Expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire.
High-latitude regions have experienced rapid warming in recent decades, and this trend is projected to continue over the twenty-first century1. Fire is also projected to increase with warming2,3. We show here, consistent with changes during the Holocene4, that changes in twenty-first century climate...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
eScholarship, University of California
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2dd942rn |
id |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt2dd942rn |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org/ark:/13030/qt2dd942rn 2023-05-15T18:30:53+02:00 Expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire. Mekonnen, Zelalem A Riley, William J Randerson, James T Grant, Robert F Rogers, Brendan M 952 - 958 2019-09-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2dd942rn unknown eScholarship, University of California qt2dd942rn https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2dd942rn public Nature plants, vol 5, iss 9 Fires Models Biological Alaska Climate Change Global Warming Forests Taiga Tracheophyta article 2019 ftcdlib 2021-02-18T15:15:06Z High-latitude regions have experienced rapid warming in recent decades, and this trend is projected to continue over the twenty-first century1. Fire is also projected to increase with warming2,3. We show here, consistent with changes during the Holocene4, that changes in twenty-first century climate and fire are likely to alter the composition of Alaskan boreal forests. We hypothesize that competition for nutrients after fire in early succession and for light in late succession in a warmer climate will cause shifts in plant functional type. Consistent with observations, our ecosystem model predicts evergreen conifers to be the current dominant tree type in Alaska. However, under future climate and fire, our analysis suggests the relative dominance of deciduous broadleaf trees nearly doubles, accounting for 58% of the Alaska ecosystem's net primary productivity by 2100, with commensurate declines in contributions from evergreen conifer trees and herbaceous plants. Post-fire deciduous broadleaf tree growth under a future climate is sustained from enhanced microbial nitrogen mineralization caused by warmer soils and deeper active layers, resulting in taller trees that compete more effectively for light. The expansion of deciduous broadleaf forests will affect the carbon cycle, surface energy fluxes and ecosystem function, thereby modifying important feedbacks with the climate system. Article in Journal/Newspaper taiga Alaska University of California: eScholarship |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Fires Models Biological Alaska Climate Change Global Warming Forests Taiga Tracheophyta |
spellingShingle |
Fires Models Biological Alaska Climate Change Global Warming Forests Taiga Tracheophyta Mekonnen, Zelalem A Riley, William J Randerson, James T Grant, Robert F Rogers, Brendan M Expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire. |
topic_facet |
Fires Models Biological Alaska Climate Change Global Warming Forests Taiga Tracheophyta |
description |
High-latitude regions have experienced rapid warming in recent decades, and this trend is projected to continue over the twenty-first century1. Fire is also projected to increase with warming2,3. We show here, consistent with changes during the Holocene4, that changes in twenty-first century climate and fire are likely to alter the composition of Alaskan boreal forests. We hypothesize that competition for nutrients after fire in early succession and for light in late succession in a warmer climate will cause shifts in plant functional type. Consistent with observations, our ecosystem model predicts evergreen conifers to be the current dominant tree type in Alaska. However, under future climate and fire, our analysis suggests the relative dominance of deciduous broadleaf trees nearly doubles, accounting for 58% of the Alaska ecosystem's net primary productivity by 2100, with commensurate declines in contributions from evergreen conifer trees and herbaceous plants. Post-fire deciduous broadleaf tree growth under a future climate is sustained from enhanced microbial nitrogen mineralization caused by warmer soils and deeper active layers, resulting in taller trees that compete more effectively for light. The expansion of deciduous broadleaf forests will affect the carbon cycle, surface energy fluxes and ecosystem function, thereby modifying important feedbacks with the climate system. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mekonnen, Zelalem A Riley, William J Randerson, James T Grant, Robert F Rogers, Brendan M |
author_facet |
Mekonnen, Zelalem A Riley, William J Randerson, James T Grant, Robert F Rogers, Brendan M |
author_sort |
Mekonnen, Zelalem A |
title |
Expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire. |
title_short |
Expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire. |
title_full |
Expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire. |
title_fullStr |
Expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire. |
title_sort |
expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire. |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2dd942rn |
op_coverage |
952 - 958 |
genre |
taiga Alaska |
genre_facet |
taiga Alaska |
op_source |
Nature plants, vol 5, iss 9 |
op_relation |
qt2dd942rn https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2dd942rn |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1766214493550936064 |