| 1. |
- Abbott, Benjamin W., et al.
(författare)
-
Biomass offsets little or none of permafrost carbon release from soils, streams, and wildfire : an expert assessment
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9326. ; 11:3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As the permafrost region warms, its large organic carbon pool will be increasingly vulnerable to decomposition, combustion, and hydrologic export. Models predict that some portion of this release will be offset by increased production of Arctic and boreal biomass; however, the lack of robust estimates of net carbon balance increases the risk of further overshooting international emissions targets. Precise empirical or model-based assessments of the critical factors driving carbon balance are unlikely in the near future, so to address this gap, we present estimates from 98 permafrost-region experts of the response of biomass, wildfire, and hydrologic carbon flux to climate change. Results suggest that contrary to model projections, total permafrost-region biomass could decrease due to water stress and disturbance, factors that are not adequately incorporated in current models. Assessments indicate that end-of-the-century organic carbon release from Arctic rivers and collapsing coastlines could increase by 75% while carbon loss via burning could increase four-fold. Experts identified water balance, shifts in vegetation community, and permafrost degradation as the key sources of uncertainty in predicting future system response. In combination with previous findings, results suggest the permafrost region will become a carbon source to the atmosphere by 2100 regardless of warming scenario but that 65%-85% of permafrost carbon release can still be avoided if human emissions are actively reduced.
|
|
| 2. |
- Barbero-Palacios, Laura, et al.
(författare)
-
Herbivore diversity effects on Arctic tundra ecosystems : a systematic review
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Environmental Evidence. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 2047-2382. ; 13:1
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Northern ecosystems are strongly influenced by herbivores that differ in their impacts on the ecosystem. Yet the role of herbivore diversity in shaping the structure and functioning of tundra ecosystems has been overlooked. With climate and land-use changes causing rapid shifts in Arctic species assemblages, a better understanding of the consequences of herbivore diversity changes for tundra ecosystem functioning is urgently needed. This systematic review synthesizes available evidence on the effects of herbivore diversity on different processes, functions, and properties of tundra ecosystems.Methods: Following a published protocol, our systematic review combined primary field studies retrieved from bibliographic databases, search engines and specialist websites that compared tundra ecosystem responses to different levels of vertebrate and invertebrate herbivore diversity. We used the number of functional groups of herbivores (i.e., functional group richness) as a measure of the diversity of the herbivore assemblage. We screened titles, abstracts, and full texts of studies using pre-defined eligibility criteria. We critically appraised the validity of the studies, tested the influence of different moderators, and conducted sensitivity analyses. Quantitative synthesis (i.e., calculation of effect sizes) was performed for ecosystem responses reported by at least five articles and meta-regressions including the effects of potential modifiers for those reported by at least 10 articles.Review findings: The literature searches retrieved 5944 articles. After screening titles, abstracts, and full texts, 201 articles including 3713 studies (i.e., individual comparisons) were deemed relevant for the systematic review, with 2844 of these studies included in quantitative syntheses. The available evidence base on the effects of herbivore diversity on tundra ecosystems is concentrated around well-established research locations and focuses mainly on the impacts of vertebrate herbivores on vegetation. Overall, greater herbivore diversity led to increased abundance of feeding marks by herbivores and soil temperature, and to reduced total abundance of plants, graminoids, forbs, and litter, plant leaf size, plant height, and moss depth, but the effects of herbivore diversity were difficult to tease apart from those of excluding vertebrate herbivores. The effects of different functional groups of herbivores on graminoid and lichen abundance compensated each other, leading to no net effects when herbivore effects were combined. In turn, smaller herbivores and large-bodied herbivores only reduced plant height when occurring together but not when occurring separately. Greater herbivore diversity increased plant diversity in graminoid tundra but not in other habitat types.Conclusions: This systematic review underscores the importance of herbivore diversity in shaping the structure and function of Arctic ecosystems, with different functional groups of herbivores exerting additive or compensatory effects that can be modulated by environmental conditions. Still, many challenges remain to fully understand the complex impacts of herbivore diversity on tundra ecosystems. Future studies should explicitly address the role of herbivore diversity beyond presence-absence, targeting a broader range of ecosystem responses and explicitly including invertebrate herbivores. A better understanding of the role of herbivore diversity will enhance our ability to predict whether and where shifts in herbivore assemblages might mitigate or further amplify the impacts of environmental change on Arctic ecosystems.
|
|
| 3. |
- Berner, Logan T., et al.
