Abstract: | Carbon dioxide fluxes and water balance were examined in 43 tundra ponds in the northern portion of the Hudson Bay Lowland near Churchill, Manitoba. Most of the ponds were hydrologically disconnected from their catchments during dry periods throughout the post‐melt season. However, episodic reconnection occurred following large precipitation events where depression storage was exceeded. Significant shifts in pond chemistry were observed following precipitation events, with the degree of CO2 saturation increasing during these periods. Pond CO2 concentrations rapidly fell to pre‐event levels following events, suggesting that hydrological connectivity can affect the magnitude and direction of CO2 gas fluxes in tundra ponds. Atmospheric CO2 invaded ponds with highly organic sediments for most of the summer, suggesting that terrestrially derived inorganic carbon was insufficient to meet the demands of algal net production. In contrast, ponds with highly mineral sediments continued to evade CO2 during the summer. In a subset of 11 ponds, long‐term rates of carbon accumulation in sediment ranged from 0·6 to 2·2 mol C m?2 year?1. Very strong correlations existed between average sediment accumulation rates and pond perimeters and basin areas suggesting that peat may be a major source of sediment carbon. Aeolian transport is also a potentially large source of sediment carbon. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |