scholarly journals Net ecosystem production in a Little Ice Age moraine: the role of plant functional traits

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 10271-10310
Author(s):  
E. Varolo ◽  
D. Zanotelli ◽  
M. Tagliavini ◽  
S. Zerbe ◽  
L. Montagnani
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Soil Analysis ◽  
Carbon Accumulation ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Vegetation Communities ◽  
Glacier Forefield

Abstract. Current glacier retreat allows vast mountain ranges available for vegetation establishment and growth. Little is known about the effective carbon (C) budget of these new ecosystems and how the presence of different vegetation communities, characterized by their specific physiology and life forms influences C fluxes. In this study, using a comparative analysis of the C fluxes of two contrasting vegetation types, we intend to evaluate if the different physiologies of the main species have an effect on Ecosystem Respiration (Reco), Gross Primary Production (GPP), annual cumulated Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE), and long-term carbon accumulation in soil. The NEE of two plant communities present on a Little Ice Age moraine in the Matsch glacier forefield (Alps, Italy) was measured over two growing seasons. They are a typical C3 grassland, dominated by Festuca halleri All. and a community dominated by CAM rosettes Sempervivum montanum L. on rocky soils. Using transparent and opaque chambers, we extrapolated the ecophysiological responses to the main environmental drivers and performed the partition of NEE into Reco and GPP. Soil samples were collected from the same site to measure long-term C accumulation in the ecosystem. The two communities showed contrasting GPP but similar Reco patterns and as a result significantly different in NEE. The grassland acted mainly as a carbon sink with a total cumulated value of −46.4 ± 35.5 g C m−2 NEE while the plots dominated by the CAM rosettes acted as a source with 31.9 ± 22.4 g C m−2. In spite of the NEE being different in the two plant communities, soil analysis did not reveal significant differences in carbon accumulation. Grasslands showed 1.76 ± 0.12 kg C m−2, while CAM rosettes showed 2.06 ± 0.23 kg C m−2. This study demonstrates that carbon dynamics of two vegetation communities can be distinct even though the growing environment is similar. The physiological traits of the dominant species determine large differences in the carbon cycle. Therefore, to analyze NEE of any glacier forefield ecosystem, different functional traits of the vegetation communities must be taken into consideration. Moreover, to assess the net ecosystem carbon balance it is necessary to consider the lateral fluxes of carbon via animal consumption, winter respiration, and in a broader temporal perspective, the different stages characterizing the primary succession.

scholarly journals Simulated retreat of Jakobshavn Isbræ since the Little Ice Age controlled by geometry

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2249-2266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Steiger ◽  
Kerim H. Nisancioglu ◽  
Henning Åkesson ◽  
Basile de Fleurian ◽  
Faezeh M. Nick
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Climate Forcing ◽  
Relative Role ◽  
Regional Warming ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Term Response

Abstract. Rapid retreat of Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers coincides with regional warming trends, which have broadly been used to explain these rapid changes. However, outlet glaciers within similar climate regimes experience widely contrasting retreat patterns, suggesting that the local fjord geometry could be an important additional factor. To assess the relative role of climate and fjord geometry, we use the retreat history of Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, since the Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum in 1850 as a baseline for the parameterization of a depth- and width-integrated ice flow model. The impact of fjord geometry is isolated by using a linearly increasing climate forcing since the LIA and testing a range of simplified geometries. We find that the total length of retreat is determined by external factors – such as hydrofracturing, submarine melt and buttressing by sea ice – whereas the retreat pattern is governed by the fjord geometry. Narrow and shallow areas provide pinning points and cause delayed but rapid retreat without additional climate warming, after decades of grounding line stability. We suggest that these geometric pinning points may be used to locate potential sites for moraine formation and to predict the long-term response of the glacier. As a consequence, to assess the impact of climate on the retreat history of a glacier, each system has to be analyzed with knowledge of its historic retreat and the local fjord geometry.

