Photographic records of plant phenology and spring river flush timing in a river lowland ecosystem at the taiga–tundra boundary, northeastern Siberia

Abstract

Arctic terrestrial ecosystems near the treeline in river lowlands are vulnerable to the changing climate and seasonal extreme events, including flooding. We set up a simple camera monitoring system to record the timings and durations of the leafy period and the spring flush of river water at three observation sites (Boydom [B]: 70.64°N, 148.15°E; Kodac [K]:70.56°N, 148.26°E; Verkhny‐Khatistakh [VK]:70.25°N,147.47°E) in the Indigirka lowland, in Northeastern Siberia. Time‐lapse digital cameras were located at seven points across the three sites. The time intervals were 1–4 or 24 hours. The minimum and maximum monitoring periods were 2 years (July 2016 to August 2018) at B and 5 years (August 2013 to July 2018) at K. One camera documented the timings of river ice melt and open water periods from the riverbank of the Kryvaya River, one of the small tributaries of the Indigirka River. The other six cameras recorded several types of ground cover typical of the area, including larch trees (Larix cajanderi), shrubs (including Salix spp. and Betula nana), forbs, mosses and graminoids in an ecosystem of sparsely forested shrublands, wetlands and riversides. The data consists of 45,617 JPEG‐format images. This dataset can be used to detect the onset and offset of the growing season and to capture the ice melt timing and water cover periods in wetlands and riversides. It may be useful in validating satellite data such as the vegetation remote sensing index for remote and little‐known areas. These data may contribute to the study of the role of high‐latitude ecosystems in global climate changes. The complete data set for this abstract published in the Data Paper section of the journal is available in electronic format in MetaCat in JaLTER at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/ERDP-2020-02.1/jalter-en. [Correction added on 7 September 2020, after first online publication: JaLTER URL has been updated.]

Geographical, Climatological, and Biological Characteristics of Tree Radial Growth Response to Autumn Climate Change

“…With reference to previous studies of plant seasons in boreal/arctic ecosystems (e.g., Morozumi et al, 2020;Nagai et al, 2020), we assumed that the definitions of each season varied depending on the latitude of the RWI site. For sites located between 0 and 60 • N, spring was considered to be March, April, and May; summer was June, July, and August; autumn was September, October, and November; and winter was December, January, and February.…”

Siberian plants shift their phenology in response to climate change

“…To our knowledge, there are no studies of plant phenology based on ground observations in Siberia; the few existing studies of phenology in this vast area are based primarily on remote sensing data (e.g. Morozumi et al, 2020). These few published studies have reported phenological shifts broadly in line with reports from other ecosystems—including range shifts of forest, tundra, steppe and wetland zones (Meyer et al, 2008; Tchebakova et al, 2010), an extension of the growing season (Shulgina et al, 2011) and increased forest productivity (Berner et al, 2013; Callaghan et al, 2013; Esper & Schweingruber, 2004).…”

“…To our knowledge, there are no studies of plant phenology based on ground observations in Siberia; the few existing studies of phenology in this vast area are based primarily on remote sensing data (e.g. Morozumi et al, 2020).…”

Stable Water Isotope Assessment of Tundra Wetland Hydrology as a Potential Source of Arctic Riverine Dissolved Organic Carbon in the Indigirka River Lowland, Northeastern Siberia

“…Flooding commonly occurs during the snowmelt season in Arctic river lowlands (Woo, 2012). The flooding of the Indigirka River mainstream probably extends and contributes to the tributaries, as the water level of the tributary has been observed to suddenly increase even though snow melting had not yet progressed sufficiently in the tributary basin (Morozumi et al, 2020). The same trend of variation in the δ 18 O of the mainstream and tributary until DOY 183 in 2013 (Figure 3) indicates that this contribution of the mainstream water continued until early summer when the flooding had already ended.…”