Linking tundra vegetation, snow, soil temperature, and permafrost
Connections between vegetation and soil thermal dynamics are critical for estimating the vulnerability of permafrost to thaw with continued climate warming and vegetation changes. The interplay of complex biophysical processes results in a highly heterogeneous soil temperature distribution on small...
Published in: | Biogeosciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4261-2020 https://doaj.org/article/0b76ccc7d92148f2928255b46dd34dd9 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0b76ccc7d92148f2928255b46dd34dd9 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0b76ccc7d92148f2928255b46dd34dd9 2023-05-15T13:02:56+02:00 Linking tundra vegetation, snow, soil temperature, and permafrost I. Grünberg E. J. Wilcox S. Zwieback P. Marsh J. Boike 2020-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4261-2020 https://doaj.org/article/0b76ccc7d92148f2928255b46dd34dd9 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/17/4261/2020/bg-17-4261-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-17-4261-2020 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/0b76ccc7d92148f2928255b46dd34dd9 Biogeosciences, Vol 17, Pp 4261-4279 (2020) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4261-2020 2022-12-31T03:18:18Z Connections between vegetation and soil thermal dynamics are critical for estimating the vulnerability of permafrost to thaw with continued climate warming and vegetation changes. The interplay of complex biophysical processes results in a highly heterogeneous soil temperature distribution on small spatial scales. Moreover, the link between topsoil temperature and active layer thickness remains poorly constrained. Sixty-eight temperature loggers were installed at 1–3 cm depth to record the distribution of topsoil temperatures at the Trail Valley Creek study site in the northwestern Canadian Arctic. The measurements were distributed across six different vegetation types characteristic for this landscape. Two years of topsoil temperature data were analysed statistically to identify temporal and spatial characteristics and their relationship to vegetation, snow cover, and active layer thickness. The mean annual topsoil temperature varied between − 3.7 and 0.1 ∘ C within 0.5 km 2 . The observed variation can, to a large degree, be explained by variation in snow cover. Differences in snow depth are strongly related with vegetation type and show complex associations with late-summer thaw depth. While cold winter soil temperature is associated with deep active layers in the following summer for lichen and dwarf shrub tundra, we observed the opposite beneath tall shrubs and tussocks. In contrast to winter observations, summer topsoil temperature is similar below all vegetation types with an average summer topsoil temperature difference of less than 1 ∘ C. Moreover, there is no significant relationship between summer soil temperature or cumulative positive degree days and active layer thickness. Altogether, our results demonstrate the high spatial variability of topsoil temperature and active layer thickness even within specific vegetation types. Given that vegetation type defines the direction of the relationship between topsoil temperature and active layer thickness in winter and summer, estimates of permafrost ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Active layer thickness Arctic permafrost Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Valley Creek ENVELOPE(-138.324,-138.324,63.326,63.326) Trail Valley Creek ENVELOPE(-133.415,-133.415,68.772,68.772) Biogeosciences 17 16 4261 4279 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 I. Grünberg E. J. Wilcox S. Zwieback P. Marsh J. Boike Linking tundra vegetation, snow, soil temperature, and permafrost |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Connections between vegetation and soil thermal dynamics are critical for estimating the vulnerability of permafrost to thaw with continued climate warming and vegetation changes. The interplay of complex biophysical processes results in a highly heterogeneous soil temperature distribution on small spatial scales. Moreover, the link between topsoil temperature and active layer thickness remains poorly constrained. Sixty-eight temperature loggers were installed at 1–3 cm depth to record the distribution of topsoil temperatures at the Trail Valley Creek study site in the northwestern Canadian Arctic. The measurements were distributed across six different vegetation types characteristic for this landscape. Two years of topsoil temperature data were analysed statistically to identify temporal and spatial characteristics and their relationship to vegetation, snow cover, and active layer thickness. The mean annual topsoil temperature varied between − 3.7 and 0.1 ∘ C within 0.5 km 2 . The observed variation can, to a large degree, be explained by variation in snow cover. Differences in snow depth are strongly related with vegetation type and show complex associations with late-summer thaw depth. While cold winter soil temperature is associated with deep active layers in the following summer for lichen and dwarf shrub tundra, we observed the opposite beneath tall shrubs and tussocks. In contrast to winter observations, summer topsoil temperature is similar below all vegetation types with an average summer topsoil temperature difference of less than 1 ∘ C. Moreover, there is no significant relationship between summer soil temperature or cumulative positive degree days and active layer thickness. Altogether, our results demonstrate the high spatial variability of topsoil temperature and active layer thickness even within specific vegetation types. Given that vegetation type defines the direction of the relationship between topsoil temperature and active layer thickness in winter and summer, estimates of permafrost ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
I. Grünberg E. J. Wilcox S. Zwieback P. Marsh J. Boike |
author_facet |
I. Grünberg E. J. Wilcox S. Zwieback P. Marsh J. Boike |
author_sort |
I. Grünberg |
title |
Linking tundra vegetation, snow, soil temperature, and permafrost |
title_short |
Linking tundra vegetation, snow, soil temperature, and permafrost |
title_full |
Linking tundra vegetation, snow, soil temperature, and permafrost |
title_fullStr |
Linking tundra vegetation, snow, soil temperature, and permafrost |
title_full_unstemmed |
Linking tundra vegetation, snow, soil temperature, and permafrost |
title_sort |
linking tundra vegetation, snow, soil temperature, and permafrost |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4261-2020 https://doaj.org/article/0b76ccc7d92148f2928255b46dd34dd9 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-138.324,-138.324,63.326,63.326) ENVELOPE(-133.415,-133.415,68.772,68.772) |
geographic |
Arctic Valley Creek Trail Valley Creek |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Valley Creek Trail Valley Creek |
genre |
Active layer thickness Arctic permafrost Tundra |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Arctic permafrost Tundra |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 17, Pp 4261-4279 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/17/4261/2020/bg-17-4261-2020.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-17-4261-2020 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/0b76ccc7d92148f2928255b46dd34dd9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-4261-2020 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
16 |
container_start_page |
4261 |
op_container_end_page |
4279 |
_version_ |
1766324227525312512 |