HIGH-LATITUDE CONTINENTAL RESPONSE TO CENOZOIC CLIMATE CHANGE IN SOUTHERN ALASKA BASED ON VOLCANIC GLASS HYDROGEN ISOTOPE COMPOSITIONS

The early life-history stages of plants, such as germination and seedling establishment, depend on favorable environmental conditions. Changes in the environment at high altitude and high latitude regions, as a consequence of climate change, will significantly affect these life stages and may have profound effects on species recruitment and survival. Here, we synthesize the current knowledge of climate change effects on treeline, tundra, and alpine plants’ early life-history stages. We systematically searched the available literature on this subject up until February 2020 and recovered 835 potential articles that matched our search terms. From these, we found 39 studies that matched our selection criteria. We characterized the studies within our review and performed a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the extracted meta-data regarding the climatic effects likely to change in these regions, including projected warming, early snowmelt, changes in precipitation, nutrient availability and their effects on seed maturation, seed dormancy, germination, seedling emergence and seedling establishment. Although the studies showed high variability in their methods and studied species, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the extracted data allowed us to detect existing patterns and knowledge gaps. For example, warming temperatures seemed to favor all studied life stages except seedling establishment, a decrease in precipitation had a strong negative effect on seed stages and, surprisingly, early snowmelt had a neutral effect on seed dormancy and germination but a positive effect on seedling establishment. For some of the studied life stages, data within the literature were too limited to identify a precise effect. There is still a need for investigations that increase our understanding of the climate change impacts on high altitude and high latitude plants’ reproductive processes, as this is crucial for plant conservation and evidence-based management of these environments. Finally, we make recommendations for further research based on the identified knowledge gaps.

Download Full-text

Effects of climate change on agricultural water resource carrying capacity in a high-latitude Basin

Journal of Hydrology ◽

10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126328 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 126328

Author(s):

Peng Qi Zhikun Xia ◽

Guangxin Zhang ◽

Wenguang Zhang ◽

Zehua Chang

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resource ◽

High Latitude ◽

Carrying Capacity ◽

Agricultural Water ◽

Water Resource Carrying Capacity

Download Full-text

Climatic thresholds shape northern high-latitude fire regimes and imply vulnerability to future climate change

Ecography ◽

10.1111/ecog.02205 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 (5) ◽

pp. 606-617 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

Adam M. Young ◽

Philip E. Higuera ◽

Paul A. Duffy ◽

Feng Sheng Hu

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

High Latitude ◽

Fire Regimes ◽

Future Climate ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Northern High Latitude

Download Full-text

Potential high-latitude vegetation feedbacks on CO2-induced climate change

Geophysical Research Letters ◽

10.1029/1999gl900107 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 26 (6) ◽

pp. 747-750 ◽

Cited By ~ 96

Author(s):

S. Levis ◽

J. A. Foley ◽

D. Pollard

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

High Latitude ◽

Vegetation Feedbacks

Download Full-text

Local and regional controls of phylogenetic structure at the high-latitude range limits of corals

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2017.0915 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 284 (1861) ◽

pp. 20170915 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Brigitte Sommer ◽

Eugenia M. Sampayo ◽

Maria Beger ◽

Peter L. Harrison ◽

Russ C. Babcock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

High Latitude ◽

Species Interactions ◽

Phylogenetic Signal ◽

Range Limits ◽

High Turnover ◽

Phylogenetic Structure ◽

Phylogenetic Clustering ◽

Latitude Range ◽

Eastern Australia

Understanding how range-edge populations will respond to climate change is an urgent research priority. Here, we used a phylogenetic community ecology approach to examine how ecological and evolutionary processes shape biodiversity patterns of scleractinian corals at their high-latitude range limits in eastern Australia. We estimated phylogenetic signal in seven ecologically important functional traits and conducted tests of phylogenetic structure at local and regional scales using the net relatedness (NRI) and nearest taxon indices (NTI) for the presence/absence and abundance data. Regional tests showed light phylogenetic clustering, indicating that coral species found in this subtropical-to-temperate transition zone are more closely related to each other than are species on the nearby, more northerly Great Barrier Reef. Local tests revealed variable patterns of phylogenetic clustering and overdispersion and higher than expected phylogenetic turnover among sites. In combination, these results are broadly consistent with the hierarchical filtering model, whereby species pass through a regional climatic filter based on their tolerances for marginal conditions and subsequently segregate into local assemblages according to the relative strength of habitat filtering and species interactions. Conservatism of tested traits suggests that corals will likely track their niches with climate change. Nevertheless, high turnover of lineages among sites indicates that range shifts will probably vary among species and highlights the vulnerability and conservation significance of high-latitude reefs.

