Fig. 4: Seasonal carbon budgets and areal distributions of patches at retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) sites.
From: Thaw slumps alter ecosystem carbon budget in alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau
a Seasonal carbon budgets for each RTS site during the 2024 growing season. Red bars represent carbon budgets of disturbed RTS areas (exposed, vegetated raft and disturbed ground patches), while navy bars indicate budgets for undisturbed alpine grassland areas with equivalent extents. Negative values denote net carbon uptake (sink), and positive values represent net carbon emissions (source). The detailed method for carbon budget calculation is described in Methods. b Additional carbon emissions attributed to RTS occurrence during the 2024 growing season, calculated as differences between disturbed RTS areas and their undisturbed counterparts. c Areal distributions of patch types (exposed (EX), vegetated raft (VR), disturbed ground (DG) and drape) at each RTS site. Percentage values (%) indicate the areal fractions of exposed patches within each RTS during July–August 2024.
