Publications

Publications (*corresponding author)

If you are unable to access any of these manuscripts please get in touch with me (w.heffernan@vu.nl) and I’ll be happy to share a PDF of it with you.

2025

Boonman J., Tolynau D., Keskamp J., Heffernan L., Buzacott A., Harpenslager S. F., Dijk G., Hefting M., Velde Y. 2025. High contributions of anaerobic decompostion to greenhouse gas emissions of agriculturally used peatlands. Geoderma. 462. 117521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2025.117521

Vaziourakis, KM., Heffernan, L., Jakobsson, E. et al. Controls on the respiratory quotient of organic matter decomposition across ecosystems. Biogeochemistry 168, 24 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-025-01217-8

Waldrop, M., Ernakovich, J., Vishnivetskaya, T., Schaefer, S., Mackelprang, R., Barta, J., O′Brien, J., Winkel, M., Barbato, R., Heffernan, L., Leewis, M.-C., Hewitt, R., Hultman, J., Sun, Y., Biasi, C., Bradley, J., Liebner, S., Ricketts, M., Muscarella, M., Schütte, U., Abuah, F., Whalen, E., Timling, I., Voigt, C., Taş, N., Lloyd, K., Siljanen, H. ., Rivkina, E., Voříšková, J., Tao, J., Liang, R., Li, Z., Lennon, J. and Onstott, T. . (2025), Microbial Ecology of Permafrost Soils: Populations, Processes, and Perspectives. Permafrost and Periglac Process. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2264

2024

See, C.R., Virkkala, AM., Natali, S.M., Rogers, B.M., Mauritz, M., Biasi, C., Bokhorst, S., …. Grelle, A., Heffernan, L., Helbig, M., …. Schurr, E.A.G., et al. Decadal increases in carbon uptake offset by respiratory losses across northern permafrost ecosystems. Nat. Clim. Chang. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02057-4

Heffernan, L., Estop-Aragonés, C., Kuhn, M. A., Holger-Knorr, K., & Olefeldt, D. (2024). Changing climatic controls on the greenhouse gas balance of thermokarst bogs during succession after permafrost thaw. Global Change Biology, 30, e17388. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17388

Kuhn, M. A., Varner, R. K., McCalley, C. K., Perryman, C. R., Aurela, M., Burke, S. A., et al. (2024). Controls on stable methane isotope values in northern peatlands and potential shifts in values under permafrost thaw scenarios. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 129, e2023JG007837. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JG007837

Heffernan, L., Kothawala, D. N., and Tranvik, L. J. (2024) Review article: Terrestrial dissolved organic carbon in northern permafrost, The Cryosphere, 18, 1443–1465, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1443-2024.

2023

Harris, L. I., Olefeldt, D., Pelletier, N., Blodau, C., Knorr, K.-H., Talbot, J., Heffernan, L., & Turetsky, M. (2023). Permafrost thaw causes large carbon loss in boreal peatlands while changes to peat quality are limited. Global Change Biology, 29, 5720–5735. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16894

Schulze, C., Sonnentag, O., Voigt, C., Thompson, L., van Delden, L., Heffernan, L., et al. (2023). Nitrous oxide fluxes in permafrost peatlands remain negligible after wildfire and thermokarst disturbance. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 128, e2022JG007322. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JG007322

Sim, T. G., Swindles, G. T., Morris, P. J., Baird, A. J., Gallego-Sala, A. V., Wang, Y., Blaauw, M., Camill, P., Garneau, M., Hardiman, M., Loisel, J., Vӓliranta, M., Anderson, L., Apolinarska, K., Augustijns, F., Aunina, L., Beaulne, J., Bobek, P., Borken, W., … Zhang, H. (2023). Regional variability in peatland burning at mid-to high-latitudes during the Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 305, 108020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.10802

2022               

Kuhn, M.A., Schmidt, M., Heffernan, L., Stührenberg, J., Knorr, K.-H., Estop-Aragonés, C., Broder, T., Gonzalez Moguel, R., Douglas, P.M.J. and Olefeldt, D. (2022), High ebullitive, millennial-aged greenhouse gas emissions from thermokarst expansion of peatland lakes in boreal western Canada. Limnol Oceanogr. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12288

