Extensive land cover change across Arctic–Boreal Northwestern North America from disturbance and climate forcing

Abstract A multitude of disturbance agents, such as wildfires, land use, and climate‐driven expansion of woody shrubs, is transforming the distribution of plant functional types across Arctic–Boreal ecosystems, which has significant implications for interactions and feedbacks between terrestrial eco...

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Published in:Global Change Biology
Main Authors: Wang, Jonathan A., Sulla‐Menashe, Damien, Woodcock, Curtis E., Sonnentag, Oliver, Keeling, Ralph F., Friedl, Mark A.
Other Authors: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2019
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14804
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spelling crwiley:10.1111/gcb.14804 2024-09-15T18:02:16+00:00 Extensive land cover change across Arctic–Boreal Northwestern North America from disturbance and climate forcing Wang, Jonathan A. Sulla‐Menashe, Damien Woodcock, Curtis E. Sonnentag, Oliver Keeling, Ralph F. Friedl, Mark A. National Science Foundation National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14804 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fgcb.14804 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.14804 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.14804 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1111/gcb.14804 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Global Change Biology volume 26, issue 2, page 807-822 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 journal-article 2019 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14804 2024-09-05T05:08:35Z Abstract A multitude of disturbance agents, such as wildfires, land use, and climate‐driven expansion of woody shrubs, is transforming the distribution of plant functional types across Arctic–Boreal ecosystems, which has significant implications for interactions and feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems and climate in the northern high‐latitude. However, because the spatial resolution of existing land cover datasets is too coarse, large‐scale land cover changes in the Arctic–Boreal region (ABR) have been poorly characterized. Here, we use 31 years (1984–2014) of moderate spatial resolution (30 m) satellite imagery over a region spanning 4.7 × 10 6 km 2 in Alaska and northwestern Canada to characterize regional‐scale ABR land cover changes. We find that 13.6 ± 1.3% of the domain has changed, primarily via two major modes of transformation: (a) simultaneous disturbance‐driven decreases in Evergreen Forest area (−14.7 ± 3.0% relative to 1984) and increases in Deciduous Forest area (+14.8 ± 5.2%) in the Boreal biome; and (b) climate‐driven expansion of Herbaceous and Shrub vegetation (+7.4 ± 2.0%) in the Arctic biome. By using time series of 30 m imagery, we characterize dynamics in forest and shrub cover occurring at relatively short spatial scales (hundreds of meters) due to fires, harvest, and climate‐induced growth that are not observable in coarse spatial resolution (e.g., 500 m or greater pixel size) imagery. Wildfires caused most of Evergreen Forest Loss and Evergreen Forest Gain and substantial areas of Deciduous Forest Gain. Extensive shifts in the distribution of plant functional types at multiple spatial scales are consistent with observations of increased atmospheric CO 2 seasonality and ecosystem productivity at northern high‐latitudes and signal continental‐scale shifts in the structure and function of northern high‐latitude ecosystems in response to climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Climate change Alaska Wiley Online Library Global Change Biology 26 2 807 822
institution Open Polar
collection Wiley Online Library
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description Abstract A multitude of disturbance agents, such as wildfires, land use, and climate‐driven expansion of woody shrubs, is transforming the distribution of plant functional types across Arctic–Boreal ecosystems, which has significant implications for interactions and feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems and climate in the northern high‐latitude. However, because the spatial resolution of existing land cover datasets is too coarse, large‐scale land cover changes in the Arctic–Boreal region (ABR) have been poorly characterized. Here, we use 31 years (1984–2014) of moderate spatial resolution (30 m) satellite imagery over a region spanning 4.7 × 10 6 km 2 in Alaska and northwestern Canada to characterize regional‐scale ABR land cover changes. We find that 13.6 ± 1.3% of the domain has changed, primarily via two major modes of transformation: (a) simultaneous disturbance‐driven decreases in Evergreen Forest area (−14.7 ± 3.0% relative to 1984) and increases in Deciduous Forest area (+14.8 ± 5.2%) in the Boreal biome; and (b) climate‐driven expansion of Herbaceous and Shrub vegetation (+7.4 ± 2.0%) in the Arctic biome. By using time series of 30 m imagery, we characterize dynamics in forest and shrub cover occurring at relatively short spatial scales (hundreds of meters) due to fires, harvest, and climate‐induced growth that are not observable in coarse spatial resolution (e.g., 500 m or greater pixel size) imagery. Wildfires caused most of Evergreen Forest Loss and Evergreen Forest Gain and substantial areas of Deciduous Forest Gain. Extensive shifts in the distribution of plant functional types at multiple spatial scales are consistent with observations of increased atmospheric CO 2 seasonality and ecosystem productivity at northern high‐latitudes and signal continental‐scale shifts in the structure and function of northern high‐latitude ecosystems in response to climate change.
author2 National Science Foundation
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Wang, Jonathan A.
Sulla‐Menashe, Damien
Woodcock, Curtis E.
Sonnentag, Oliver
Keeling, Ralph F.
Friedl, Mark A.
spellingShingle Wang, Jonathan A.
Sulla‐Menashe, Damien
Woodcock, Curtis E.
Sonnentag, Oliver
Keeling, Ralph F.
Friedl, Mark A.
Extensive land cover change across Arctic–Boreal Northwestern North America from disturbance and climate forcing
author_facet Wang, Jonathan A.
Sulla‐Menashe, Damien
Woodcock, Curtis E.
Sonnentag, Oliver
Keeling, Ralph F.
Friedl, Mark A.
author_sort Wang, Jonathan A.
title Extensive land cover change across Arctic–Boreal Northwestern North America from disturbance and climate forcing
title_short Extensive land cover change across Arctic–Boreal Northwestern North America from disturbance and climate forcing
title_full Extensive land cover change across Arctic–Boreal Northwestern North America from disturbance and climate forcing
title_fullStr Extensive land cover change across Arctic–Boreal Northwestern North America from disturbance and climate forcing
title_full_unstemmed Extensive land cover change across Arctic–Boreal Northwestern North America from disturbance and climate forcing
title_sort extensive land cover change across arctic–boreal northwestern north america from disturbance and climate forcing
publisher Wiley
publishDate 2019
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14804
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volume 26, issue 2, page 807-822
ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486
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