| 1. |
- Berglund, Björn, et al.
(author)
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Late Quaternary landscape and vegetation diversity in a North European perspective
- 2008
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In: Quaternary International. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-4553 .- 1040-6182. ; 184, s. 187-194
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The rarefaction technique applied to fossil pollen sequences for analyzing palynological richness, interpreted as a signal of biological diversity of landscapes and vegetation, has been developed since 1988. Errors including population evenness and vegetation disturbance have been considered in this study. Information from two sites is discussed, one with a pollen diagram covering Late-Glacial (Late Weichselian) Time (14,400–10,500 cal. BP) and another one with a full-Holocene pollen diagram (last 12,500 years), both from southern Sweden. The climate change trend since deglaciation is reflected in a broad-scale biome change, from: (1) Late-Glacial, Arctic–Sub-Arctic open tundra–steppe with high diversity, via (2) Early Holocene, boreal birch–pine woodlands with relatively low diversity, towards (3) Mid-Holocene, nemoral broad-leaved woodlands during a climatic optimum with slightly increasing diversity, and (4) Late Holocene dynamic, human-influenced woodlands with high but fluctuating diversity. Diversity peaks are correlated with deforestation phases which are expansion periods for settlement and human impact. Intervening periods of reduced diversity correspond to forest successions with decreased human impact.
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| 2. |
- Berglund, Björn, et al.
(author)
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Long-term changes in floristic diversity in southern Sweden: palynological richness, vegetation dynamics and land-use
- 2008
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In: Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0939-6314 .- 1617-6278. ; 17:5, s. 573-583
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Abstract in UndeterminedThe rarefaction technique is applied to two Holocene pollen sequences (covering the last 12,000 calendar years) from two lakes in southern Sweden. One represents an open agricultural landscape, the other a partly wooded and less cultivated landscape. The inferred palynological richness is interpreted as an approximate measure of floristic diversity at the landscape scale. The overall trend is an increased diversity from the mid-Holocene to the Modern period, which is linked to a parallel rise in human impact. The pattern is similar for the two sites with peaks corresponding to archaeological periods characterised by deforestation and expanding settlement and agriculture. The highest diversity was reached during the Medieval period, about A.D. 1,000-1,400. Declining diversity during the last 200 years characterises the agrarian landscape. These results confirm, for southern Scandinavia, the "intermediate disturbance" hypothesis for biodiversity at the landscape scale and on millennial to century time scales. They have implications for landscape management in modern nature conservation that has the purpose of maintaining and promoting biodiversity.
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| 5. |
- Björk, Robert G., 1974, et al.
(author)
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Biocomplexity and biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial ecosystems
- 2008
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In: 1st Workshop and planning meeting ‘Winter processes in arctic tundra ecosystems’, Longyearbyen, Svalbard, 9-11 June 2008..
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The activities concerted within Tellus are aiming at adding essential knowledge to the system scale aspects of fluxes and transformation of carbon (C) in the terrestrial domain. The systems studied are the Arctic, the alpine area of the Scandes, and organic soils in southern Sweden (including both forest and agricultural systems). The main research sites are Skogaryd, in the boreal forest, and Latnjajaure Field Station in the western Abisko Mountains. The overall aim with the present work at Skogaryd is to increase our fundamental understanding of process involved in cycling of C and nitrogen (N) in forest ecosystems, and generate high quality data on C/N cycle from drained forested organic soils using micrometeorological methods, laser and automatic chambers techniques. Skogaryd is also included in NitroEurope, an EU project focusing on modelling and up-scaling of greenhouse gas fluxes, and is incorporated in two interdisciplinary research centres at University of Gothenburg, Tellus (http://www.tellus.science.gu.se/english/) and Gothenburg Atmospheric Science Centre (GAC; http://www.chalmers.se/gmv/gac-en/). Furthermore, our research group has been instrumental in the establishment of the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) network by Professor Ulf Molau who chaired ITEX 1992-1996 and Latnjajaure Field Station have been a master site within the network since 1992. As an outcome, much of the research in Latnjajaure during the 90ies was focused plant responsiveness to global change. However, since 2002 the research has expanded and projects are now running that are dealing with snow-vegetation-soil interactions. Recently, a collaboration with Dr. Elisabeth J. Cooper, of the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), and Prof. Bo Elberling, University of Copenhagen, was initiated focusing on winter soil respiration and comparing sub-arctic and high-arctic trace gas fluxes. Currently, we have these projects running in tundra ecosystems: 1.Climate-related changes in tundra ecosystems – An IPY project (PIs Björk and Molau with others). 2.Temporal pattern of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes and soil microbial structure in snow-covered ecosystems (PIs Björk, Elberling, Klemedtsson, and Cooper). 3.The responsiveness of tundra ecosystems to warming: linking above- and below-ground components (PI Björk). There is also a project under evaluation by the Swedish Research Council, which are entitled ‘The fate of carbon in high-arctic tundra ecosystems under changing snow cover conditions’. The research questions that we want to address within this winter ecology network are 1) to increase our understand of the C dynamics (thus explicitly linking ecosystem C sequestration pattern and soil microbial dynamics) in tundra ecosystems, and, particularly, (2) to improve the winter resolution of carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases) effluxes to the atmosphere. Furthermore, (3) to understand the influence of changing snow cover, both in depth and duration, for the C dynamics in tundra ecosystems.
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| 6. |
- Björk, Robert G., 1974, et al.
(author)
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Climate-related soil changes in tundra ecosystems at Latnjajaure, northern Sweden – an ITEX-IPY project
- 2010
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In: International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During the 90'ies, the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) was established as a leading project in arctic and alpine ecology, and has become a model for many later network establishments. The present study capitalizes on the early efforts of ITEX and aims at assessing ecosystem changes in the alpine areas of northern Sweden above timberline, i.e. the tundra, in relation to global change. By using the "old" ITEX plots established during the early years of the program we have measured ecosystem respiration (ER), the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and nitrogen (N) mineralization over the growing season. In addition, have soil samples been taken to quantify changes in the carbon (C) and N pool, including 13C and 15N. After 12 to 15 years of open top chamber (OTC) treatment no statistical effect was found on the soil temperature (10 cm soil depth), although the was an overall increase in all OTC by +0.2°C. However, the soil moisture decreased significantly by 3-14%, depending on plant community, in the OTCs compared to ambient conditions. Preliminary, there was a 20-37% non-significant higher mean ER in the OTC compared to the ambient plots over the growing season. Furthermore, the OTC treatment did not affect the growing season mineralization of inorganic N, or total C and N content of the soil. The stable isotope data showed both enrichment and depletion as a consequence of the OTC treatment, but no general pattern was discerned. Thus, this non-significant higher ER is most likely of plant origin than soil, as the plant standing biomass has increased in the OTCs. This study does not support the current consensus that tundra soils will alter their C and N dynamics in response to climate change.
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| 7. |
- Björk, Robert G., 1974, et al.
(author)
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Long-term warming effects on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in tundra soils
- 2012
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In: 20th Anniversary ITEX Workshop, El Paso, USA, 17–21 January 2012.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- During IPY 2008 we used the ITEX experiment in Latnjajaure (northern Sweden), established during the early years of the program, to investigate long-term warming effects on ecosystem respiration (ER), carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pool (including d13C and d15N), soil organic C (SOC) chemical composition, and N mineralization among plant communities. After 12 to 15 years of open top chamber (OTC) treatment no statistical effect was found on the soil temperature (10 cm soil depth), although the was an overall increase in all OTC by +0.2°C. However, the soil moisture decreased significantly by 3-14%, depending on plant community, in the OTCs compared to ambient conditions. Preliminary, there was a 19-61% non-significant increase in annual growing season ER in the OTC compared to the ambient plots over the growing season. The were distinct differences in the SOM functional composition among plant communities with c 10% more O-alkyls stored in tussock tundra than in dry meadow. The OTCs did not consistently alter the SOM composition among the vegetation types but clearly showed a trend for reduced aliphatic and O-alkyl C in the OTCs suggesting increased decomposition (or reduced inputs) of these compounds. Thus, the non-significantly higher ER may in some communities be of plant origin linked to greater plant biomass in the OTCs, and in other (e.g. tussock tundra) from increased decomposition rates. In conclusion, this study showed that 12-15 years of OTC treatment had a modest effects impact C and N dynamics in tundra soils specific to distinct plant communities.
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| 8. |
- Björk, Robert G., 1974, et al.