(författare)
-
The Arctic plant aboveground biomass synthesis dataset
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Scientific Data. - : Springer Nature. - 2052-4463. ; 11:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plant biomass is a fundamental ecosystem attribute that is sensitive to rapid climatic changes occurring in the Arctic. Nevertheless, measuring plant biomass in the Arctic is logistically challenging and resource intensive. Lack of accessible field data hinders efforts to understand the amount, composition, distribution, and changes in plant biomass in these northern ecosystems. Here, we present The Arctic plant aboveground biomass synthesis dataset, which includes field measurements of lichen, bryophyte, herb, shrub, and/or tree aboveground biomass (g m−2) on 2,327 sample plots from 636 field sites in seven countries. We created the synthesis dataset by assembling and harmonizing 32 individual datasets. Aboveground biomass was primarily quantified by harvesting sample plots during mid- to late-summer, though tree and often tall shrub biomass were quantified using surveys and allometric models. Each biomass measurement is associated with metadata including sample date, location, method, data source, and other information. This unique dataset can be leveraged to monitor, map, and model plant biomass across the rapidly warming Arctic.
|
|
| 4. |
- Hugelius, Gustaf, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
-
Estimating soil organic carbon storage in periglacial terrain at very high resolution; a case study from the European Russian Arctic
- 2010
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- 1 Introduction While recent research advances have significantly increased our understanding of SOC storage in the periglacial landscape, there are still many uncertainties. Local scale studies have shown that the landscape distribution of SOC is highly heterogeneous (e.g. Hugelius and Kuhry, 2009). Some landscape components, such as peat deposits or cryoturbated soil horizons, can dominate local SOC storage. However, there are no clear trends in landscape distribution and regional differences emerge (Kuhry et al., in prep.). We have conducted a very high resolution study of SOC storage in four study sites (Seida and Rogovaya 1-3) in discontinuous permafrost terrain, European Russian Arctic. Point pedon data is upscaled to areal coverage using two different upscaling tools, land cover classifications and soil maps. 2 Methods 2.1 Soil sampling and upscaling Soil sampling was performed (i) along landscape transects and (ii) according to a weighted, stratified random sampling program. Sampling was done in 10 cm increments to 1 m depth or to full depth of peat deposits in a total of 94 sites. Point pedon data is upscaled to areal coverage using two different upscaling tools: 1. Thematic land cover classifications based on multiresolution segmentation of high-resolution Quickbird imagery (2.44 m raster resolution, 17 separate land cover classes, software Definiens Professional 5.0) and: 2. High resolution thematic soil maps following World Reference Base for Soil Resources terminology (20 distinct soil types, median polygon size 1960 m2). Mean SOC storage for each land cover or soil type is multiplied by the areal coverage within the study areas to calculate total storage and landscape partitioning of SOC. Figure 1 illustrates the spatial resolution of the two upscaling tools. It also shows 4 pixels of Landsat TM resolution, representing the highest resolution of previous land cover based SOC storage studies in permafrost terrain. 3 results Preliminary calculations show that the estimates in the four different areas are between 38-58 kg C m-2 for land cover upscaling and between 37-49 kg C m-2 for soil map upscaling. Both upscaling methods yield higher estimates than what has previously been reported for this area (Hugelius and Kuhry, 2009). A majority of SOC is stored in Cryic Histosols or Folic/Histic Cryosols. Contiguous permafrost peat plateaus are present in all study areas, covering ~20-30 % of the landscape. The mean depth of peat deposits in the four plateaus is between 150-250 cm, but it is highly variable (recorded range 30-420 cm). There is no evidence of any significant deep burial of SOC through cryoturbation processes. References Hugelius G. and Kuhry P. 2009, Landscape partitioning and environmental gradient analyses of soil organic carbon in a permafrost environment. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 23, GB3006, doi:10.1029/2008GB003419. Kuhry, P., Dorrepaal, E., Hugelius G., Schuur, E.A.G. and Tarnocai C., Potential remobilization of permafrost carbon under future global warming. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, Submitted.
