Microclimatic comparison of lichen heaths and shrubs: shrubification generates atmospheric heating but subsurface cooling during the growing season
Lichen heaths are declining in abundance in alpine and Arctic areas partly due to an increasing competition with shrubs. This shift in vegetation types might have important consequences for the microclimate and climate on a larger scale. The aim of our study is to measure the difference in microclim...
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2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1577-2021 https://doaj.org/article/1ff107b2b05a4e058002b3f0b92b5e8c |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1ff107b2b05a4e058002b3f0b92b5e8c 2023-05-15T13:11:30+02:00 Microclimatic comparison of lichen heaths and shrubs: shrubification generates atmospheric heating but subsurface cooling during the growing season P. Aartsma J. Asplund A. Odland S. Reinhardt H. Renssen 2021-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1577-2021 https://doaj.org/article/1ff107b2b05a4e058002b3f0b92b5e8c EN eng Copernicus Publications https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/1577/2021/bg-18-1577-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-18-1577-2021 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/1ff107b2b05a4e058002b3f0b92b5e8c Biogeosciences, Vol 18, Pp 1577-1599 (2021) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1577-2021 2022-12-31T15:06:53Z Lichen heaths are declining in abundance in alpine and Arctic areas partly due to an increasing competition with shrubs. This shift in vegetation types might have important consequences for the microclimate and climate on a larger scale. The aim of our study is to measure the difference in microclimatic conditions between lichen heaths and shrub vegetation during the growing season. With a paired plot design, we measured the net radiation, soil heat flux, soil temperature and soil moisture on an alpine mountain area in southern Norway during the summer of 2018 and 2019. We determined that the daily net radiation of lichens was on average 3.15 MJ (26 %) lower than for shrubs during the growing season. This was mainly due to a higher albedo of the lichen heaths but also due to a larger longwave radiation loss. Subsequently, we estimate that a shift from a lichen heath to shrub vegetation leads to an average increase in atmospheric heating of 3.35 MJ d −1 during the growing season. Surprisingly, the soil heat flux and soil temperature were higher below lichens than below shrubs during days with high air temperatures. This implies that the relatively high albedo of lichens does not lead to a cooler soil compared to shrubs during the growing season. We predict that the thicker litter layer, the presence of soil shading and a higher evapotranspiration rate at shrub vegetation are far more important factors in explaining the variation in soil temperature between lichens and shrubs. Our study shows that a shift from lichen heaths to shrub vegetation in alpine and Arctic areas will lead to atmospheric heating, but it has a cooling effect on the subsurface during the growing season, especially when air temperatures are relatively high. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Norway Biogeosciences 18 5 1577 1599 |
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 P. Aartsma J. Asplund A. Odland S. Reinhardt H. Renssen Microclimatic comparison of lichen heaths and shrubs: shrubification generates atmospheric heating but subsurface cooling during the growing season |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Lichen heaths are declining in abundance in alpine and Arctic areas partly due to an increasing competition with shrubs. This shift in vegetation types might have important consequences for the microclimate and climate on a larger scale. The aim of our study is to measure the difference in microclimatic conditions between lichen heaths and shrub vegetation during the growing season. With a paired plot design, we measured the net radiation, soil heat flux, soil temperature and soil moisture on an alpine mountain area in southern Norway during the summer of 2018 and 2019. We determined that the daily net radiation of lichens was on average 3.15 MJ (26 %) lower than for shrubs during the growing season. This was mainly due to a higher albedo of the lichen heaths but also due to a larger longwave radiation loss. Subsequently, we estimate that a shift from a lichen heath to shrub vegetation leads to an average increase in atmospheric heating of 3.35 MJ d −1 during the growing season. Surprisingly, the soil heat flux and soil temperature were higher below lichens than below shrubs during days with high air temperatures. This implies that the relatively high albedo of lichens does not lead to a cooler soil compared to shrubs during the growing season. We predict that the thicker litter layer, the presence of soil shading and a higher evapotranspiration rate at shrub vegetation are far more important factors in explaining the variation in soil temperature between lichens and shrubs. Our study shows that a shift from lichen heaths to shrub vegetation in alpine and Arctic areas will lead to atmospheric heating, but it has a cooling effect on the subsurface during the growing season, especially when air temperatures are relatively high. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
P. Aartsma J. Asplund A. Odland S. Reinhardt H. Renssen |
author_facet |
P. Aartsma J. Asplund A. Odland S. Reinhardt H. Renssen |
author_sort |
P. Aartsma |
title |
Microclimatic comparison of lichen heaths and shrubs: shrubification generates atmospheric heating but subsurface cooling during the growing season |
title_short |
Microclimatic comparison of lichen heaths and shrubs: shrubification generates atmospheric heating but subsurface cooling during the growing season |
title_full |
Microclimatic comparison of lichen heaths and shrubs: shrubification generates atmospheric heating but subsurface cooling during the growing season |
title_fullStr |
Microclimatic comparison of lichen heaths and shrubs: shrubification generates atmospheric heating but subsurface cooling during the growing season |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microclimatic comparison of lichen heaths and shrubs: shrubification generates atmospheric heating but subsurface cooling during the growing season |
title_sort |
microclimatic comparison of lichen heaths and shrubs: shrubification generates atmospheric heating but subsurface cooling during the growing season |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1577-2021 https://doaj.org/article/1ff107b2b05a4e058002b3f0b92b5e8c |
geographic |
Arctic Norway |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Norway |
genre |
albedo Arctic |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 18, Pp 1577-1599 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/1577/2021/bg-18-1577-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-18-1577-2021 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/1ff107b2b05a4e058002b3f0b92b5e8c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1577-2021 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1577 |
op_container_end_page |
1599 |
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1766247711413108736 |