Holocene and Last Interglacial cloudiness in eastern Baffin Island, Arctic CanadaThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Polar Climate Stability Network.GEOTOP Publication 2008-0027.

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 1221-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca Fréchette ◽  
Anne de Vernal ◽  
Pierre J.H. Richard
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Dwarf Shrub ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Vegetation Changes ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Growing Season Length ◽  
Shrub Tundra

This study presents Last Interglacial and Holocene vegetation and climate changes at Fog Lake (67°11′N, 63°15′W) on eastern Baffin Island, Arctic Canada. The vegetation cover is reported as vegetation structural types (or biomes). July air temperature and sunshine during the growing season (June–July–August–September) were reconstructed from pollen assemblages using the modern analogue technique. The vegetation of the Last Interglacial period evolved from a prostrate dwarf-shrub tundra to a low- and high-shrub tundra vegetation. The succession of four Arctic biomes was distinguished from the Last Interglacial sediments, whereas only one Arctic biome was recorded in the Holocene sediments. From ca. 8300 cal. years BP to present, hemiprostrate dwarf-shrub tundra occupied the soils around Fog Lake. During the Last Interglacial, growing season sunshine was higher than during the Holocene and July air temperature was 4 to 5 °C warmer than present. A principal component analysis helped in assessing relationship between floristic gradients and climate. The major vegetation changes through the Last Interglacial and Holocene were driven by July air temperature variations, whereas the minor, or subtle, vegetation changes seem rather correlated to September sunshine. This study demonstrates that growing season sunshine conditions can be reconstructed from Arctic pollen assemblages, thus providing information on feedbacks associated with cloud cover and summer temperatures, and therefore growing season length.

scholarly journals Growing Season Length as a Key Factor of Cumulative Net Ecosystem Exchange Over the Pine Forest Ecosystems in Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Danielewska ◽  
Marek Urbaniak ◽  
Janusz Olejnik
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
Net Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Season Length ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Growing Season Length

Abstract The Scots pine is one of the most important species in European and Asian forests. Due to a widespread occurrence of pine forests, their significance in the energy and mass exchange between the Earth surface and the atmosphere is also important, particularly in the context of climate change and greenhouse gases balance. The aim of this work is to present the relationship between the average annual net ecosystem productivity and growing season length, latitude and air temperature (tay) over Europe. Therefore, CO2 flux measurement data from eight European pine dominated forests were used. The observations suggest that there is a correlation between the intensity of CO2 uptake or emission by a forest stand and the above mentioned parameters. Based on the obtained results, all of the selected pine forest stands were CO2 sinks, except a site in northern Finland. The carbon dioxide uptake increased proportionally with the increase of growing season length (9.212 g C m-2 y-1 per day of growing season, R2 = 0.53, p = 0.0399). This dependency showed stronger correlation and higher statistical significance than both relationships between annual net ecosystem productivity and air temperature (R2 = 0.39, p = 0.096) and annual net ecosystem productivity and latitude (R2 = 0.47, p = 0.058). The CO2 emission surpassed assimilation in winter, early spring and late autumn. Moreover, the appearance of late, cold spring and early winter, reduced annual net ecosystem productivity. Therefore, the growing season length can be considered as one of the main factor affecting the annual carbon budget of pine forests.

scholarly journals Long-Term Trends in Air Temperature Distribution and Extremes, Growing Degree‐Days, and Spring and Fall Frosts for Climate Impact Assessments on Agricultural Practices in Nebraska

2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 2060-2073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari E. Skaggs ◽  
Suat Irmak
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Central City ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Growing Degree Days ◽  
Degree Days ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Growing Season Length ◽  
Average Maximum