|
|
| 5. |
- Hugelius, Gustaf, et al.
(författare)
-
High-resolution mapping of ecosystem carbon storage and potential effects of permafrost thaw in periglacial terrain, European Russian Arctic
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 116, s. G03024-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study describes detailed partitioning of phytomass carbon (C) and soil organic carbon (SOC) for four study areas in discontinuous permafrost terrain, Northeast European Russia. The mean aboveground phytomass C storage is 0.7 kg C m(-2). Estimated landscape SOC storage in the four areas varies between 34.5 and 47.0 kg C m(-2) with LCC (land cover classification) upscaling and 32.5-49.0 kg C m(-2) with soil map upscaling. A nested upscaling approach using a Landsat thematic mapper land cover classification for the surrounding region provides estimates within 5 +/- 5% of the local high-resolution estimates. Permafrost peat plateaus hold the majority of total and frozen SOC, especially in the more southern study areas. Burying of SOC through cryoturbation of O- or A-horizons contributes between 1% and 16% (mean 5%) of total landscape SOC. The effect of active layer deepening and thermokarst expansion on SOC remobilization is modeled for one of the four areas. The active layer thickness dynamics from 1980 to 2099 is modeled using a transient spatially distributed permafrost model and lateral expansion of peat plateau thermokarst lakes is simulated using geographic information system analyses. Active layer deepening is expected to increase the proportion of SOC affected by seasonal thawing from 29% to 58%. A lateral expansion of 30 m would increase the amount of SOC stored in thermokarst lakes/fens from 2% to 22% of all SOC. By the end of this century, active layer deepening will likely affect more SOC than thermokarst expansion, but the SOC stores vulnerable to thermokarst are less decomposed.
|
|
| 6. |
- Hugelius, Gustaf, et al.
(författare)
-
Soil Organic Carbon Pools in a Periglacial Landscape; a Case Study from the Central Canadian Arctic
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. - : Wiley. - 1045-6740 .- 1099-1530. ; 21:1, s. 16-29
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated total storage and landscape partitioning of soil organic carbon (SOC) in continuous permafrost terrain, central Canadian Arctic. The study is based on soil chemical analyses of pedons sampled to 1-m depth at 35 individual sites along three transects. Radiocarbon dating of cryoturbated soil pockets, basal peat and fossil wood shows that cryoturbation processes have been occurring since the Middle Holocene and that peat deposits started to accumulate in a forest-tundra environment where spruce was present (∼6000 cal yrs BP). Detailed partitioning of SOC into surface organic horizons, cryoturbated soil pockets and non-cryoturbated mineral soil horizons is calculated (with storage in active layer and permafrost calculated separately) and explored using principal component analysis. The detailed partitioning and mean storage of SOC in the landscape are estimated from transect vegetation inventories and a land cover classification based on a Landsat satellite image. Mean SOC storage in the 0–100-cm depth interval is 33.8 kg C m−2, of which 11.8 kg C m−2 is in permafrost. Fifty-six per cent of the total SOC mass is stored in peatlands (mainly bogs), but cryoturbated soil pockets in Turbic Cryosols also contribute significantly (17%). Elemental C/N ratios indicate that this cryoturbated soil organic matter (SOM) decomposes more slowly than SOM in surface O-horizons.
