Ecosystem nutrient cycling following thermokarst disturbance

Our purpose was to characterize nutrient cycling recovery patterns after thermokarst disturbance and to assess how well these patterns fit ecological paradigms of nutrient cycling after disturbance. To do this, we measured carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus pools and cycling rates in the surface organic and mineral soils of three retrogressive thaw slumps in Northern Alaska. In addition, we measured legume nodule biomass and spring thaw nutrient inputs. At each slump we established recovery chronosequences spanning 5-150 years and sampled in plots along a transect at each of the chronosequence stages (n=3-5). We carried out these measures for two years and the intervening winter.