A Database of Plant Traits Spanning the Tundra Biome
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Patterns and Drivers of Recent Disturbances Across the Temperate Forest Biome
ARTICLE DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06788-9 OPEN Patterns and drivers of recent disturbances across the temperate forest biome Andreas Sommerfeld 1, Cornelius Senf 1,2, Brian Buma 3, Anthony W. D’Amato 4, Tiphaine Després 5,6, Ignacio Díaz-Hormazábal7, Shawn Fraver8, Lee E. Frelich 9, Álvaro G. Gutiérrez 7, Sarah J. Hart10, Brian J. Harvey11, Hong S. He12, Tomáš Hlásny5, Andrés Holz 13, Thomas Kitzberger14, Dominik Kulakowski 15, David Lindenmayer 16, Akira S. Mori17, Jörg Müller18,19, Juan Paritsis 14, George L. W. Perry 20, Scott L. Stephens21, Miroslav Svoboda5, Monica G. Turner 22, Thomas T. Veblen23 & Rupert Seidl 1 1234567890():,; Increasing evidence indicates that forest disturbances are changing in response to global change, yet local variability in disturbance remains high. We quantified this considerable variability and analyzed whether recent disturbance episodes around the globe were con- sistently driven by climate, and if human influence modulates patterns of forest disturbance. We combined remote sensing data on recent (2001–2014) disturbances with in-depth local information for 50 protected landscapes and their surroundings across the temperate biome. Disturbance patterns are highly variable, and shaped by variation in disturbance agents and traits of prevailing tree species. However, high disturbance activity is consistently linked to warmer and drier than average conditions across the globe. Disturbances in protected areas are smaller and more complex in shape compared to their surroundings affected by human land use. This signal disappears in areas with high recent natural disturbance activity, underlining the potential of climate-mediated disturbance to transform forest landscapes. 1 University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna, Institute of Silviculture, Peter Jordan Straße 82, 1190 Wien, Austria. -
Biome-Specific Scaling of Ocean Productivity, Temperature, and Carbon Export Efficiency
UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title Biome-specific scaling of ocean productivity, temperature, and carbon export efficiency Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9vk7r4v9 Journal Geophysical Research Letters, 43(10) ISSN 0094-8276 Authors Britten, GL Primeau, FW Publication Date 2016 DOI 10.1002/2016GL068778 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California PUBLICATIONS Geophysical Research Letters RESEARCH LETTER Biome-specific scaling of ocean productivity, 10.1002/2016GL068778 temperature, and carbon export efficiency Key Points: Gregory L. Britten1 and François W. Primeau1 • Optimized models predict carbon fi export ef ciency from net primary 1Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, USA production and sea surface temperature • Biome-specific relationships impact global export inferred from Abstract Mass conservation and metabolic theory place constraints on how marine export production (EP) satellite-derived variables scales with net primary productivity (NPP) and sea surface temperature (SST); however, little is empirically • Individual biomes respond differently known about how these relationships vary across ecologically distinct ocean biomes. Here we compiled in to simulated net primary production fi and sea surface temperature changes situ observations of EP, NPP, and SST and used statistical model selection theory to demonstrate signi cant biome-specific scaling relationships among these variables. Multiple statistically similar models yield a À threefold variation in the globally integrated carbon flux (~4–12 Pg C yr 1) when applied to climatological Supporting Information: • Supporting Information S1 satellite-derived NPP and SST. Simulated NPP and SST input variables from a 4×CO2 climate model experiment • Data Set S1 further show that biome-specific scaling alters the predicted response of EP to simulated increases of • Data Set S2 atmospheric CO2. -
Advances in Polar Ecology Series Ed.: D
Advances in Polar Ecology Series Ed.: D. Piepenburg In recent years, the polar regions have received increased scientific and public interest. Both the Arctic and Antarctic have been recognized as key regions in the regulation of the global climate and polar ecosystems have been identified to be particularly susceptible to the ongoing environmental changes. Consequently, the international efforts in polar research have been enhanced considerably, and a wealth of new findings is being produced at a growing rate by the international community of polar researchers. The aim of the book series Advances in Polar Ecology is to foster the progress in the scientific knowledge about the polar and sub-polar regions of both hemispheres by contributing to the fast and wide-ranging dissemination of novel scientific information gained from recent studies of sea, freshwater and land biota among polar researchers, environmental managers and policy makers. Advances in Polar Ecology’s broad ecology- oriented scope encompasses environmental and biological research of both recent and past ecosystems. The Series offers an outlet to publish contributions (monographs, edited works, conference proceedings, etc.) addressing scientific topics that need more comprehensive and in-depth analysis than the length of typical journal articles allow for. These include, but are not limited to, thorough accounts of the current status of active research areas of wide importance that outline promising perspectives for future research. An international editorial board oversees the rigorous peer review that all contributions will be subjected to. Springer books available as Recently published: Printed book Available from springer.com/shop J. Berge, G. Johnsen, J. -
