Forests and swamps of Siberia in the global carbon cycle

Western Siberia wetlands as indicator and regulator of climate change on the global scale

“…Some 75% of the actual surface of the Great Vasiugan Mire has appeared during the last 500 years when isolated centres of paludification were joined. Stocks of peat deposited by this largest mire pool in recalculation on absolutely dry organic substance amount to almost 18 billion t, which is 16.5% of stocks of peat of all Western Siberia [6]. This unique mire is a natural feature of world value and in 2007 the application was submitted to nominate the Great Vasiugan Mire to the UNESCO World Heritage List.…”

“…Among the mires of the Western Siberia there is one that stands apart -the Great Vasiugan Mire (figures 1 and 2). This is the biggest peatland in the world with a total area of 6.78 million hectares [6]. The mires of Vasiugan appeared about 10,000 years ago and since then have constantly grown.…”

“…Scientists from France, The Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Japan, Canada and USA together with Russian colleagues have studied processes of carbon sequestration and emission in peat deposits of bogs, as a result of which two important greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, are released to the atmosphere. Today more than 20 international projects are dedicated to the study of this problem [6].…”

Abrupt changes of thermokarst lakes in Western Siberia: impacts of climatic warming on permafrost melting

“…To the greatest degree this is a challenge for peatland researchers in the permafrost zone. Necessary studies have either not yet been undertaken or have had only an incidental and fragmentary character [13]. According to our observations thermokarst lakes in the north of West Siberia are shallow (1.5-2 m of depth) and they have a peat bottom.…”

“…We established this to be the situation in our last expeditions. The most widespread and standard techniques of measurement of greenhouse gases are chamber methods of direct measurement of respiration [13]. These permit the exact estimation of greenhouse gases from a surface, and thus the evaluation of diffused methane emissions.…”