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Arctic Ecosystems (arctic + ecosystem)
Selected AbstractsPerformance of High Arctic tundra plants improved during but deteriorated after exposure to a simulated extreme temperature eventGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 12 2005Fleur L. Marchand Abstract Arctic ecosystems are known to be extremely vulnerable to climate change. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios project extreme climate events to increase in frequency and severity, we exposed High Arctic tundra plots during 8 days in summer to a temperature rise of approximately 9°C, induced by infrared irradiation, followed by a recovery period. Increased plant growth rates during the heat wave, increased green cover at the end of the heat wave and higher chlorophyll concentrations of all four predominating species (Salix arctica Pall., Arctagrostis latifolia Griseb., Carex bigelowii Torr. ex Schwein and Polygonum viviparum L.) after the recovery period, indicated stimulation of vegetative growth. Improved plant performance during the heat wave was confirmed at plant level by higher leaf photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) and at ecosystem level by increased gross canopy photosynthesis. However, in the aftermath of the temperature extreme, the heated plants were more stressed than the unheated plants, probably because they acclimated to warmer conditions and experienced the return to (low) ambient as stressful. We also calculated the impact of the heat wave on the carbon balance of this tundra ecosystem. Below- and aboveground respiration were stimulated by the instantaneous warmer soil and canopy, respectively, outweighing the increased gross photosynthesis. As a result, during the heat wave, the heated plots were a smaller sink compared with their unheated counterparts, whereas afterwards the balance was not affected. If other High Arctic tundra ecosystems react similarly, more frequent extreme temperature events in a future climate may shift this biome towards a source. It is uncertain, however, whether these short-term effects will hold when C exchange rates acclimate to higher average temperatures. [source] CO2 exchange in three Canadian High Arctic ecosystems: response to long-term experimental warmingGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 12 2004Jeffrey M. Welker Abstract Carbon dioxide exchange, soil C and N, leaf mineral nutrition and leaf carbon isotope discrimination (LCID-,) were measured in three High Arctic tundra ecosystems over 2 years under ambient and long-term (9 years) warmed (,2°C) conditions. These ecosystems are located at Alexandra Fiord (79°N) on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, and span a soil water gradient; dry, mesic, and wet tundra. Growing season CO2 fluxes (i.e., net ecosystem exchange (NEE), gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP), and ecosystem respiration (Re)) were measured using an infrared gas analyzer and winter C losses were estimated by chemical absorption. All three tundra ecosystems lost CO2 to the atmosphere during the winter, ranging from 7 to 12 g CO2 -C m,2 season,1 being highest in the wet tundra. The period during the growing season when mesic tundra switch from being a CO2 source to a CO2 sink was increased by 2 weeks because of warming and increases in GEP. Warming during the summer stimulated dry tundra GEP more than Re and thus, NEE was consistently greater under warmed as opposed to ambient temperatures. In mesic tundra, warming stimulated GEP with no effect on Re increasing NEE by ,10%, especially in the first half of the summer. During the ,70 days growing season (mid-June,mid-August), the dry and wet tundra ecosystems were net CO2 -C sinks (30 and 67 g C m,2 season,1, respectively) and the mesic ecosystem was a net C source (58 g C m,2 season,1) to the atmosphere under ambient temperature conditions, due in part to unusual glacier melt water flooding that occurred in the mesic tundra. Experimental warming during the growing season increased net C uptake by ,12% in dry tundra, but reduced net C uptake by ,20% in wet tundra primarily because of greater rates of Re as opposed to lower rates of GEP. Mesic tundra responded to long-term warming with ,30% increase in GEP with almost no change in Re reducing this tundra type to a slight C source (17 g C m,2 season,1). Warming caused LCID of Dryas integrafolia plants to be higher in dry tundra and lower in Salix arctic plants in mesic and wet tundra. Our findings indicate that: (1) High Arctic ecosystems, which occur in similar mesoclimates, have different net CO2 exchange rates with the atmosphere; (2) long-term warming can increase the net CO2 exchange of High Arctic tundra by stimulating GEP, but it can also reduce net CO2 exchange in some tundra types during the