Mitigation of Arctic Tundra Surface Warming by Plant Evapotranspiration: Complete Energy Balance Component Estimation Using LANDSAT Satellite Data
remote sensing Article Mitigation of Arctic Tundra Surface Warming by Plant Evapotranspiration: Complete Energy Balance Component Estimation Using LANDSAT Satellite Data Václav Nedbal 1,* , Kamil Láska 2,3 and Jakub Brom 1 1 Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia in Ceskˇ é Budˇejovice,Studentská 1668, 370 05 Ceskˇ é Budˇejovice,Czech Republic; [email protected] 2 Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotláˇrská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic; [email protected] 3 Centre for Polar Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in Ceskˇ é Budˇejovice,Na Zlaté stoce 3, 370 05 Ceskˇ é Budˇejovice,Czech Republic * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 19 September 2020; Accepted: 14 October 2020; Published: 16 October 2020 Abstract: Global climate change is expected to cause a strong temperature increase in the polar regions, accompanied by a reduction in snow cover. Due to a lower albedo, bare ground absorbs more solar energy and its temperature can increase more. Here, we show that vegetation growth in such bare ground areas can efficiently mitigate surface warming in the Arctic, thanks to plant evapotranspiration. In order to establish a comprehensive energy balance for the Arctic land surface, we used an ensemble of methods of ground-based measurements and multispectral satellite image analysis. Our estimate is that the low vegetation of polar tundra transforms 26% more solar energy into evapotranspiration than bare ground in clear sky weather. Due to its isolation properties, vegetation further reduces ground heat flux under the surface by ~4%, compared to bare areas, thus lowering the increase in subsurface temperature. -
Grasslands 4/16/03 3:46 PM
Ecoregion: Grasslands 4/16/03 3:46 PM Grasslands INTRODUCTION About 25% of Earth’s land surface is covered by temperate grassland. These large expanses of flat or hilly country cover much of North America, as well as large areas of Europe, Asia, and South America. Most grasslands are found in the interiors of continents, where there is too little rainfall for a forest but too much rain for a desert. Art Explosion Art Explosion Rolling hills covered with grasses and very few trees A few scattered trees are found on savannas, are typical of North American grassland prairies. tropical grasslands of Africa. Temperate grasslands have subtle differences and different names throughout the world. Prairies and plains of North America are grasslands with tall grasses, while the steppes of Russia are grasslands with short grasses. Veldts are found in South Africa, the puszta in Hungary, and the pampas in Argentina and Uruguay. Savannas are tropical grasslands that support scattered trees and shrubs. They often form a transitional biome file:///Ecoregion/grass/content.html Page 1 of 6 Ecoregion: Grasslands 4/16/03 3:46 PM between deserts and rain forests. Some temperate grasslands are also called savannas. The word savanna comes from the Spanish word zavanna, meaning “treeless plain.” Savannas cover almost half of Africa (mostly central Africa) and large areas of Australia and South America. ABIOTIC DATA The grassland climate is rather dry, averaging about 20 to 100 centimeters (8–40 inches) of precipitation a year. Summers are very hot and may reach 45°C (113°F). Winter temperatures often fall below freezing, which is 0°C (32°F). -
Dynamics of CO2 Evolution of Arctic Soils from Northern Siberia and Scandinavia
Dynamics of CO2 evolution of Arctic soils from Northern Siberia and Scandinavia Manfred Bölter*, Rolf Möller, Wiebke Müller-Lupp, and Nathalie Soethe Institute for Polar Ecology, University Kiel, Wischhofstr. 1-3, Bldg. 12, 24148 Kiel, Germany *Corresponding author: [email protected] 1. INTRODUCTION Growing interest in soil respiration in Arctic environments has opened wide research fields in microbial physiology and models associated therewith (Shivaji 2004). Much interest has been focused on metabolism in cold environments, with special emphasis on CO2 and CH4 evolution from tundra soils (Nadelhoffer et al. 1997, Vourlitis and Oechel 1997a,b). For modeling approaches, however, it is important to include the variability of microbial communities and their reactions to temperature shifts, i.e., the possible individual adaptations to temperature spans and related shifts in Q10 values of metabolic activity, which may indicate significant alterations in metabolic processes that point to important ecological factors to consider in the study of soil biological processes (Nadelhoffer et al. 1991, Sjögertsen and Wookey 2002). Special attention must be paid to processes at the cellular and subcellular level, and to the enzymes and substrates involved: an investigative effort that constitutes a crucial step in linking landscape modeling to small-scale processes. Soil carbon loss, generally termed soil respiration, is principally due to microbial and root respiration. Its measure can be defined in three ways (Haber 1958), i) the “physiological line”, ii) the “physical line”, and iii) the “ecological line”. The physiological line is mainly focused on the efficiency of soil organisms (and roots) and the reaction potential to the various environmental influences. -
