winter snowpack offsets carbon storage enhancement from growing season warming in northern temperate forest ecosystems
Emerson Conrad-Rooney, Andrew B. Reinmann and Pamela H. Templer, IN: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2412873122
Northeastern US temperate forests are currently net carbon (C) sinks and play an important role offsetting anthropogenic C emissions, but projected climatic changes, including increased temperatures and decreased winter snowpack, may influence this C sink over the next century. Past studies show that growing season warming increases forest C storage through greater soil nutrient availability that contributes to greater rates of net photosynthesis, while reduced winter snowpack induces soil freeze/thaw cycles that reduce tree root vitality, nutrient uptake, and forest C storage. The year-round effects of climate change on this C sink are not well understood. The authors report here decade-long results from the Climate Change Across Seasons Experiment (CCASE) at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, which determines the combined effects of growing season warming and a smaller winter snowpack on C storage in northern temperate forests.