Tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost
Tundra vegetation productivity and composition are responding rapidly to climatic changes in the Arctic. These changes can, in turn, mitigate or amplify permafrost thaw. In this Review, we synthesize remotely sensed and field-observed vegetation change across the tundra biome, and outline how these...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00233-0 |
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ftncar:oai:drupal-site.org:articles_25035 2024-04-28T08:07:14+00:00 Tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost Heijmans, Monique M. P. D. (author) Magnússon, Rúna Í. (author) Lara, Mark J. (author) Frost, Gerald V. (author) Myers-Smith, Isla H. (author) van Huissteden, Jacobus (author) Jorgenson, M. Torre (author) Fedorov, Alexander N. (author) Epstein, Howard E. (author) Lawrence, David M. (author) Limpens, Juul (author) 2022-01-11 https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00233-0 en eng Nature Reviews Earth & Environment--Nat Rev Earth Environ--2662-138X articles:25035 doi:10.1038/s43017-021-00233-0 ark:/85065/d7n01b2f Copyright 2022 Springer Nature Ltd. article Text 2022 ftncar https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00233-0 2024-04-04T17:34:52Z Tundra vegetation productivity and composition are responding rapidly to climatic changes in the Arctic. These changes can, in turn, mitigate or amplify permafrost thaw. In this Review, we synthesize remotely sensed and field-observed vegetation change across the tundra biome, and outline how these shifts could influence permafrost thaw. Permafrost ice content appears to be an important control on local vegetation changes; woody vegetation generally increases in ice-poor uplands, whereas replacement of woody vegetation by (aquatic) graminoids following abrupt permafrost thaw is more frequent in ice-rich Arctic lowlands. These locally observed vegetation changes contribute to regional satellite-observed greening trends, although the interpretation of greening and browning is complicated. Increases in vegetation cover and height generally mitigate permafrost thaw in summer, yet, increase annual soil temperatures through snow-related winter soil warming effects. Strong vegetation-soil feedbacks currently alleviate the consequences of thaw-related disturbances. However, if the increasing scale and frequency of disturbances in a warming Arctic exceeds the capacity for vegetation and permafrost recovery, changes to Arctic ecosystems could be irreversible. To better disentangle vegetation-soil-permafrost interactions, ecological field studies remain crucial, but require better integration with geophysical assessments. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ice permafrost Tundra OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 3 1 68 84 |
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Open Polar |
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OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) |
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ftncar |
language |
English |
description |
Tundra vegetation productivity and composition are responding rapidly to climatic changes in the Arctic. These changes can, in turn, mitigate or amplify permafrost thaw. In this Review, we synthesize remotely sensed and field-observed vegetation change across the tundra biome, and outline how these shifts could influence permafrost thaw. Permafrost ice content appears to be an important control on local vegetation changes; woody vegetation generally increases in ice-poor uplands, whereas replacement of woody vegetation by (aquatic) graminoids following abrupt permafrost thaw is more frequent in ice-rich Arctic lowlands. These locally observed vegetation changes contribute to regional satellite-observed greening trends, although the interpretation of greening and browning is complicated. Increases in vegetation cover and height generally mitigate permafrost thaw in summer, yet, increase annual soil temperatures through snow-related winter soil warming effects. Strong vegetation-soil feedbacks currently alleviate the consequences of thaw-related disturbances. However, if the increasing scale and frequency of disturbances in a warming Arctic exceeds the capacity for vegetation and permafrost recovery, changes to Arctic ecosystems could be irreversible. To better disentangle vegetation-soil-permafrost interactions, ecological field studies remain crucial, but require better integration with geophysical assessments. |
author2 |
Heijmans, Monique M. P. D. (author) Magnússon, Rúna Í. (author) Lara, Mark J. (author) Frost, Gerald V. (author) Myers-Smith, Isla H. (author) van Huissteden, Jacobus (author) Jorgenson, M. Torre (author) Fedorov, Alexander N. (author) Epstein, Howard E. (author) Lawrence, David M. (author) Limpens, Juul (author) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost |
spellingShingle |
Tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost |
title_short |
Tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost |
title_full |
Tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost |
title_fullStr |
Tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost |
title_sort |
tundra vegetation change and impacts on permafrost |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00233-0 |
genre |
Arctic Ice permafrost Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ice permafrost Tundra |
op_relation |
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment--Nat Rev Earth Environ--2662-138X articles:25035 doi:10.1038/s43017-021-00233-0 ark:/85065/d7n01b2f |
op_rights |
Copyright 2022 Springer Nature Ltd. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00233-0 |
container_title |
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
68 |
op_container_end_page |
84 |
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1797576431930179584 |