The Cold Region Critical Zone in Transition: Responses to Climate Warming and Land Use Change

• Published in: Annual Review of Environment and Resources
• Main Authors: Pi, K., Bieroza, M., Brouchkov, A., Chen, W., Dufour, L.J.P., Gongalsky, K.B., Herrmann, A.M., Krab, E.J., Landesman, Catherine, Laverman, Anniet M., Mazei, N., Mazei, Y., Öquist, M.G., Peichl, M., Pozdniakov, S., Rezanezhad, F., Roose-Amsaleg, Céline, Shatilovich, A., Shi, A., Smeaton, C.M., Tong, L., Tsyganov, A.N., van Cappellen, P.
• Other Authors: University of Waterloo Waterloo, China University of Geosciences Wuhan (CUG), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences = Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet (SLU), Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow (RAS), Laboratoire de physique subatomique et des technologies associées (SUBATECH), Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-IMT Atlantique (IMT Atlantique), Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT), Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution Rennes (ECOBIO), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut Ecologie et Environnement - CNRS Ecologie et Environnement (INEE-CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Rennes (OSUR), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Shenzhen University Shenzhen, Memorial University of Newfoundland = Université Memorial de Terre-Neuve St. John's, Canada (MUN)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: agroecosystems; biogeochemistry; cold regions; critical zone; hydrogeology; environmental change; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; permafrost
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03420447; https://hal.science/hal-03420447/document; https://hal.science/hal-03420447/file/Pi_annurev-environ-012220-125703.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-125703

International audience Global climate warming disproportionately affects high-latitude and mountainous terrestrial ecosystems. Warming is accompanied by permafrost thaw, shorter winters, earlier snowmelt, more intense soil freeze-thaw cycles, drier summers, and longer fire seasons. These environmental changes in turn impact surface water and groundwater flow regimes, water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, soil stability, vegetation cover, and soil (micro)biological communities. Warming also facilitates agricultural expansion, urban growth, and natural resource development, adding growing anthropogenic pressures to cold regions" landscapes, soil health, and biodiversity. Further advances in the predictive understanding of how cold regions" critical zone processes, functions, and ecosystem services will continue to respond to climate warming and land use changes require multiscale monitoring technologies coupled with integrated observational and modeling tools. We highlight some of the major challenges, knowledge gaps, and opportunities in cold region critical zone research, with an emphasis on subsurface processes and responses in both natural and agricultural ecosystems.