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1. Investigating Thaw and Plant Productivity Constraints on Old Soil Carbon Respiration From Permafrost

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JG006000  

   Mauritz, Marguerite; Pegoraro, Elaine; Ogle, Kiona; Ebert, Christopher; Schuur, Edward A. G. (June 2021, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences)

   Abstract Isotopic radiocarbon (Δ¹⁴C) signatures of ecosystem respiration (Reco) can identify old soil carbon (C) loss and serve as an early indicator of permafrost destabilization in a warming climate. Warming also stimulates plant productivity causing plant respiration to dominate Reco Δ¹⁴C signatures and potentially obscuring old soil C loss. Here, we investigate how a wide spatio‐temporal gradient of permafrost thaw and plant productivity affects Reco Δ¹⁴C patterns and isotopic partitioning. Spatial gradients came from a warming experiment with doubling thaw depth and variable biomass, and a vegetation removal manipulation to eliminate plant contributions. We sampled in August and September to capture transitions from high to low plant productivity, decreased surface soil temperature, and relatively small seasonal thaw extensions. We found that surface processes dominate spatial variation in old soil C loss and a process‐based partitioning approach was crucial for constraining old soil C loss. Resampling the same plots in different times of the year revealed that old soil C losses tripled with cooling surface temperature, and the largest old soil C losses were detected when the organic‐to‐mineral soil horizons thawed (∼50–60 cm). We suggest that the measured increase in old soil respiration over the season and when the organic‐to‐mineral horizon thawed, may be explained by mobilization of nitrogen that stimulates microbial decomposition at depth. Our results suggest that soil C in the organic to mineral horizon may be an important source of soil C loss as the entire Arctic region warms and could lead to nonlinearities in projected permafrost climate feedbacks. 

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2. Spatial variation in vegetation productivity trends, fire disturbance, and soil carbon across arctic-boreal permafrost ecosystems

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/9/095008  

   Loranty, Michael M; Lieberman-Cribbin, Wil; Berner, Logan T; Natali, Susan M; Goetz, Scott J; Alexander, Heather D; Kholodov, Alexander L (September 2016, Environmental Research Letters)
3. Effect of permafrost thaw on plant and soil fungal community in a boreal forest: Does fungal community change mediate plant productivity response?

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13139  

   Schütte, Ursel M.; Henning, Jeremiah A.; Ye, Yuzhen; Bowling, Annie; Ford, James; Genet, Hélène; Waldrop, Mark P.; Turetsky, Merritt R.; White, Jeffrey R.; Bever, James D.; et al (February 2019, Journal of Ecology)
4. Gender Disparities in Pandemic Productivity

   Malish, J.L; Graves, A.L. (April 2021, CSWP COM gazette)

   Graves, A.L. (Ed.)

   This article describes the disparities, by gender, in ability to produce research in physics during the Covid pandemic. Data from the APS Office of Governmental affairs sheds light on the particular burden placed on experimentalists and early career women. An annotated list of references is included. 

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5. Permafrost Regions In Transition: Introduction

   https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2021-081  

   Streletskiy, Dmitry A.; Maslakov, Alexey A.; Streletskaya, Irina D.; Nelson, Frederick E. (December 2021, GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY)

   Russian permafrost regions are unparalleled in extent, history of development, population presence, and the scale of economic activities. This special issue, «Permafrost Regions in Transition», provides a timely opportunity to (a) examine major issues associated with changing permafrost conditions in natural environments and areas of economic development; (b) present insights into new methods of permafrost investigations; and (c) describe new opportunities and risks threatening sustainable development of Arctic populations and industrial centers in Russia. The issue begins with papers focused on methods of permafrost research, followed by papers focused on examining changes in permafrost under natural conditions, and in Arctic settlements. The last two papers examine potential impacts of permafrost degradation on the Russian economy and potential health implications. 

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