Paleoenvironmental records of water level and climatic changes from the middle to late holocene at a Lake Erie coastal wetland, Ontario, Canada

2006 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Finkelstein ◽  
Anthony M. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Climatic Forcing ◽  
Site Water ◽  
Northern Shore

AbstractPollen and diatom assemblages, and peat stratigraphies, from a coastal wetland on the northern shore of Lake Erie were used to analyze water level and climatic changes since the middle Holocene and their effects on wetland plant communities. Peat deposition began 4700 cal yr B.P. during the Nipissing II transgression, which was driven by isostatic rebound. At that time, a diatom-rich wild rice marsh existed at the site. Water level dropped at the end of the Nipissing rise at least 2 m within 200 yr, leading to the development of shallower-water plant communities and an environment too dry for most diatoms to persist. The sharp decline in water level was probably driven primarily by outlet incision, but climate likely played some role. The paleoecological records provide evidence for post-Nipissing century-scale transgressions occurring around 2300, 1160, 700 and 450 cal yr B.P. The chronology for these transgressions correlates with other studies from the region and implies climatic forcing. Peat inception in shallow sloughs across part of the study area around 700 cal yr B.P. coincides with the Little Ice Age. These records, considered alongside others from the region, suggest that the Little Ice Age may have resulted in a wetter climate across the eastern Great Lakes region.

scholarly journals Moisture Changes in the Northern Xinjiang Basin Over the Past 2400 years as Documented in Pollen Records of Jili Lake

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulin Xiao ◽  
Lixiong Xiang ◽  
Xiaozhong Huang ◽  
Keely Mills ◽  
Jun Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Pollen Record ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Northern Xinjiang ◽  
The Past ◽  
Climate Background

Regional humidity is important for terrestrial ecosystem development, while it differs from region to region in inland Asia, knowledge of past moisture changes in the lower basin of northern Xinjiang remainly largely unclear. Based on a pollen record from Jili Lake, the Artemisia/(Amaranthaceae + Ephedra) (Ar/(Am + E)) ratio, as an index of regional humidity, has recorded four relatively dry phases: 1) 400 BCE to 1 CE, 2) the Roman Warm Period (RWP; c. 1–400 CE), 3) the Medieval Warm Period (MWP; c. 850–1200 CE) and 4) the Current Warm Period (CWP; since 1850 CE). In contrast, the Dark Age Cold Period (DACP; c. 400–850 CE) and the Little Ice Age (LIA; c. 1200–1850 CE) were relatively wet. Lower lake levels in a relatively humid climate background indicated by higher aquatic pollen (Typha and Sparganium) after c. 1700 CE are likely the result of intensified irrigation for agriculture in the catchment as documented in historical records. The pollen Ar/(Am + E) ratio also recorded a millennial-scale wetting trend from 1 CE to 1550 CE which is concomitant with a long-term cooling recorded in the Northern Hemisphere.

scholarly journals Glacier dynamics at Helheim and Kangerdlugssuaq glaciers, southeast Greenland, since the Little Ice Age

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1257-1278
Author(s):  
S. A. Khan ◽  
K. K. Kjeldsen ◽  
K. H. Kjær ◽  
S. Bevan ◽  
A. Luckman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Episodic Events ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Decadal Scale ◽  
Speed Up

Abstract. Observations over the past decade show significant ice loss associated with the speed-up of glaciers in southeast Greenland from 2003, followed by a deceleration from 2006. These short-term, episodic, dynamic perturbations have a major impact on the mass balance at the decadal scale. To improve the projection of future sea level rise, a long-term data record that reveals the mass balance beyond such episodic events is required. Here, we extend the observational record of marginal thinning of Helheim glacier (HG) and Kangerdlugssuaq glacier (KG) from 10 to more than 150 yr. We show that although the frontal portion of HG thinned by more than 100 m between 2003 and 2006, it thickened by more than 50 m during the previous two decades. In contrast, KG was stable from 1981 to 1998 and experienced major thinning only after 2003. Extending the record back to the end of the Little Ice Age (ca. 1850) shows no significant thinning of HG from 1850 to 1981, while KG underwent substantial thinning of ~265 m. Analyses of their sensitivity to sub-surface water temperature anomalies and variations in air temperature suggest that both HG and KG are highly sensitive to short-term atmospheric and ocean forcing, and respond very quickly to small fluctuations. At century time-scales, however, multiple external parameters (e.g. outlet shape) dominate the mass change. These findings undermine attempts to use measurements over the last decade as initial conditions to project future dynamic ice loss.