Estop-Aragonés, C., Heffernan, L., Knorr, K.-H., Olefeldt, D. (2022). Limited potential for mineralization of permafrost peatland soil carbon following thermokarst: Evidence from anoxic incubation and priming experiments. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 127, e2022JG006910. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JG006910

Heffernan, L.*, Cavaco, M. A., Bhatia, M. P., Estop-Aragonés, C., Knorr, K.-H.,  Olefeldt, D. High peatland methane emissions following permafrost thaw: enhanced acetoclastic methanogenesis throughout the peat profile during early successional stages. Biogeosciences, 19, 3051–3071, 2022. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3051-2022

Ghosh, A., Robison, A.L., Chiapella, A.M., Bertolet, B.L., Selden, C., Perry, D., Reich, H.G., Oleksy, I., Isanta-Navarro, J., Aho, K.S., Ganley, L., Soares, L.M., Heffernan, L., Sasaki, M., Ray, N.E., Peleg, O., Thibodeau, P., Reis, P.C., Ramulifho, P.A., Maher, R.L., LaBrie, R. and Speir, S.L. (2022), Ecological Dissertations in the Aquatic Sciences: An Effective Platform for Developing Professional Collaborations Among Early Career Aquatic Scientists. Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin, 31: 27-29. https://doi.org/10.1002/lob.10485

2021

Heffernan, L.*, Jassey, V. E. J., Frederickson, M., MacKenzie, M. D., & Olefeldt, D. (2021). Constraints on potential enzyme activities in thermokarst bogs: Implications for the carbon balance of peatlands following thaw. Global Change Biology, 00, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15758

Olefeldt D., Heffernan L., Jones M.C., Sannel A.B.K., Treat C.C., Turetsky M.R. (2021) Permafrost Thaw in Northern Peatlands: Rapid Changes in Ecosystem and Landscape Functions. In: Canadell J.G., Jackson R.B. (eds) Ecosystem Collapse and Climate Change. Ecological Studies (Analysis and Synthesis), vol 241. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71330-0_3

Olefeldt, D., Hovemyr, M., Kuhn, M. A., Bastviken, D., Bohn, T. J., Connolly, J., Crill, P., Euskirchen, E. S., Finkelstein, S. A., Genet, H., Grosse, G., Harris, L. I., Heffernan, L., Helbig, M., Hugelius, G., Hutchins, R., Juutinen, S., Lara, M. J., Malhotra, A., Manies, K., McGuire, A. D., Natali, S. M., O’Donnell, J. A., Parmentier, F.-J. W., Räsänen, A., Schädel, C., Sonnentag, O., Strack, M., Tank, S. E., Treat, C., Varner, R. K., Virtanen, T., Warren, R. K., and Watts, J. D. (2021): The Boreal–Arctic Wetland and Lake Dataset (BAWLD), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5127–5149, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5127-2021

2020

Heffernan, L.*, Estop-Aragonés, C., Knorr, K.-H., Talbot, J., & Olefeldt, D. (2020). Long-term impacts of permafrost thaw on carbon storage in peatlands: Deep losses offset by surficial accumulation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 125, e2019JG005501. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JG005501

2018               

Estop-Aragonés, C., Czimczik, C.I., Heffernan, L., Gibson, C., Walker, J.C., Xu, X., Olefeldt, D. (2018). Respiration of aged soil carbon during fall in permafrost peatlands enhanced by active layer deepening following wildfire but limited following thermokarst. Environmental Research Letters, vol. 13, issue 8, pp: 085002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aad5f0

Jagodzinski L., O ‘Donoghue M., Heffernan L., van Pelt F., O’Halloran J., Jansen M.A.K. (2018). Wood ash residues cause of mixture of growth promotion and toxicity in Lemna minor. Science of the Total Environment, 625, 667-676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.12.233