Model computations on the climate change effects on snow cover, soil moisture and soil frost in the boreal conditions over Finland

AbstractThe magnitude and frequency of soil frost events might increase in northern temperate regions in response to climate warming due to reduced insulation caused by declining snow cover. In temperate deciduous forests, increased soil frost severity can hamper tree growth and increase the mortality of fine roots, soil fauna and microorganisms, thus altering carbon and nutrient cycling. From single-site studies, however, it is unclear how the sensitivities of these responses change along continental gradients from regions with low to high snowfall. We conducted a gradient design snow cover and soil temperature manipulation experiment across a range of lowland beech forest sites to assess the site-specific sensitivity of tree growth and biogeochemical cycling to soil cooling. Even mild and inconsistent soil frost affected tree increment, germination, litter decomposition and the retention of added 15N. However, the sensitivity of response (treatment effect size per degree of warming or cooling) was not related to prevailing winter climate and snow cover conditions. Our results support that it may be valid to scale these responses to simulated winter climate change up from local studies to regional scales. This upscaling, however, needs to account for the fact that cold regions with historically high snowfall may experience increasingly harsh soil frost conditions, whereas in warmer regions with historically low snowfall, soil frost may diminish. Thus, despite the uniform biotic sensitivity of response, there may be opposing directions of winter climate change effects on temperate forests along continental temperature gradients due to different trends of winter soil temperature.

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Optimum soil frost depth to alleviate climate change effects in cold region agriculture

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/srep44860 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Yosuke Yanai ◽

Yukiyoshi Iwata ◽

Tomoyoshi Hirota

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Cold Region ◽

Soil Frost ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Frost Depth

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Lichen-Bryophyte Distribution along a Snow-Cover-Soil-Moisture Gradient, Niwot Ridge, Colorado

Arctic and Alpine Research ◽

10.2307/1550655 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 31 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

JoAnn W. Flock

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Snow Cover ◽

Moisture Gradient ◽

Niwot Ridge ◽

Cover Soil ◽

Soil Moisture Gradient

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Exploring Short-Term Climate Change Effects on Rangelands and Broad-Leaved Forests by Free Satellite Data in Aosta Valley (Northwest Italy)

Climate ◽

10.3390/cli9030047 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 47

Author(s):

Tommaso Orusa ◽

Enrico Borgogno Mondino

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Remote Sensing ◽

Time Series ◽

Snow Cover ◽

Air Temperature ◽

Google Earth ◽

Water Requirement ◽

Temperature Anomalies ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Air Temperature Anomalies

Satellite remote sensing is a power tool for the long-term monitoring of vegetation. This work, with reference to a regional case study, investigates remote sensing potentialities for describing the annual phenology of rangelands and broad-leaved forests at the landscape level with the aim of detecting eventual effects of climate change in the Alpine region of the Aosta Valley (Northwest (NW) Italy). A first analysis was aimed at estimating phenological metrics (PMs) from satellite images time series and testing the presence of trends along time. A further investigation concerned evapotranspiration from vegetation (ET) and its variation along the years. Additionally, in both the cases the following meteorological patterns were considered: air temperature anomalies, precipitation trends and the timing of yearly seasonal snow melt. The analysis was based on the time series (TS) of different MODIS collections datasets together with Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) collection obtained through Google Earth Engine. Ground weather stations data from the Centro Funzionale VdA ranging from 2000 to 2019 were used. In particular, the MOD13Q1 v.6, MOD16A2 and MOD10A1 v.6 collections were used to derive PMs, ET and snow cover maps. The SRTM (shuttle radar topography mission) DTM (digital terrain model) was also used to describe local topography while the Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) land cover map was adopted to investigate land use classes. Averagely in the area, rangelands and broad-leaved forests showed that the length of season is getting longer, with a general advance of the SOS (start of the season) and a delay in the EOS (end of the season). With reference to ET, significant increasing trends were generally observed. The water requirement from vegetation appeared to have averagely risen about 0.05 Kg·m−2 (about 0.5%) per year in the period 2000–2019, for a total increase of about 1 Kg·m−2 in 20 years (corresponding to a percentage difference in water requirement from vegetation of about 8%). This aspect can be particularly relevant in the bottom of the central valley, where the precipitations have shown a statistically significant decreasing trend in the period 2000–2019 (conversely, no significant variation was found in the whole territory). Additionally, the snowpack timing persistence showed a general reduction trend. PMs and ET and air temperature anomalies, as well as snow cover melting, proved to have significantly changed their values in the last 20 years, with a continuous progressive trend. The results encourage the adoption of remote sensing to monitor climate change effects on alpine vegetation, with particular focus on the relationship between phenology and other abiotic factors permitting an effective technological transfer.

