TY - JOUR
T1 - Soil Carbon Loss and Weak Fire Feedbacks During Pliocene C4 Grassland Expansion in Australia
AU - Karp, Allison T.
AU - Andrae, Jake W.
AU - McInerney, Francesca A.
AU - Polissar, Pratigya J.
AU - Freeman, Katherine H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2021/1/28
Y1 - 2021/1/28
N2 - C4 grasslands proliferated later in Australia than they did on other continents (∼3.5 Ma vs. 10–5 Ma). It remains unclear whether this delay reflects differences in climate conditions or ecological feedbacks, such as fire, that promote C4 ecosystems. Here, we evaluated these factors using terrestrial biomarkers from marine sediments off western Australia. Fire-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) indicate fire ecology did not substantially change during or following C4 expansion. The presence of fire-adapted C3 woody vegetation likely diminished the role of fire and delayed C4 expansion until it was prompted by climate drying between 3.5 and 3.0 Ma. At the same time, mass accumulation rates of weathered PAHs increased 100-fold, which indicates a significant loss of soil carbon accompanied this ecosystem shift. The tight couplings between hydroclimate and carbon storage altered boundary conditions for Australian ecosystems, and similar abrupt behavior may shape environmental responses to climate change.
AB - C4 grasslands proliferated later in Australia than they did on other continents (∼3.5 Ma vs. 10–5 Ma). It remains unclear whether this delay reflects differences in climate conditions or ecological feedbacks, such as fire, that promote C4 ecosystems. Here, we evaluated these factors using terrestrial biomarkers from marine sediments off western Australia. Fire-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) indicate fire ecology did not substantially change during or following C4 expansion. The presence of fire-adapted C3 woody vegetation likely diminished the role of fire and delayed C4 expansion until it was prompted by climate drying between 3.5 and 3.0 Ma. At the same time, mass accumulation rates of weathered PAHs increased 100-fold, which indicates a significant loss of soil carbon accompanied this ecosystem shift. The tight couplings between hydroclimate and carbon storage altered boundary conditions for Australian ecosystems, and similar abrupt behavior may shape environmental responses to climate change.
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U2 - 10.1029/2020GL090964
DO - 10.1029/2020GL090964
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85099786137
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 48
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 2
M1 - e2020GL090964
ER -