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Kou, Dan, et al.
(författare)
-
Peatland Heterogeneity Impacts on Regional Carbon Flux and Its Radiative Effect Within a Boreal Landscape
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. - 2169-8953. ; 127:9
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Peatlands, with high spatial variability in ecotypes and microforms, constitute a significant part of the boreal landscape and play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle. However, the effects of this peatland heterogeneity within the boreal landscape are rarely quantified. Here, we use field-based measurements, high-resolution land cover classification, and biogeochemical and atmospheric models to estimate the atmosphere-ecosystem C fluxes and the corresponding radiative effect (RE) for a boreal landscape (Kaamanen) in northern Finland. Our result shows that the Kaamanen catchment currently functioned as a sink of carbon dioxide (CO2) and a source of methane (CH4). Peatlands (26% of the area) contributed 22% of the total CO2 uptake and 89% of CH4 emissions; forests (61%) accounted for 78% of CO2 uptake and offset 6% of CH4 emissions; water bodies (13%) offset 7% of CO2 uptake and contributed 11% of CH4 emissions. The heterogeneity of peatlands accounted for 11%, 88%, and 75% of the area-weighted variability (deviation from the area-weighted mean among different land cover types (LCTs) within the catchment) in CO2 flux, CH4 flux, and the combined RE of CO2 and CH4 exchanges over the 25-year time horizon, respectively. Aggregating peatland LCTs or misclassifying them as nonpeatland LCTs can significantly (p < 0.05) bias the regional CH4 exchange and RE estimates, while differentiating between drier noninundated and wetter inundated peatlands can effectively reduce the bias. Current land cover products lack such details in peatland heterogeneity, which would be needed to better constrain boreal C budgets and global C-climate feedbacks.
|
|
| 10. |
- Muster, Sina, et al.
(författare)
-
PeRL : a circum-Arctic Permafrost Region Pond and Lake database
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Earth System Science Data. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1866-3508 .- 1866-3516. ; 9:1, s. 317-348
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ponds and lakes are abundant in Arctic permafrost lowlands. They play an important role in Arctic wetland ecosystems by regulating carbon, water, and energy fluxes and providing freshwater habitats. However, ponds, i. e., waterbodies with surface areas smaller than 1.0 x 10(4) m(2), have not been inventoried on global and regional scales. The Permafrost Region Pond and Lake (PeRL) database presents the results of a circum-Arctic effort to map ponds and lakes from modern (2002-2013) high-resolution aerial and satellite imagery with a resolution of 5m or better. The database also includes historical imagery from 1948 to 1965 with a resolution of 6m or better. PeRL includes 69 maps covering a wide range of environmental conditions from tundra to boreal regions and from continuous to discontinuous permafrost zones. Waterbody maps are linked to regional permafrost landscape maps which provide information on permafrost extent, ground ice volume, geology, and lithology. This paper describes waterbody classification and accuracy, and presents statistics of waterbody distribution for each site. Maps of permafrost landscapes in Alaska, Canada, and Russia are used to extrapolate waterbody statistics from the site level to regional landscape units. PeRL presents pond and lake estimates for a total area of 1.4 x 10(6) km(2) across the Arctic, about 17% of the Arctic lowland (<300ma. s.l.) land surface area. PeRL waterbodies with sizes of 1.0 x 10(6) m(2) down to 1.0 x 10(2) m(2) contributed up to 21% to the total water fraction. Waterbody density ranged from 1.0 x 10 to 9.4 x 10(1) km(-2). Ponds are the dominant waterbody type by number in all landscapes representing 45-99% of the total waterbody number. The implementation of PeRL size distributions in land surface models will greatly improve the investigation and projection of surface inundation and carbon fluxes in permafrost lowlands. Waterbody maps, study area boundaries, and maps of regional permafrost landscapes including detailed metadata are available at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.868349.
|
|