Plant communities control long term carbon accumulation and biogeochemical gradients in a Patagonian bog

2019 ◽  
Vol 684 ◽  
pp. 670-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J.H. Mathijssen ◽  
Mariusz Gałka ◽  
Werner Borken ◽  
Klaus-Holger Knorr
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Carbon Accumulation

scholarly journals Was the Little Ice Age more or less El Niño-like than the Medieval Climate Anomaly? Evidence from hydrological and temperature proxy data

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilo M. K. Henke ◽  
F. Hugo Lambert ◽  
Dan J. Charman
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Medieval Climate Anomaly ◽  
Climate Anomaly ◽  
Proxy Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
Proxy Records

Abstract. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most important source of global climate variability on interannual timescales and has substantial environmental and socio-economic consequences. However, it is unclear how it interacts with large-scale climate states over longer (decadal to centennial) timescales. The instrumental ENSO record is too short for analysing long-term trends and variability and climate models are unable to accurately simulate past ENSO states. Proxy data are used to extend the record, but different proxy sources have produced dissimilar reconstructions of long-term ENSO-like climate change, with some evidence for a temperature–precipitation divergence in ENSO-like climate over the past millennium, in particular during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; AD  ∼  800–1300) and the Little Ice Age (LIA; AD  ∼  1400–1850). This throws into question the stability of the modern ENSO system and its links to the global climate, which has implications for future projections. Here we use a new statistical approach using weighting based on empirical orthogonal function (EOF) to create two new large-scale reconstructions of ENSO-like climate change derived independently from precipitation proxies and temperature proxies. The method is developed and validated using model-derived pseudo-proxy experiments that address the effects of proxy dating error, resolution, and noise to improve uncertainty estimations. We find no evidence that temperature and precipitation disagree over the ENSO-like state over the past millennium, but neither do they agree strongly. There is no statistically significant difference between the MCA and the LIA in either reconstruction. However, the temperature reconstruction suffers from a lack of high-quality proxy records located in ENSO-sensitive regions, which limits its ability to capture the large-scale ENSO signal. Further expansion of the palaeo-database and improvements to instrumental, satellite, and model representations of ENSO are needed to fully resolve the discrepancies found among proxy records and establish the long-term stability of this important mode of climatic variability.

Climatic Fluctuations in Northern Patagonia during the Last 1000 Years as Inferred from Tree-Ring Records

1990 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 346-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Villalba
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Dry Period ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Northern Patagonia ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
Fitzroya Cupressoides

AbstractMillennium-old alerce trees (Fitzroya cupressoides (Mol.) Johnst.) have been used to develop a 1120-year reconstruction of the summer temperature departures for the Andes of northern Patagonia in Argentina. Four main climatic episodes can be distinguished in this proxy paleoclimatic record. The first, a cold and moist interval from A.D. 900 to 1070, was followed by a warm-dry period from A.D. 1080 to 1250 correlative with the Medieval warm epoch of Europe. Afterward, a long, cold-moist period followed from A.D. 1270 to 1670, peaking around A.D. 1340 and 1650. These cold maxima are contemporaneous with two principal Little Ice Age events registered in the Northern Hemisphere. Warmer conditions then resumed between A.D. 1720 and 1790. These episodes are supported by glaciological and palynological data in Patagonia. Following a cold period in the early 1800s, tree-ring indices have oscillated around the long-term mean, except for a warmer period from A.D. 1850 to 1890. Correlations between the Rio Alerce reconstruction and the regional weather stations indicate that the tree-ring variations are correlated with a homogeneous summer weather pattern covering Patagonia east of the Andes from 38° to 50°S.

Carbon accumulation rates in two poor fens with different water regimes: Influence of anthropogenic impact and environmental change

The Holocene ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 1539-1549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Fiałkiewicz-Kozieł ◽  
Beata Smieja-Król ◽  
Natalia Piotrowska ◽  
Jarosław Sikorski ◽  
Mariusz Gałka
Keyword(s):  
Promising Result ◽  
Bulk Composition ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Carbon Accumulation ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Accumulation Rates ◽  
Boreal Peatlands ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Carbon Accumulation Rates

