Northern landscapes in transition: Evidence, approach and ways forward using the Krycklan Catchment Study

Abstract

Improving our ability to detect changes in terrestrial and aquatic systems is a grand challenge in the environmental sciences. In a world experiencing increasingly rapid rates of climate change and ecosystem transformation, our ability to understand and predict how, when, where, and why changes occur is essential for adapting and mitigating human behaviours. In this context, long-term field research infrastructures have a fundamentally important role to play. For northern boreal landscapes, the Krycklan Catchment Study (KCS) has supported monitoring and research aimed at revealing these changes since it was initiated in 1980. Early studies focused on forest regeneration and microclimatic conditions, nutrient balances and forest hydrology, which included monitoring climate variables, water balance components, and stream water chemistry. The research infrastructure has expanded over the years to encompass a 6790 ha catchment, which currently includes 11 gauged streams, ca. 1000 soil lysimeters, 150 groundwater wells, >500 permanent forest inventory plots, and a 150 m tall tower (a combined ecosystem-atmosphere station of the ICOS, Integrated Carbon Observation System) for measurements of atmospheric gas concentrations and biosphere-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, water, and energy. In addition, the KCS has also been the focus of numerous high resolution multi-spectral LiDAR measurements and large scale experiments. This large collection of equipment and data generation supports a range of disciplinary studies, but more importantly fosters multi-, trans-, and interdisciplinary research opportunities. The KCS attracts a broad collection of scientists, including biogeochemists, ecologists, foresters, geologists, hydrologists, limnologists, soil scientists, and social scientists, all of whom bring their knowledge and experience to the site. The combination of long-term monitoring, shorter-term research projects, and large-scale experiments, including manipulations

Subarctic catchment water storage and carbon cycling – Leading the way for future studies using integrated datasets at Pallas, Finland

“…Hence, these data further support that Pallas catchment storage is limited by the relatively shallow, young soil deposit layers. Similar findings have also been observed in previous studies which emphasize how shallow soil deposits exert a strong influence on catchment-scale hydrological and geochemical responses (Laudon et al, 2021;Peters & Driscoll, 1987;Verry & Timmons, 1982). However, to our knowledge this study is one of the few to demonstrate such storage processes in sub-arctic or arctic conditions (Lyon et al, 2018;Sterte et al, 2021;Tetzlaff et al, 2018) and by utilizing multi-year stable water isotope data.…”

“…Yet, whilst the distance between the Krycklan and Pallas sites is less than 500 km, their climate, dominant vegetation, and geology types are markedly different. For instance, subarctic Pallas is located near the northern tree line, whereas Krycklan lies in the heart of the boreal landscape(Laudon et al, 2021). Similarly, other long-term, high-latitude research catchment sites such as Toolik Field Station and Bonanza Creek LTER in Alaska(Medvedeff et al, 2021) (http://www.lter.uaf.…”

Groundwater, Soil, and Vegetation Interactions at Discrete Riparian Inflow Points (DRIPs) and Implications for Boreal Streams

“…Furthermore, we address the implications for streams and how monitoring DRIPs can improve catchment biogeochemistry frameworks. Our perspectives presented here are strongly informed by our work and collective time spent at boreal headwaters at the Krycklan Study Catchment in Sweden (Laudon et al, 2021).…”

“…Combined with the "squishy boot" approach (Dunne et al, 1975) soil wetness conditions along and away from streams were delineated (Ågren et al, 2014). A monitoring network was setup with the main focus on the C5-C6 stream reach in Krycklan (Figure 1A), which sources from a headwater lake and flows through forest to a hydrometric station 1.5 km downstream (Laudon et al, 2021). A GW wellnetwork was setup in the riparian zone (Ploum et al, 2020), and a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing (FO-DTS) cable was installed in stream (Leach et al, 2017).…”

A parsimonious model of longitudinal stream DOC patterns based on groundwater inputs and in-stream uptake

“…For the period 1981 -2010, the average temperature was 1.8 °C and the average annual precipitation in Krycklan was 614 mm, of which 35-50% fell as snow (Laudon and Ottosson Löfvenius, 2016;Laudon et al, 2013). Recently, it has been reported 100 that winter and fall temperatures are increasing, and that snow cover is decreasing (Laudon et al, 2021). On average, approximately 50% of the annual precipitation translates to streamflow.…”