According to the findings, the majority of the studied environments in Northern Finland act as sinks during the summer, meaning they absorb more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere into the soil and vegetation than they release into the atmosphere. Plants play a crucial role in this process by sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
"Additionally, microbes take up methane in dry shrubland areas, which is an interesting and relatively understudied phenomenon," notes Virkkala.
A small portion of the investigated area acted as a source of greenhouse gases, releasing more gases into the atmosphere than they absorbed. This happened occasionally in wetlands that had high methane emissions. Nitrous oxide emissions were low and associated with peatland environments. Carbon dioxide sources were minimal during the summer but could be found in sparsely vegetated areas.
"Recent studies suggest a potential weakening of sinks and strengthening of sources in the Arctic region, but there is considerable uncertainty in these findings. The methods and data used in this study aim to reduce this uncertainty, indicating that at least during the summer, parts of the Arctic region may still function as greenhouse gas sinks," says Professor of Physical Geography Miska Luoto from the University of Helsinki.
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