The Riparian Zone
Land-Water Interactions: The Riparian Zone F J. Swanson, S. V Gregory, J. R. Sedell,and A. G.Campbell INTRODUCTION The interface between aquatic and terrestrial environments in coniferous structure, composition, and function of the riparian zone had received little consideration in ecosystem level research, because this zone forms the interface between scientific disci- plines as well as ecosystem components. In some climate-vegetation zones particular aspects of riparian zones have received much study. ñparinpiant communities in arid lands have been studied extensive!y, primar- ily in terms o TdfeTbiiatJohnson and Jones 1977 Thomas et al 1979) Research on riparian 'egetation along major rivers has dealt mainly with forest composition and dynamics (for example, Lindsey et al. 1961; Sigafoos 1964; Bell 1974; Johnson et al. 1976). Riparian vegetation research has been largely neglected in forested mountain land, where it tends to have smaller areal extent and economic value than upslope vegetation. yre!pian zone is an integral part of the forest/stream ecosystem complex. This chapter synthesizes general concepts about the riparian zone in north- west coniferous forests and the results of coniferous forest biome research on: (1) structure and composition of riparian vegetation and its variation in time and space; and (2) functional aspects of the riparian zone in terms of physical, biological, and chemical terrestrial/aquatic interactions. We emphasize condi- tions observed in mountain streams and small rivers. The riparian zone may be defined in a variety of ways, based on factors such as vegetation type, groundwater and surface water hydrology, topogra- phy, and ecosystem function. These factors have so many complex interactions that defining the riparian zone in one sense integrates elements of the other factors. -
From Bush Encroachment to Biome Shift: the Ecology of Thicket Pioneers
From bush encroachment to biome shift: the ecology of thicket pioneers Susi Vetter Botany Department Rhodes University Parr et al. (2012) distinguished between savanna thickening and thicket expansion Savanna Thicket encroachment Closed-canopy thicket Which spp? What is their effect on the grass layer? What are their traits? e.g. Parr et al. (2012) in Hluhluwe: “new thickets” characterized by Diospyros simii, Berchemia zeyheri Effect of woody composition and structure on herbaceous cover and composition • 3 Sites • Fine scale data (5m diameter circular plots) • Path analysis (SEM) Species associated with tall / dense woody cover Woody Woody structure composition (canopy area, (no. stems) height) Effect of particular species Effect of tall and dense on grass canopy on grasses Herbaceous basal cover and composition Data: Daisy Chiloane, Susi Vetter Eastern Cape Bhisho Thornveld; commercial cattle + game; MAP ~ 650 mm Brachylaena Canopy elliptica Vachellia area Grewia karroo occidentalis Canopy height Scutia Woody myrtina Woody 0.66 structure Maytenus composition R2 = 0.44 heterophylla -0.31 N = 235 -0.38 Karochloa Basal cover curva Herbaceous R2 = 0.40 Grass height Panicum maximum Digitaria eriantha Forb Sporobolus Themeda fimbriatus triandra Thicket pioneer spp. – what are their functional traits? Ability to colonize Ability to transform • Dispersal • Accumulation of deep canopies • Bud protection, bark thickness, growth rate • High LAI • Resprouting strategies • Adaptations to escape browse trap Bark thickness: 32 Savanna Canopy: Pioneer -
Arctic Policy &
Arctic Policy & Law References to Selected Documents Edited by Wolfgang E. Burhenne Prepared by Jennifer Kelleher and Aaron Laur Published by the International Council of Environmental Law – toward sustainable development – (ICEL) for the Arctic Task Force of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law (IUCN-CEL) Arctic Policy & Law References to Selected Documents Edited by Wolfgang E. Burhenne Prepared by Jennifer Kelleher and Aaron Laur Published by The International Council of Environmental Law – toward sustainable development – (ICEL) for the Arctic Task Force of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of ICEL or the Arctic Task Force of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers and boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of ICEL or the Arctic Task Force. The preparation of Arctic Policy & Law: References to Selected Documents was a project of ICEL with the support of the Elizabeth Haub Foundations (Germany, USA, Canada). Published by: International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL), Bonn, Germany Copyright: © 2011 International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL) Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non- commercial purposes is authorized without prior permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL) (2011). -
