Tree ring evidence of rapid development of drunken forest induced by permafrost warming
Abstract Black spruce trees growing on warming permafrost lean in all directions due to soil movement, forming a “drunken” forest. Two hypothetical drivers of drunken forest development are (i) loosening of the soil foundation induced by permafrost degradation in warm summers and (ii) mound rising i...
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crwiley:10.1111/gcb.16176 2024-06-02T08:12:58+00:00 Tree ring evidence of rapid development of drunken forest induced by permafrost warming Fujii, Kazumichi Yasue, Koh Matsuura, Yojiro Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16176 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16176 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.16176 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Global Change Biology volume 28, issue 12, page 3920-3928 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 journal-article 2022 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16176 2024-05-03T12:01:58Z Abstract Black spruce trees growing on warming permafrost lean in all directions due to soil movement, forming a “drunken” forest. Two hypothetical drivers of drunken forest development are (i) loosening of the soil foundation induced by permafrost degradation in warm summers and (ii) mound rising induced by freezing soil in winter. However, no evidence has previously clarified whether recent tree leaning is related to climate warming or is part of a natural hummock formation process. Here, we provide evidence that tree leaning and soil hummock formation have accelerated due to climate warming. We find that trees’ leaning events synchronize with the development of soil hummocks as recorded in tree rings with lignin‐rich cells. Tree leaning is caused by mound rising in winter due to refreezing of soil following deep thaws in summer, rather than by loosening of the soil foundation in summer. Hummock formation shifted from periodic events before 1960 to continuous mound rising in the warmer succeeding 50 years. Although soil change is generally a slow process, recent permafrost warming has induced rapid hummock formation, which threatens the stability of drunken forests and organic carbon in soil hummocks based on shallow permafrost table. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Wiley Online Library Global Change Biology 28 12 3920 3928 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract Black spruce trees growing on warming permafrost lean in all directions due to soil movement, forming a “drunken” forest. Two hypothetical drivers of drunken forest development are (i) loosening of the soil foundation induced by permafrost degradation in warm summers and (ii) mound rising induced by freezing soil in winter. However, no evidence has previously clarified whether recent tree leaning is related to climate warming or is part of a natural hummock formation process. Here, we provide evidence that tree leaning and soil hummock formation have accelerated due to climate warming. We find that trees’ leaning events synchronize with the development of soil hummocks as recorded in tree rings with lignin‐rich cells. Tree leaning is caused by mound rising in winter due to refreezing of soil following deep thaws in summer, rather than by loosening of the soil foundation in summer. Hummock formation shifted from periodic events before 1960 to continuous mound rising in the warmer succeeding 50 years. Although soil change is generally a slow process, recent permafrost warming has induced rapid hummock formation, which threatens the stability of drunken forests and organic carbon in soil hummocks based on shallow permafrost table. |
author2 |
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fujii, Kazumichi Yasue, Koh Matsuura, Yojiro |
spellingShingle |
Fujii, Kazumichi Yasue, Koh Matsuura, Yojiro Tree ring evidence of rapid development of drunken forest induced by permafrost warming |
author_facet |
Fujii, Kazumichi Yasue, Koh Matsuura, Yojiro |
author_sort |
Fujii, Kazumichi |
title |
Tree ring evidence of rapid development of drunken forest induced by permafrost warming |
title_short |
Tree ring evidence of rapid development of drunken forest induced by permafrost warming |
title_full |
Tree ring evidence of rapid development of drunken forest induced by permafrost warming |
title_fullStr |
Tree ring evidence of rapid development of drunken forest induced by permafrost warming |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tree ring evidence of rapid development of drunken forest induced by permafrost warming |
title_sort |
tree ring evidence of rapid development of drunken forest induced by permafrost warming |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16176 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16176 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/gcb.16176 |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
Global Change Biology volume 28, issue 12, page 3920-3928 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16176 |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
container_volume |
28 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
3920 |
op_container_end_page |
3928 |
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1800759585703723008 |