AbstractAir temperature influences agricultural practices and production outcomes, making detailed quantifications of temperature changes necessary for potential positive and negative effects on agricultural management practices to be exploited or mitigated. Temperature trends of long-term data for five agricultural locations, ranging from the subhumid eastern to the semiarid western parts of Nebraska, were studied to determine local temperature changes and their potential effects on agricultural practices. The study quantified trends in annual and monthly average maximum and minimum air temperature (Tmax and Tmin), daily temperature range (DTR), total growing degree-days, extreme temperatures, growing‐season dates and lengths, and temperature distributions for five heavily agricultural areas of Nebraska: Alliance, Central City, Culbertson, Fremont, and Hastings. July and August were the months with the greatest decreases in Tmax for the central part of Nebraska—Culbertson, Hastings, and Central City. Alliance, Culbertson, and Fremont had year-round decreases in DTR. Central City and Hastings experienced growing‐season decreases in DTR. Increases in growing‐season length occurred at rates of 14.3, 16.7, and 11.9 days century−1 for Alliance, Central City, and Fremont, respectively. At Hastings, moderately earlier last spring frost (LS) at a rate of 6.6 days century−1 was offset by an earlier (2.7 days century−1) first fall frost (FF), resulting in only a 3.8 days century−1 longer growing season. There were only slight changes in LS and FF dates of around 2 days earlier and 1 day later per century, respectively, for Culbertson.

The role of soil characteristics on measured and modelled carbon dioxide and energy fluxes for Arctic dwarf shrub tundra sites

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gesa Meyer ◽  
Elyn Humphreys ◽  
Joe Melton ◽  
Peter Lafleur ◽  
Philip Marsh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Cold Season ◽  
Soil Characteristics ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Dwarf Shrub ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sensible Heat ◽  
Shrub Tundra ◽  
Tundra Ecosystems

<p>Four years of growing season eddy covariance measurements of net carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) and energy fluxes were used to examine the similarities/differences in surface-atmosphere interactions at two dwarf shrub tundra sites within Canada’s Southern Arctic ecozone, separated by approximately 1000 km. Both sites, Trail Valley Creek (TVC) and Daring Lake (DL1), are characterised by similar climate (with some differences in radiation due to latitudinal differences), vegetation composition and structure, and are underlain by continuous permafrost, but differ in their soil characteristics. Total atmospheric heating (the sum of latent and sensible heat fluxes) was similar at the two sites. However, at DL1, where the surface organic layer was thinner and mineral soil coarser in texture, latent heat fluxes were greater, sensible heat fluxes were lower, soils were warmer and the active layer thicker. At TVC, cooler soils likely kept ecosystem respiration relatively low despite similar total growing season productivity. As a result, the 4-year mean net growing season ecosystem CO<sub>2 </sub>uptake (May 1 - September 30) was almost twice as large at TVC (64 ± 19 g C m<sup>-2</sup>) compared to DL1 (33 ± 11 g C m<sup>-2</sup>). These results highlight that soil and thaw characteristics are important to understand variability in surface-atmosphere interactions among tundra ecosystems.</p><p>As recent studies have shown, winter fluxes play an important role in the annual CO<sub>2</sub> balance of Arctic tundra ecosystems. However, flux measurements were not available at TVC and DL1 during the cold season. Thus, the process-based ecosystem model CLASSIC (the Canadian Land Surface Scheme including biogeochemical Cycles, formerly CLASS-CTEM) was used to simulate year-round fluxes. In order to represent the Arctic shrub tundra better, shrub and sedge plant functional types were included in CLASSIC and results were evaluated using measurements at DL1. Preliminary results indicate that cold season CO<sub>2</sub> losses are substantial and may exceed the growing season CO<sub>2</sub> uptake at DL1 during 2010-2017. The joint use of observations and models is valuable in order to better constrain the Arctic CO<sub>2</sub> balance.  </p>

scholarly journals Lower oceanic <i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>C during the last interglacial period compared to the Holocene

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 507-528
Author(s):  
Shannon A. Bengtson ◽  
Laurie C. Menviel ◽  
Katrin J. Meissner ◽  
Lise Missiaen ◽  
Carlye D. Peterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Oceanic Circulation ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Last Interglacial Period ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Depth Extent ◽  
Global Carbon

