Are vegetation influences on Arctic–boreal snow melt rates detectable across the Northern Hemisphere?

• Published in: Environmental Research Letters
• Main Authors: Heather Kropp, Michael M Loranty, Nick Rutter, Christopher G Fletcher, Chris Derksen, Lawrence Mudryk, Markus Todt
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 2022
• Subjects: snowmelt; snow water equivalent; vegetation; boreal; Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering; TD1-1066; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Science; Q; Physics; QC1-999; Arctic; albedo; Tundra
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8fa7; https://doaj.org/article/d1b165dcd41d4823b674e0c63a4f003f

The timing and rate of northern high latitude spring snowmelt plays a critical role in surface albedo, hydrology, and soil carbon cycling. Ongoing changes in the abundance and distribution of trees and shrubs in tundra and boreal ecosystems can alter snowmelt via canopy impacts on surface energy partitioning. It is unclear whether vegetation-related processes observed at the ecosystem scale influence snowmelt patterns at regional or continental scales. We examined the influence of vegetation cover on snowmelt across the boreal and Arctic region across a ten-year reference period (2000–2009) using a blended snow water equivalent (SWE) data product and gridded estimates of surface temperature, tree cover, and land cover characterized by the dominant plant functional type. Snow melt rates were highest in locations with a late onset of melt, higher temperatures during the melt period, and higher maximum SWE before the onset of melt. After controlling for temperature, melt onset, and the maximum SWE, we found snow melt rates were highest in evergreen needleleaf forest, mixed boreal forest, and herbaceous tundra compared to deciduous needleleaf forest and deciduous shrub tundra. Tree canopy cover had little effect on snowmelt rate within each land cover type. While accounting for the influence of vegetative land cover type is necessary for predictive understanding of snowmelt rate variability across the Arctic – Boreal region. The relationships differed from observations at the ecosystem and catchment scales in other studies. Thus highlighting the importance of spatial scale in identifying snow-vegetation relationships.