summer by stimulating Re to a greater degree than stimulating GEP; (3) after 9 years of experimental warming, increases in soil carbon and nitrogen are detectable, in part, because of increases in deciduous shrub cover, biomass, and leaf litter inputs; (4) dry tundra increases in GEP, in response to long-term warming, is reflected in D. integrifolia LCID; and (5) the differential carbon exchange responses of dry, mesic, and wet tundra to similar warming magnitudes appear to depend, in part, on the hydrologic (soil water) conditions. Annual net ecosystem CO2 -C exchange rates ranged from losses of 64 g C m,2 yr,1 to gains of 55 g C m,2 yr,1. These magnitudes of positive NEE are close to the estimates of NPP for these tundra types in Alexandra Fiord and in other High Arctic locations based on destructive harvests. [source] Disentangling effects of an experimentally imposed extreme temperature event and naturally associated desiccation on Arctic tundraFUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2006F. L. MARCHAND Summary 1Climate projections suggest that extreme events will increase in frequency during this century. As tundra is recognized to be among the most vulnerable biomes, we exposed patches of arctic tundra vegetation to an experimental heatwave (by infrared irradiation), followed by a recovery period. The heating increased the surface temperature with an average of 7·6 °C during 13 days, which slightly exceeded the longest climatic episode with such a temperature deviation since 1961. 2The heatwave decreased stomatal conductance (gs) and PSII maximum efficiency (Fv/Fm), although there were differences in response among the four target species. Salix arctica Pall. (shrub) was affected during the heatwave and could not recover. In Carex bigelowii Tor. ex Schwein (sedge) and Pyrola grandiflora Radius (forb), on the other hand, the effects on gs and Fv/Fm became clear, particularly in the aftermath of the heatwave, whereas Polygonum viviparum L. (forb) was never stressed. 3Effects of the heat on gs were mainly indirect, through increased desiccation, whereas effects on Fv/Fm were more related to leaf temperature (although not in all species). The observed changes can therefore probably be ascribed to a combination of heat and drought causing dysfunctions that ultimately led to senescence. 4Two conclusions of this study, species-specific responses and increased leaf mortality, indicate that more frequent extreme temperature events accompanied by desiccation might alter/endanger tundra communities in a future climate. Predictions of global change effects on arctic ecosystems should therefore take into account the impact of extremes. [source] Holocene pollen records from the central Arctic Foothills, northern Alaska: testing the role of substrate in the response of tundra to climate changeJOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2003W. Wyatt Oswald Summary 1To explore the role of edaphic controls in the response of arctic tundra to climate change, we analysed Holocene pollen records from lakes in northern Alaska located on glaciated surfaces with contrasting soil texture, topography and tundra communities. Using indicator taxa, pollen accumulation rates (PARs) and multivariate comparison of fossil and modern pollen assemblages, we reconstructed the vegetational changes at Upper Capsule Lake (Sagavanirktok surface) and Red Green Lake (Itkillik II surface) in response to increased effective moisture between the early and middle Holocene. 2In the Red Green record, low PARs and the continuous presence of taxa indicative of prostrate-shrub tundra (PST; Equisetum, Polypodiaceae, Thalictrum and Rosaceae) indicate that the vegetation resembled PST throughout the Holocene. During the warm, dry early Holocene (11 300,10 000 cal years BP), PST also occurred on Sagavanirktok surfaces, as evidenced by PST indicators (Bryidae, Polypodiaceae, Equisetum and Rosaceae) in this interval of the Upper Capsule record. However, PARs increased, suggesting increased vegetation cover, PST taxa declined and taxa indicative of dwarf-shrub tundra (DST; Rubus chamaemorus and Lycopodium annotinum) increased between 10 000 and 7500 cal years BP. 3We hypothesize that between the early and middle Holocene the fine-textured soils and smooth topography of Sagavanirktok surfaces led to increased soil moisture, greater vegetation cover, permafrost aggradation, anoxic and acidic soil conditions, slower decomposition and the development of a thick organic layer. In contrast, soil moisture remained low on the better-drained Itkillik II surface, and vegetational changes were minor. 4Landscape-scale substrate variations have an effect on how tundra responds to climate change, suggesting that the response of arctic ecosystems to future variability may be spatially heterogeneous. [source] | ||||||||||