Impacts of abiotic and biotic factors on tundra productivity near Utqiaġvik, Alaska

Earlier snowmelt, warmer temperatures and herbivory are among the factors that influence high-latitude tundra productivity near the town of Utqiaġvik in northern Alaska. However, our understanding of the potential interactions between these factors is limited. MODIS observations provide cover fracti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental Research Letters
Main Authors: Qingyuan Zhang, Xuesong Zhang, Mark J Lara, Zhengpeng Li, Jingfeng Xiao, Kaiguang Zhao, Tongxi Hu
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2023
Subjects:
Arctic tundra
earlier snowmelt
warming
lemming herbivory
fAPARchl
productivity
Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
TD1-1066
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Science
Q
Physics
QC1-999
Arctic
Tundra
Alaska
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acf7d6
https://doaj.org/article/17b20a227b9a47f58c92ff4681f121c7
Description
Summary:Earlier snowmelt, warmer temperatures and herbivory are among the factors that influence high-latitude tundra productivity near the town of Utqiaġvik in northern Alaska. However, our understanding of the potential interactions between these factors is limited. MODIS observations provide cover fractions of vegetation, snow, standing water, and soil, and fractional absorption of photosynthetically active radiation by canopy chlorophyll (fAPAR _chl ) per pixel. Here, we evaluated a recent time-period (2001–2014) that the tundra experienced large interannual variability in vegetation productivity metrics (i.e. fAPAR _chl and APAR _chl ), which was explainable by both abiotic and biotic factors. We found earlier snowmelt to increase soil and vegetation cover, and productivity in June, while warmer temperatures significantly increased monthly productivity. However, abiotic factors failed to explain stark decreases in productivity during August of 2008, which coincided with a severe lemming outbreak. MODIS observations found this tundra ecosystem to completely recover two years later, resulting in elevated productivity. This study highlights the potential roles of both climate and herbivory in modulating the interannual variability of remotely retrieved plant productivity metrics in Arctic coastal tundra ecosystems.

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