Mapping and understanding the vulnerability of northern peatlands to permafrost thaw at scales relevant to community adaptation planning
Developing spatially explicit permafrost datasets and climate assessments at scales relevant to northern communities is increasingly important as land users and decision makers incorporate changing permafrost conditions in community and adaptation planning. This need is particularly strong within th...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
IOP Publishing
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe74b https://doaj.org/article/0fe7e3b3569a4f5f849ee8c799f85c13 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0fe7e3b3569a4f5f849ee8c799f85c13 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0fe7e3b3569a4f5f849ee8c799f85c13 2023-09-05T13:22:02+02:00 Mapping and understanding the vulnerability of northern peatlands to permafrost thaw at scales relevant to community adaptation planning C Gibson K Cottenie T Gingras-Hill S V Kokelj J L Baltzer L Chasmer M R Turetsky 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe74b https://doaj.org/article/0fe7e3b3569a4f5f849ee8c799f85c13 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe74b https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abe74b 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/0fe7e3b3569a4f5f849ee8c799f85c13 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 16, Iss 5, p 055022 (2021) thermokarst peramfrost thaw community adaptation spatial dataset Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe74b 2023-08-13T00:37:16Z Developing spatially explicit permafrost datasets and climate assessments at scales relevant to northern communities is increasingly important as land users and decision makers incorporate changing permafrost conditions in community and adaptation planning. This need is particularly strong within the discontinuous permafrost zone of the Northwest Territories (NWT) Canada where permafrost peatlands are undergoing rapid thaw due to a warming climate. Current data products for predicting landscapes at risk of thaw are generally built at circumpolar scales and do not lend themselves well to fine-scale regional interpretations. Here, we present a new permafrost vulnerability dataset that assesses the degree of permafrost thaw within peatlands across a 750 km latitudinal gradient in the NWT. This updated dataset provides spatially explicit estimates of where peatland thermokarst potential exists, thus making it much more suitable for local, regional or community usage. Within southern peatland complexes, we show that permafrost thaw affects up to 70% of the peatland area and that thaw is strongly mediated by both latitude and elevation, with widespread thaw occuring particularly at low elevations. At the northern end of our latitudinal gradient, peatland permafrost remains climate-protected with relatively little thaw. Collectively these results demonstrate the importance of scale in permafrost analyses and mapping if research is to support northern communities and decision makers in a changing climate. This study offers a more scale-appropriate approach to support community adaptative planning under scenarios of continued warming and widespread permafrost thaw. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Territories permafrost Thermokarst Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Northwest Territories Environmental Research Letters 16 5 055022 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
thermokarst peramfrost thaw community adaptation spatial dataset Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
thermokarst peramfrost thaw community adaptation spatial dataset Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 C Gibson K Cottenie T Gingras-Hill S V Kokelj J L Baltzer L Chasmer M R Turetsky Mapping and understanding the vulnerability of northern peatlands to permafrost thaw at scales relevant to community adaptation planning |
topic_facet |
thermokarst peramfrost thaw community adaptation spatial dataset Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Developing spatially explicit permafrost datasets and climate assessments at scales relevant to northern communities is increasingly important as land users and decision makers incorporate changing permafrost conditions in community and adaptation planning. This need is particularly strong within the discontinuous permafrost zone of the Northwest Territories (NWT) Canada where permafrost peatlands are undergoing rapid thaw due to a warming climate. Current data products for predicting landscapes at risk of thaw are generally built at circumpolar scales and do not lend themselves well to fine-scale regional interpretations. Here, we present a new permafrost vulnerability dataset that assesses the degree of permafrost thaw within peatlands across a 750 km latitudinal gradient in the NWT. This updated dataset provides spatially explicit estimates of where peatland thermokarst potential exists, thus making it much more suitable for local, regional or community usage. Within southern peatland complexes, we show that permafrost thaw affects up to 70% of the peatland area and that thaw is strongly mediated by both latitude and elevation, with widespread thaw occuring particularly at low elevations. At the northern end of our latitudinal gradient, peatland permafrost remains climate-protected with relatively little thaw. Collectively these results demonstrate the importance of scale in permafrost analyses and mapping if research is to support northern communities and decision makers in a changing climate. This study offers a more scale-appropriate approach to support community adaptative planning under scenarios of continued warming and widespread permafrost thaw. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C Gibson K Cottenie T Gingras-Hill S V Kokelj J L Baltzer L Chasmer M R Turetsky |
author_facet |
C Gibson K Cottenie T Gingras-Hill S V Kokelj J L Baltzer L Chasmer M R Turetsky |
author_sort |
C Gibson |
title |
Mapping and understanding the vulnerability of northern peatlands to permafrost thaw at scales relevant to community adaptation planning |
title_short |
Mapping and understanding the vulnerability of northern peatlands to permafrost thaw at scales relevant to community adaptation planning |
title_full |
Mapping and understanding the vulnerability of northern peatlands to permafrost thaw at scales relevant to community adaptation planning |
title_fullStr |
Mapping and understanding the vulnerability of northern peatlands to permafrost thaw at scales relevant to community adaptation planning |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mapping and understanding the vulnerability of northern peatlands to permafrost thaw at scales relevant to community adaptation planning |
title_sort |
mapping and understanding the vulnerability of northern peatlands to permafrost thaw at scales relevant to community adaptation planning |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe74b https://doaj.org/article/0fe7e3b3569a4f5f849ee8c799f85c13 |
geographic |
Canada Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Canada Northwest Territories |
genre |
Northwest Territories permafrost Thermokarst |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories permafrost Thermokarst |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 16, Iss 5, p 055022 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe74b https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abe74b 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/0fe7e3b3569a4f5f849ee8c799f85c13 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe74b |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
055022 |
_version_ |
1776202572951977984 |