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Scenarios of Future Snow Conditions in Styria (Austrian Alps)

Journal of Hydrometeorology ◽

10.1175/jhm-d-14-0035.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 261-277 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Thomas Marke ◽

Ulrich Strasser ◽

Florian Hanzer ◽

Johann Stötter ◽

Renate Anna Irma Wilcke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Snow Cover ◽

Impact Analysis ◽

Season Length ◽

Average Decrease ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Scenario Period ◽

Natural Snow ◽

Snow Conditions ◽

Projected Changes

Abstract A hydrometeorological model chain is applied to investigate climate change effects on natural and artificial snow conditions in the Schladming region in Styria (Austria). Four dynamically refined realizations of the IPCC A1B scenario covering the warm/cold and wet/dry bandwidth of projected changes in temperature and precipitation in the winter half-year are statistically downscaled and bias corrected prior to their application as input for a physically based, distributed energy-balance snow model. However, owing to the poor skills in the reproduction of past climate and snow conditions in the considered region, one realization had to be removed from the selection to avoid biases in the results of the climate change impact analysis. The model’s capabilities in the simulation of natural and artificial snow conditions are evaluated and changes in snow conditions are addressed by comparing the number of snow cover days, the length of the ski season, and the amounts of technically produced snow as simulated for the past and the future. The results for natural snow conditions indicate decreases in the number of snow cover days and the ski season length of up to >25 and >35 days, respectively. The highest decrease in the calculated ski season length has been found for elevations between 1600 and 2700 m MSL, with an average decrease rate of ~2.6 days decade−1. For the exemplary ski site considered, the ski season length simulated for natural snow conditions decreases from >50 days at present to ~40 days in the 2050s. Technical snow production allows the season to be prolonged by ~80 days and hence allows ski season lengths of ~120 days until the end of the scenario period in 2050.

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Modelling the dynamics of snow cover, soil frost and surface ice in Norwegian grasslands

Polar Research ◽

10.1111/j.1751-8369.2010.00157.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 110-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Stig Morten Thorsen ◽

Anne-Grete Roer ◽

Marcel van Oijen

Keyword(s):

Snow Cover ◽

Soil Frost ◽

Cover Soil ◽

Surface Ice

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Testing the Effects of Simulated Climate Change Effects Using Open Sided Warming Chambers

The UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports ◽

10.13001/uwnpsrc.2011.3811 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 33 ◽

pp. 147-153

Author(s):

Jill Sherwood ◽

Diane Debinski ◽

Matthew Germino

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Soil Moisture ◽

Global Climate ◽

Local Level ◽

Physiological Data ◽

Sagebrush Steppe ◽

Snow Removal ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Increased Temperature ◽

Set Up

Regional models of global climate change for the northern Rocky Mountains predict warmer temperatures, and some of the main implications of these changes at a local level involve decreased snowpack, earlier snowmelt, and decreased soil moisture during the growing season. In order to mimic the anticipated effects of climate change, and test the responses from a soil microclimate and plant physiology perspective, open-sided warming chambers and snow removal treatments were applied to 2.44 X 2.44 m plots in a sagebrush steppe meadow within Grand Teton National Park, WY. Four treatments included: (1) control, (2) reduced snowpack, (3) increased temperature, and (4) reduced snowpack with increased temperature. Snow was removed using shovels in early May, and chambers were placed at the same time. The chambers were left on the plots through mid-October. Soil moisture and temperature were measured and recorded at 5 cm, and 25 cm depths using dataloggers set up at the time of snow removal and chamber placement. In addition, surface temperature was measured under each plot and within the study area. Plant physiological data on four plant species, including leaf temperature at dawn and mid-afternoon and water potential, were collected for all of the plots in July. Data are being analyzed to determine whether differences existed between the plots for soil moisture, soil and air temperature, and the plant physiological traits measured.

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