Abstract. The last time in Earth's history when high latitudes were warmer than during pre-industrial times was the last interglacial period (LIG, 129–116 ka BP). Since the LIG is the most recent and best documented interglacial, it can provide insights into climate processes in a warmer world. However, some key features of the LIG are not well constrained, notably the oceanic circulation and the global carbon cycle. Here, we use a new database of LIG benthic δ13C to investigate these two aspects. We find that the oceanic mean δ13C was ∼ 0.2 ‰ lower during the LIG (here defined as 125–120 ka BP) when compared to the Holocene (7–2 ka BP). A lower terrestrial carbon content at the LIG than during the Holocene could have led to both lower oceanic δ13C and atmospheric δ13CO2 as observed in paleo-records. However, given the multi-millennial timescale, the lower oceanic δ13C most likely reflects a long-term imbalance between weathering and burial of carbon. The δ13C distribution in the Atlantic Ocean suggests no significant difference in the latitudinal and depth extent of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) between the LIG and the Holocene. Furthermore, the data suggest that the multi-millennial mean NADW transport was similar between these two time periods.

scholarly journals Differences in water mass geometry in the Atlantic Ocean during the Holocene and the last interglacial period

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Gottschalk ◽  
Frerk Pöppelmeier ◽  
Patrick Blaser ◽  
Marcus Gutjahr ◽  
Sophia Hines ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Last Interglacial Period

Diverse effects of climate at different times on grassland phenology in mid-latitude of the Northern Hemisphere

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shilong Ren ◽  
Yating Li ◽  
Matthias Peichl
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Growing Season Length ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Significant Prolongation ◽  
Window Opening

&lt;p&gt;Studying grassland phenology and its relationships to climate would deepen our understanding of vegetation-air interactions under global climate change. To date, however, our knowledge of the responses of grassland phenology to climatic factors is still limited at the continental scale. In this study, we retrieved the start (SOS) and end (EOS) of the growing season for mid-latitude (30&amp;#176;N~55&amp;#176;N) grasslands of the Northern Hemisphere during 1981-2014, and investigated their relations with previous temperature, rainfall, and snowfall (only for SOS) through trends analysis and time window analysis. Results illustrated a predominant significant advancing/delaying trend of SOS/EOS in 23.2%/20.5% of the study region. They jointly resulted in a primarily significant prolongation trend of growing season length in 22.7% of the study region. Next, a dominated negative correlation between air temperature/rainfall and SOS was found in 62.4%/57.6% of areas. Snowfall showed converse effects (positive/negative) among different grasslands. The time window opening date for air temperature to start to affect SOS was identified as the day 1-90 before the multi-year average SOS in 76.1% of areas, while the time window opening date for the effect of rainfall/snowfall on SOS was relatively evenly distributed between the 1st and 180th day before the multi-year average SOS. EOS was found to be significantly negatively/positively correlated with air temperature/precipitation in 74.8%/83.7% of areas. The time window opening date for the effect of air temperature on EOS was identified as the 90-180th day before the multi-year average EOS in 66.9% of areas, while the time window opening date for the effect of precipitation on EOS was mainly concentrated on the 60-120th day before the multi-year average EOS in 51.5% of areas. Overall, this study highlights the distinctly different time windows for the thermal-moisture effects on grassland vegetation phenology and this should be considered when establishing process-based phenological models.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Underestimated effects of low temperature during early growing season on carbon sequestration of a subtropical coniferous plantation

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1667-1678 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.-J. Zhang ◽  
H.-M. Wang ◽  
F.-T. Yang ◽  
Y.-H. Yi ◽  
X.-F. Wen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Carbon Uptake ◽  
Summer Drought ◽  
Eddy Flux ◽  
Season Length ◽  
Growing Season Length ◽  
Coniferous Plantation ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The impact of air temperature in early growing season on the carbon sequestration of a subtropical coniferous plantation was discussed through analyzing the eddy flux observations at Qianyanzhou (QYZ) site in southern China from 2003 to 2008. This site experienced two cold early growing seasons (with temperature anomalies of 2–5 °C) in 2005 and 2008, and a severe summer drought in 2003. Results indicated that the low air temperature from January to March was the major factor controlling the inter-annual variations in net carbon uptake at this site, rather than the previously thought summer drought. The accumulative air temperature from January to February showed high correlation (R2=0.970, p<0.001) with the annual net ecosystem production (NEP). This was due to the controls of early-month temperature on the plant phenology developing and the growing season length at this subtropical site. The cold spring greatly shortened the growing season length and therefore reduced the carbon uptake period. The eddy flux observations showed a carbon loss of 4.04 g C m−2 per growing-season day at this coniferous forest site. On the other hand, the summer drought also reduced the net carbon uptake strength because the photosynthesis was more sensitive to water deficit stress than the ecosystem respiration. However, the impact of summer drought occurred within a relatively shorter period and the carbon sequestration went back to the normal level once the drought was relieved.