Fens are underestimated carbon sinks. Knowledge about their role in the sequestration of CO2 in the past is limited. The research reported here focused on identifying long-term carbon accumulation rates (CARs) in a drained fen (Bagno Bruch) and a waterlogged fen (Bagno Mikołeska) in southern Poland. On the basis of 210Pb and AMS 14C dates and age–depth modeling, 7000- and 2000-year records of changes in bulk composition and carbon and sulfur content are presented and discussed. Strong human impact is detected, especially in Bagno Bruch. However, minor climatic signals linked to the ‘Little Ice Age’ and to the influence of wind-blown sands are also evident. The sand may have influenced the plant composition, peat accumulation rates (PARs), and CARs, in addition to the bulk composition at Bagno Mikołeska. The mean value of the CAR in the youngest peat layers spanning the last 200 years is generally lower in two cores from Bagno Bruch ( c. 85 and 86 g/m2/yr) than in two cores from Bagno Mikołeska ( c. 140 and 142 g/m2/yr). The fens are characterized by higher CARs compared with boreal peatlands. The reproducibility of the CAR values is the most promising result, suggesting the low mobility of 210Pb and the reliability of this method in assessing the chronology of fens.

scholarly journals Present Glaciers of Tavan Bogd Mountain Massif and Their Changes Since the LIA

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry A. Ganyushkin ◽  
Kirill V. Chistyakov ◽  
Ilya V. Volkov ◽  
Dmitry V. Bantcev ◽  
Elena P. Kunaeva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Relative Reduction ◽  
Glacial Retreat ◽  
Different Parts ◽  
Term Field

The study is based on the results of long-term field studies, satellite and aerial data analysis. In the maximum of the Little Ice Age (LIA) 243 glaciers with a total area of 353.4 km2 were reconstructed. By the results of interpretation of Corona images by 1968 the number of glaciers increased (236), the total area reduced to 242 km2. In 2010 glaciation was represented by 237 glaciers with a total area of 201 km2. Thus, from the maximum of the LIA, the glaciation of the Tavan-Bogd mountains decreased by 43%, which is somewhat less than the neighboring glacial centers (Ikh-Turgen, Tsambagarav, Tsengel-Khayrkhan and Mongun-Taiga mountains). The probable cause is the predominance of larger glaciers relatively resistant to warming and higher altitudes. The effect of glacier size on their stability is supported by differences in the relative shrinkage of glaciers in different parts of the Tavan-Bogdo-Ola massif: the smallest decline occurred in the basins of the Tsagan-Gol (31.7%) and Sangadir (36.4%) rivers where the largest glaciers are located. On the contrary, on the lower periphery of the massif, where small glaciers predominate, the relative reduction was large (74-79%). On the background of the general retreat trend large valleys glaciers retreated faster in 1968-1977 and after 2010. In 1990-s the retreat was slow. After 2010 the glacial retreat was extremely fast. The retreat of glaciers in the last 50-60 years was caused by a trend towards a decrease in the amount of precipitation until the mid-1970s and a sharp warming in the 1990s and early 2000s.

scholarly journals Evolution of Ossoue Glacier (French Pyrenees) since the end of the Little Ice Age

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 2431-2494 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Marti ◽  
S. Gascoin ◽  
T. Houet ◽  
O. Ribière ◽  
D. Laffly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation ◽  
Ablation Rate ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Glacier Length ◽  
Geodetic Mass Balance ◽  
High Elevations ◽  
Topographic Surveys

Abstract. Long-term climate records are rare at high elevations in Southern Europe. Here, we reconstructed the evolution of Ossoue Glacier (42°46' N, 0.45 km2), located in the Pyrenees (3404 m a.s.l.), since the Little Ice Age (LIA). Glacier length, area, thickness and mass changes indicators were generated from historical datasets, topographic surveys, glaciological measurements (2001–2013), a GPR survey (2006) and stereoscopic satellite images (2013). The glacier has receded considerably since the end of the LIA, losing 40 % of its length and 60% of its area. Three periods of marked ice depletion can be identified: 1850–1890, 1928–1950 and 1983–2013, as well as two periods of stabilization or slightly growth: 1905–1928 and 1950–1983; these agree with climatic datasets (air temperature, precipitation, North Atlantic Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation). In the early 2000s, the area of the glacier dropped below 50% of its area at the end of the LIA. Geodetic mass balance measurements over 1983–2013 indicated −30.1 ± 1.7 m w.e. (−1 m w.e. yr−1) whereas glaciological mass balance measurements show −17.36 ± 2.9 m w.e. (−1.45 m w.e. yr−1) over 2001–2013, resulting in a doubling of the ablation rate in the last decade. In 2013 the maximum ice thickness was 59 ± 10.3 m. Assuming that the current ablation rate stays constant, Ossoue Glacier will disappear midway through the 21st century.

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