Experimental assessment of tundra fire impact on element export and storage in permafrost peatlands

Extensive studies have been performed on wildfire impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the taiga biome, however consequences of wildfires in the tundra biome remain poorly understood. In such a biome, permafrost peatlands occupy a sizable territory in the Northern Hemisphere and present an extensive and highly vulnerable storage of organic carbon. Here we used an experimental approach to model the impact of ash produced from burning of main tundra organic constituents (i.e., moss, lichen and peat) on surrounding aquatic ecosystems. We studied the chemical composition of aqueous leachates produced during short-term (1 week) interaction of ash with distilled water and organic-rich lake water at 5 gsolid L−1 and 20 °C. The addition of ash enriched the fluid phase in major cations (i.e., Na, Ca, Mg), macro- (i.e., P, K, Si) and micronutrients (i.e., Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Mo). This enrichment occurred over