Download Full-text

Monitoring Changes to Arctic Vegetation and Glaciers at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Based on Time Series Remote Sensing

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13193845 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (19) ◽

pp. 3845

Author(s):

Guangbo Ren ◽

Jianbu Wang ◽

Yunfei Lu ◽

Peiqiang Wu ◽

Xiaoqing Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Remote Sensing ◽

Time Series ◽

High Latitude ◽

Global Climate ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Vegetation Coverage ◽

Coastal Regions ◽

Average Annual Temperature

Climate change has profoundly affected global ecological security. The most vulnerable region on Earth is the high-latitude Arctic. Identifying the changes in vegetation coverage and glaciers in high-latitude Arctic coastal regions is important for understanding the process and impact of global climate change. Ny-Ålesund, the northern-most human settlement, is typical of these coastal regions and was used as a study site. Vegetation and glacier changes over the past 35 years were studied using time series remote sensing data from Landsat 5/7/8 acquired in 1985, 1989, 2000, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Site survey data in 2019, a digital elevation model from 2009 and meteorological data observed from 1985 to 2019 were also used. The vegetation in the Ny-Ålesund coastal zone showed a trend of declining and then increasing, with a breaking point in 2000. However, the area of vegetation with coverage greater than 30% increased over the whole study period, and the wetland moss area also increased, which may be caused by the accelerated melting of glaciers. Human activities were responsible for the decline in vegetation cover around Ny-Ålesund owing to the construction of the town and airport. Even in areas with vegetation coverage of only 13%, there were at least five species of high-latitude plants. The melting rate of five major glaciers in the study area accelerated, and approximately 82% of the reduction in glacier area occurred after 2000. The elevation of the lowest boundary of the five glaciers increased by 50–70 m. The increase in precipitation and the average annual temperature after 2000 explains the changes in both vegetation coverage and glaciers in the study period.

Download Full-text

Tropopause height at 78° N 16° E: average seasonal variation 2007–2010

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-11-39-2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 39-52

Author(s):

C. M. Hall ◽

G. Hansen ◽

F. Sigernes ◽

K. M. Kuyeng Ruiz

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Seasonal Variation ◽

Air Temperature ◽

High Latitude ◽

Column Density ◽

Surface Air Temperature ◽

The Arctic ◽

Tropopause Height ◽

Vhf Radar ◽

Ozone Column

Abstract. We present a seasonal climatology of tropopause altitude for 78° N 16° E derived from observations 2007–2010 by the SOUSY VHF radar on Svalbard. The spring minimum occurs one month later than that of surface air temperature and instead coincides with the maximum in ozone column density. This confirms similar studies based on radiosonde measurements in the arctic and demonstrates downward control by the stratosphere. If one is to exploit the potential of tropopause height as a metric for climate change at high latitude and elsewhere, it is imperative to observe and understand the processes which establish the tropopause – an understanding to which this study contributes.

Download Full-text

Alaskan soil carbon stocks: spatial variability and dependence on environmental factors

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-9-5695-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 5695-5718 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

U. Mishra ◽

W. J. Riley

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Spatial Variability ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Active Layer ◽

High Latitude ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Scenarios ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Soil Wetness ◽

Soc Stocks

Abstract. The direction and magnitude of soil organic carbon (SOC) changes in response to climate change depend on the spatial and vertical distributions of SOC. We estimated spatially-resolved SOC stocks from surface to C horizon, distinguishing active-layer and permafrost-layer stocks, based on geospatial analysis of 472 soil profiles and spatially referenced environmental variables for Alaska. Total Alaska state-wide SOC stock was estimated to be 77 Pg, with 61% in the active-layer, 27% in permafrost, and 12% in non-permafrost soils. Prediction accuracy was highest for the active-layer as demonstrated by highest ratio of performance to deviation (1.5). Large spatial variability was predicted, with whole-profile, active-layer, and permafrost-layer stocks ranging from 1–296 kg C m−2, 2–166 kg m−2, and 0–232 kg m−2, respectively. Temperature and soil wetness were found to be primary controllers of whole-profile, active-layer, and permafrost-layer SOC stocks. Secondary controllers, in order of importance, were: land cover type, topographic attributes, and bedrock geology. The observed importance of soil wetness rather than precipitation on SOC stocks implies that the poor representation of high-latitude soil wetness in Earth System Models may lead to large uncertainty in predicted SOC stocks under future climate change scenarios. Under strict caveats described in the text and assuming temperature changes from the A1B Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emissions scenario, our geospatial model indicates that the equilibrium average 2100 Alaska active-layer depth could deepen by 11 cm, resulting in a thawing of 13 Pg C currently in permafrost. The equilibrium SOC loss associated with this warming would be highest under continuous permafrost (31%), followed by discontinuous (28%), isolated (24.3%), and sporadic (23.6%) permafrost areas. Our high resolution mapping of soil carbon stock reveals the potential vulnerability of high-latitude soil carbon and can be used as a basis for future studies of anthropogenic and climatic perturbations.

Download Full-text