Patterned-ground facilitates shrub expansion in Low Arctic tundra
Recent expansion of tall shrubs in Low Arctic tundra is widely seen as a response to climate warming, but shrubification is not occurring as a simple function of regional climate trends. We show that establishment of tall alder ( Alnus ) is strongly facilitated by small, widely distributed cryogenic...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dd494952e7474d53a6f8bed98ae082a3 2023-09-05T13:16:42+02:00 Patterned-ground facilitates shrub expansion in Low Arctic tundra Gerald V Frost Howard E Epstein Donald A Walker Georgiy Matyshak Ksenia Ermokhina 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015035 https://doaj.org/article/dd494952e7474d53a6f8bed98ae082a3 EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015035 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015035 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/dd494952e7474d53a6f8bed98ae082a3 Environmental Research Letters, Vol 8, Iss 1, p 015035 (2013) shrubification patterned-ground tundra alder facilitation Siberia Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015035 2023-08-13T00:37:44Z Recent expansion of tall shrubs in Low Arctic tundra is widely seen as a response to climate warming, but shrubification is not occurring as a simple function of regional climate trends. We show that establishment of tall alder ( Alnus ) is strongly facilitated by small, widely distributed cryogenic disturbances associated with patterned-ground landscapes. We identified expanding and newly established shrub stands at two northwest Siberian sites and observed that virtually all new shrubs occurred on bare microsites (‘circles’) that were disturbed by frost-heave. Frost-heave associated with circles is a widespread, annual phenomenon that maintains mosaics of mineral seedbeds with warm soils and few competitors that are immediately available to shrubs during favorable climatic periods. Circle facilitation of alder recruitment also plausibly explains the development of shrublands in which alders are regularly spaced. We conclude that alder abundance and extent have increased rapidly in the northwest Siberian Low Arctic since at least the mid-20th century, despite a lack of summer warming in recent decades. Our results are consistent with findings in the North American Arctic which emphasize that the responsiveness of Low Arctic landscapes to climate change is largely determined by the frequency and extent of disturbance processes that create mineral-rich seedbeds favorable for tall shrub recruitment. Northwest Siberia has high potential for continued expansion of tall shrubs and concomitant changes to ecosystem function, due to the widespread distribution of patterned-ground landscapes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Tundra Siberia Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Environmental Research Letters 8 1 015035 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
shrubification patterned-ground tundra alder facilitation Siberia Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
shrubification patterned-ground tundra alder facilitation Siberia Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 Gerald V Frost Howard E Epstein Donald A Walker Georgiy Matyshak Ksenia Ermokhina Patterned-ground facilitates shrub expansion in Low Arctic tundra |
topic_facet |
shrubification patterned-ground tundra alder facilitation Siberia Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Recent expansion of tall shrubs in Low Arctic tundra is widely seen as a response to climate warming, but shrubification is not occurring as a simple function of regional climate trends. We show that establishment of tall alder ( Alnus ) is strongly facilitated by small, widely distributed cryogenic disturbances associated with patterned-ground landscapes. We identified expanding and newly established shrub stands at two northwest Siberian sites and observed that virtually all new shrubs occurred on bare microsites (‘circles’) that were disturbed by frost-heave. Frost-heave associated with circles is a widespread, annual phenomenon that maintains mosaics of mineral seedbeds with warm soils and few competitors that are immediately available to shrubs during favorable climatic periods. Circle facilitation of alder recruitment also plausibly explains the development of shrublands in which alders are regularly spaced. We conclude that alder abundance and extent have increased rapidly in the northwest Siberian Low Arctic since at least the mid-20th century, despite a lack of summer warming in recent decades. Our results are consistent with findings in the North American Arctic which emphasize that the responsiveness of Low Arctic landscapes to climate change is largely determined by the frequency and extent of disturbance processes that create mineral-rich seedbeds favorable for tall shrub recruitment. Northwest Siberia has high potential for continued expansion of tall shrubs and concomitant changes to ecosystem function, due to the widespread distribution of patterned-ground landscapes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gerald V Frost Howard E Epstein Donald A Walker Georgiy Matyshak Ksenia Ermokhina |
author_facet |
Gerald V Frost Howard E Epstein Donald A Walker Georgiy Matyshak Ksenia Ermokhina |
author_sort |
Gerald V Frost |
title |
Patterned-ground facilitates shrub expansion in Low Arctic tundra |
title_short |
Patterned-ground facilitates shrub expansion in Low Arctic tundra |
title_full |
Patterned-ground facilitates shrub expansion in Low Arctic tundra |
title_fullStr |
Patterned-ground facilitates shrub expansion in Low Arctic tundra |
title_full_unstemmed |
Patterned-ground facilitates shrub expansion in Low Arctic tundra |
title_sort |
patterned-ground facilitates shrub expansion in low arctic tundra |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015035 https://doaj.org/article/dd494952e7474d53a6f8bed98ae082a3 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Tundra Siberia |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Tundra Siberia |
op_source |
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 8, Iss 1, p 015035 (2013) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015035 https://doaj.org/toc/1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015035 1748-9326 https://doaj.org/article/dd494952e7474d53a6f8bed98ae082a3 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/015035 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
015035 |
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1776198182533857280 |