(author)
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Temporal pattern of CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes and soil microbial structure from snow-covered Alpine plant communities
- 2006
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In: Abstracts and Proceedings of the Geological Society of Norway. ; :4
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Global warming is expected to have large effects on carbon exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere in the Arctic. Arctic ecosystems, which can be a net sink in the summer, are often a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere on an annual basis. Few studies on winter CO2 and CH4 efflux have been conducted in the subarctic part of Sweden. So far, no integrated estimates of winter fluxes of CO2, CH4 or N2O has been reported from the alpine areas in the Scandinavian mountains. As much as 44 to 53% of the northern hemispheres landmass may be snow covered for parts of the year. The depth and spatial spread of snow cover is a result of moisture availability, duration of temperatures bellow 0ºC, storm frequency and the more local factors such as wind redistribution and compaction. In future climate scenarios, predictions of warmer climate and increased precipitations are often mentioned, but to which extent is more uncertain. However, the major changes in precipitation will occur over the North Pacific, North Atlantic and Scandinavia. The controlling factor for microbial activity in the organic layer during winter in alpine areas is the development of a consistent snow cover, which effectively decouples the soil from the atmospheric temperature. The air and soil temperature the days before snow cover development is important, as it sets the temperature conditions for the whole winter period. Soil microbial activity is markedly reduced below temperatures of 0 to -5°C, when the soil starts to freeze and free water becomes limited. Nitrogen mineralisation, nitrification and denitrification can, however, be maintained down to -4°C, and N2O production (from denitrification) in frozen soils has potential to affect annual dynamics and budgets of N (although the soil pore water content prior to freezing is an important regulating factor for winter N2O production). Snowbed communities are rarely, if ever, subjected to temperatures as low as -5°C, which implies that they may be favourable for microbial activity during the winter. Furthermore, tundra soil microbial biomass reaches its annual peak under snow, and fungi account for most of the biomass. However, how the microbial community changes during winter and snowmelt are poorly know and, in particular, in relation to trace gas fluxes. Flux of CO2, CH4 and N2O through a seasonal snowpack, using Fick’s law, from four plant communities with different snow regime and how it changes during snowmelt in the subarctic-alpine part of Sweden will be presented. We will also try to relate the trace gas fluxes to the soil microbial community composition using phospholipid fatty acid analysis.
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| 9. |
- Björk, Robert G., 1974, et al.
(author)
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Temporal variation in soil microbial communities and the influence of snow cover
- 2007
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In: The 14th ITEX workshop, Falls Creek, Victoria, Australia, 2–6 February 2007..
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Global climate change is projected to have a large impact in arctic and alpine areas. Future projections with increased temperature also include increased precipitation, but to which extent is uncertain. However, the major changes in precipitation will occur over the North Pacific, North Atlantic and Scandinavia. As much as 44 to 53% of the northern hemispheres landmass may be snow covered for parts of the year and in higher alpine terrain the increased precipitation will lead to a greater snow accumulation. The controlling factor for microbial activity in the organic layer during winter in alpine areas is the development of a consistent snow cover, which effectively decouples the soil from the atmospheric temperature. The air and soil temperature the days before snow cover development is important, as it sets the temperature conditions for the whole winter period. Soil microbial activity is markedly reduced below temperatures of 0 to -5°C, when the soil starts to freeze and free water becomes limited. Nitrogen mineralisation, nitrification and denitrification can, however, be maintained down to -4°C, and N2O production (from denitrification) in frozen soils could potentially affect the annual dynamics and budgets of N. Snowbed communities are rarely, if ever, subjected to temperatures as low as -5°C, which implies that they may be favourable for microbial activity during the winter. Furthermore, tundra soil microbial biomass reaches its annual peak under snow, and fungi account for most of the biomass. However, how the microbial community changes during winter and snowmelt is poorly known and, in particular, in relation to trace gas fluxes. The objective of our study was, therefore, to investigate the temporal pattern of soil microbial structure in four plant communities with contrasting snow cover and nitrogen turnover. This study was conducted at Latnjajaure Field Station (LFS) located in the midalpine region in northern Sweden. The study includes four different plant communities, heath snowbed, heath meadow, meadow snowbed, and mesic meadow. To characterize the soil microbial community we used phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA), which is a method targeting the fatty acid profiles of membrane phospholipids microorganisms. The results show that at each individual sampling occasion the four plant communities’ exhibits different soil microbial structure. However, the temporal variation is larger than the difference across plant communities. This temporal shift in microbial structure seems to be partially related to the fatty acid 18:2ω6, indicative of fungi, which show a high proportion in soils protected by snow and decreases after snow melt. Furthermore, the shift in microbial structure during the season is more modest in snowbeds than the mesic heath and meadow.
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| 10. |
- Björk, Robert G., 1974, et al.
(author)
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Temporal variation in soil microbial communities in Alpine tundra
- 2008
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In: Soil Biology & Biochemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0038-0717. ; 40:1, s. 266-268
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Temporal variation in soil microbial communities was studied at a mid-alpine environment in Latnjajaure, northern Sweden, using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis. The results show two seasonal shifts in microbial composition. The first shift was associated with snowmelt and mainly related to a decrease in fungal PLFAs, accompanied by an increase in branched 17:0 and methylated PLFAs (biomarkers for Gram-positive- and actinobacteria, respectively), resulting in a decrease in the ratio of fungi-to-bacteria. The second shift occurred across the growing, season, and was associated with a switch from shorter to longer PLFAs and an increase in 18:1 omega 7 (biomarker for Gram-negative bacteria). Vegetation, snow cover dynamics, and N turnover seem to be of minor importance to broadscale microbial community structure in this area. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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