scholarly journals Trends in temperature and growing season length in idaho-usa during the past few decades

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Antonio Costa dos Santos ◽  
Tantravahi Venkata Ramana Rao ◽  
Ricardo Alves de Olinda
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Temporal Correlation ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Daily Maximum ◽  
Season Length ◽  
Growing Season Length ◽  
Minimum Air Temperature

ABSTRACT This study attempts to provide new information on seasonal and annual trends, on a regional scale, using records of daily air temperature over Idaho, USA, through the analysis of the Growing Season Length (GSL), and maximum and minimum air temperature data from multiple stations in the region, as well as, to obtain the temporal correlation between the daily air temperature and Sea Surface Temperature (SST) indices. The analyses were conducted using long-term and high quality data sets for 35 meteorological stations for the period between 1970 and 2006. The results suggest that both daily maximum and minimum temperatures had increasing trends, but the minimum air temperature is increasing faster than the maximum air temperature. On average, the GSL has increased by 7.5 days/decade during the period 1970-2006, associated with increasing temperatures. Trends in regional air temperature and their indication of climate change are of interest to Idaho and the rest of the world. The trends obtained herein corroborate with the general idea that during the last century the globe has warmed.

scholarly journals Environmental controls on carbon fluxes over three grassland ecosystems in China

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 8007-8040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Fu ◽  
Z. Zheng ◽  
G. Yu ◽  
Z. Hu ◽  
X. Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Alpine Meadow ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Annual Precipitation ◽  
Co2 Fluxes ◽  
Meadow Steppe ◽  
Temperate Steppe ◽  
Growing Season Length ◽  
Grassland Ecosystems ◽  
Alpine Shrub

Abstract. This study compared the CO2 fluxes over three grassland ecosystems in China, including a temperate steppe (TS) in Inner Mongolia, an alpine shrub-meadow (ASM) in Qinghai and an alpine meadow-steppe (AMS) in Tibet. The measurements were made in 2004 and 2005 using the eddy covariance technique. Objectives were to document the different seasonality of net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (NEE) and its components, gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (Reco), and to examine how environmental factors affect carbon exchange in the three grassland ecosystems. It was warmer in 2005 than in 2004, especially during the growing season (from May to September), across the three sites. The annual precipitation at TS in 2004 (364.4 mm) was close the annual average (350 mm), whereas the precipitation at TS in 2005 (153.3 mm) was significantly below the average. Both GEP and Reco of the temperate steppe in 2005 were significantly reduced by the extreme drought stress, resulting in net carbon release during almost the whole growing season. The magnitude of CO2 fluxes (daily and annual sums) was largest for the alpine shrub-meadow and smallest for the alpine meadow-steppe. The seasonal trends of GEP, Reco and NEE of the alpine shrub-meadow tracked closely with the variation in air temperature, while the seasonality of GEP, Reco and NEE of the temperate steppe and the alpine meadow-steppe was more related to the variation in soil moisture. The alpine shrub-meadow was a local carbon sink over the two years. The temperate steppe and alpine meadow-steppe were acting as net carbon source, with more carbon loss to the atmosphere in warmer and drier year of 2005. Annual precipitation was the primary climate driver for the difference in annual GEP and NEE among the three sites and between the two years. We also found the annual GEP and NEE depended significantly on the growing season length, which was mainly a result of the timing and amount of precipitation for the temperate steppe and the alpine meadow-steppe, but was more linked to the variation in air temperature for the alpine shrub-meadow.

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