Climate Zones and Biomes
Geography Climate Zones and Biomes Pupil Workbook Year 3, Unit 4 Name: Formative Assessment Scores Knowledge Quiz 4.1 Knowledge Quiz 4.4 Knowledge Quiz 4.2 Knowledge Quiz 4.5 Knowledge Quiz 4.3 Notes: Geography Climate Zones and Biomes Pupil Workbook Year 3, Unit 4 Climate Zones and Biomes Knowledge Organiser Vocabulary Biome Definition The weather conditions in an area 1 Climate 8 Rainforest A thick forest that has a lot of rain over time A grassy plain in tropical and An area with similar plants and 9 Savannah 2 Biome subtropical regions with definition animals A waterless area with little or 10 Desert Smaller regions indicating where no vegetation 3 Vegetation belt vegetation grows An area that has mainly shrubs and 11 Chaparral Polar and Areas in the north and south of thorny bushes 4 subpolar zone the globe A large open area covered with 12 Grassland grass 5 Temperate zone Areas of mild temperature Deciduous A forest that has trees that lose 13 forest their leaves each year Equatorial and Area in the centre of the globe with 6 A forest made up of coniferous Tropical zones a hot temperature 14 Boreal forest plants in cold areas 7 Arid zone Areas north and south of the tropics 15 Tundra A flat, cold, treeless area Climate Equatorial zone Tropical zone Arid zone Mediterranean zone Temperate zone Subpolar zone Polar zone Biomes Polar Desert Tundra Boreal forest Tropical Rainforest Deciduous forest Grassland Savannah Desert Chaparral Challenges of a biome for humans Biomes in Europe Rainforest: Grassland • It can rain more than 250cm a -
Polar Oceans FCO Report FINAL V2 Jamie
The State of the Polar Oceans 2018 Making Sense of Our Changing World State of the Polar Oceans Arctic Ocean Polar oceans are part of a global feedback loop, infl uenced by our actions and in turn exerting infl uence over us. Formationrmation The oceans have absorbed more than 90% of the Surface Current extra heat due to global warming, with the polar oceans playing the key role Deep Water in this uptake. Formation Antarctica Deep Current 2 SouthernSSouthern OceOceanan State of the Polar Oceans Contents Foreword 4 How the polar oceans shape the world 6 The polar oceans today, and tomorrow 8 How technology supports polar ocean research 12 Contributors 14 36°C - the amount that the atmosphere would have warmed by if none of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases had been absorbed by the world’s oceans. 3 State of the Polar Oceans Foreword The vast frozen worlds of the Polar Regions are a major component of the Earth’s global climate system. The polar oceans are amongst the least understood Over decades studies have shed new light on the environments on our planet. They respond to global consequences of the shrinking sea ice for ocean temperature change; absorb heat and carbon circulation, climate and the ecosystem. Surveys from the atmosphere, including that produced by of the deep ocean have yielded vital discoveries humans; they sustain millions of seabirds, whales about marine biodiversity and informed an and fi sh; and provide food for a hungry world. international census of marine life. Long-term studies These oceans keep our planet cool and supply have helped understand the marine food chain, other oceans with nutrients. -
Carbon Dioxide Fluxes of Soils and Mosses in Wet Tundra of Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia: Controlling Factors and Contribution to Net System Fluxes
Carbon dioxide fluxes of soils and mosses in wet tundra of Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia: controlling factors and contribution to net system fluxes Martin Sommerkorn, Manfred Bolter & Ludger Kappen Knowledge of the environmental controls of carbon dioxide fluxes is essential for understanding the dynamics of carbon exchange between ecosystems and atmosphere. In this study we investigated soil respiration and moss photosynthesis as well as their contribution to the net carbon dioxide flux of two different wet tundra systems. During two summers, in situ carbon dioxide fluxes were measured in a tussock tundra and in a low-centre polygonal tundra on Taimyr Peninsula, central Siberia. Measurements were carried out by means of a multichannel gas exchange system. Results show pronounced differences in soil respiration rates as related to microscale topography, mainly due to differences of soil water table and soil temperatures. Modelling of soil respiration for individual microsites revealed differences of process performance with respect to both factors. The wet microsites showed the highest potential regarding an increase of soil respiration rates in warmer and drier climate change scenarios. Another important process compensating the COz release from the soil was the photosynthesis of the moss layer, assimilating as much as 51% to 98% of the daily amount of carbon dioxide released from wet tundra soils. This result demonstrates the importance of mosses in the context of tundra ecosystem processes. The magnitude of net system fluxes of the whole system at the depression of the polygonal tundra was strongly influenced by changes in soil water table. Consequently, any changes of the hydrology, as anticipated in the context of global change, would effectively alter the carbon balance of wet tundra systems.