Arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance
Vegetation composition shifts, and in particular, shrub expansion across the Arctic tundra are some of the most important and widely observed responses of high-latitude ecosystems to rapid climate warming. These changes in vegetation potentially alter ecosystem carbon balances by affecting a complex...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf28b https://doaj.org/article/71dff3f1d5894ad88b61563e47da155a |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:71dff3f1d5894ad88b61563e47da155a 2023-09-05T13:16:51+02:00 Arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance Zelalem A Mekonnen William J Riley Logan T Berner Nicholas J Bouskill Margaret S Torn Go Iwahana Amy L Breen Isla H Myers-Smith Mariana García Criado Yanlan Liu Eugénie S Euskirchen Scott J Goetz Michelle C Mack Robert F Grant 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf28b https://doaj.org/article/71dff3f1d5894ad88b61563e47da155a EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf28b https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abf28b 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/71dff3f1d5894ad88b61563e47da155a Environmental Research Letters, Vol 16, Iss 5, p 053001 (2021) shrubification Arctic carbon balance Arctic warming shrub expansion vegetation composition shifts 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/abf28b 2023-08-13T00:37:14Z Vegetation composition shifts, and in particular, shrub expansion across the Arctic tundra are some of the most important and widely observed responses of high-latitude ecosystems to rapid climate warming. These changes in vegetation potentially alter ecosystem carbon balances by affecting a complex set of soil–plant–atmosphere interactions. In this review, we synthesize the literature on (a) observed shrub expansion, (b) key climatic and environmental controls and mechanisms that affect shrub expansion, (c) impacts of shrub expansion on ecosystem carbon balance, and (d) research gaps and future directions to improve process representations in land models. A broad range of evidence, including in-situ observations, warming experiments, and remotely sensed vegetation indices have shown increases in growth and abundance of woody plants, particularly tall deciduous shrubs, and advancing shrublines across the circumpolar Arctic. This recent shrub expansion is affected by several interacting factors including climate warming, accelerated nutrient cycling, changing disturbance regimes, and local variation in topography and hydrology. Under warmer conditions, tall deciduous shrubs can be more competitive than other plant functional types in tundra ecosystems because of their taller maximum canopy heights and often dense canopy structure. Competitive abilities of tall deciduous shrubs vs herbaceous plants are also controlled by variation in traits that affect carbon and nutrient investments and retention strategies in leaves, stems, and roots. Overall, shrub expansion may affect tundra carbon balances by enhancing ecosystem carbon uptake and altering ecosystem respiration, and through complex feedback mechanisms that affect snowpack dynamics, permafrost degradation, surface energy balance, and litter inputs. Observed and projected tall deciduous shrub expansion and the subsequent effects on surface energy and carbon balances may alter feedbacks to the climate system. Land models, including those integrated in Earth ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic permafrost Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Environmental Research Letters 16 5 053001 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
shrubification Arctic carbon balance Arctic warming shrub expansion vegetation composition shifts Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
shrubification Arctic carbon balance Arctic warming shrub expansion vegetation composition shifts Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Zelalem A Mekonnen William J Riley Logan T Berner Nicholas J Bouskill Margaret S Torn Go Iwahana Amy L Breen Isla H Myers-Smith Mariana García Criado Yanlan Liu Eugénie S Euskirchen Scott J Goetz Michelle C Mack Robert F Grant Arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance |
topic_facet |
shrubification Arctic carbon balance Arctic warming shrub expansion vegetation composition shifts Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Vegetation composition shifts, and in particular, shrub expansion across the Arctic tundra are some of the most important and widely observed responses of high-latitude ecosystems to rapid climate warming. These changes in vegetation potentially alter ecosystem carbon balances by affecting a complex set of soil–plant–atmosphere interactions. In this review, we synthesize the literature on (a) observed shrub expansion, (b) key climatic and environmental controls and mechanisms that affect shrub expansion, (c) impacts of shrub expansion on ecosystem carbon balance, and (d) research gaps and future directions to improve process representations in land models. A broad range of evidence, including in-situ observations, warming experiments, and remotely sensed vegetation indices have shown increases in growth and abundance of woody plants, particularly tall deciduous shrubs, and advancing shrublines across the circumpolar Arctic. This recent shrub expansion is affected by several interacting factors including climate warming, accelerated nutrient cycling, changing disturbance regimes, and local variation in topography and hydrology. Under warmer conditions, tall deciduous shrubs can be more competitive than other plant functional types in tundra ecosystems because of their taller maximum canopy heights and often dense canopy structure. Competitive abilities of tall deciduous shrubs vs herbaceous plants are also controlled by variation in traits that affect carbon and nutrient investments and retention strategies in leaves, stems, and roots. Overall, shrub expansion may affect tundra carbon balances by enhancing ecosystem carbon uptake and altering ecosystem respiration, and through complex feedback mechanisms that affect snowpack dynamics, permafrost degradation, surface energy balance, and litter inputs. Observed and projected tall deciduous shrub expansion and the subsequent effects on surface energy and carbon balances may alter feedbacks to the climate system. Land models, including those integrated in Earth ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zelalem A Mekonnen William J Riley Logan T Berner Nicholas J Bouskill Margaret S Torn Go Iwahana Amy L Breen Isla H Myers-Smith Mariana García Criado Yanlan Liu Eugénie S Euskirchen Scott J Goetz Michelle C Mack Robert F Grant |
author_facet |
Zelalem A Mekonnen William J Riley Logan T Berner Nicholas J Bouskill Margaret S Torn Go Iwahana Amy L Breen Isla H Myers-Smith Mariana García Criado Yanlan Liu Eugénie S Euskirchen Scott J Goetz Michelle C Mack Robert F Grant |
author_sort |
Zelalem A Mekonnen |
title |
Arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance |
title_short |
Arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance |
title_full |
Arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance |
title_fullStr |
Arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance |
title_full_unstemmed |
Arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance |
title_sort |
arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf28b https://doaj.org/article/71dff3f1d5894ad88b61563e47da155a |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic permafrost Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic permafrost Tundra |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 16, Iss 5, p 053001 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf28b https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abf28b 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/71dff3f1d5894ad88b61563e47da155a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf28b |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
053001 |
_version_ |
1776198282541793280 |