Understory vegetation mediates permafrost active layer dynamics and carbon dioxide fluxes in open-canopy larch forests of northeastern Siberia

Loranty, M. M.; Berner, L. T.; Taber, Eric D.; Kropp, Heather; Natali, Susan M.; Alexander, Heather D.; Davydov, S. P.; Zimov, N.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0194014

Cited by 24 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Low hydraulic conductivity in mosses relative to organic and mineral soils may result in suppression of LE once moisture held in surface vegetation is depleted, whereas higher hydraulic conductivity in underlying soil layers may allow for evaporation of deeper soil moisture and increased LE observed with moss removal (Blok et al, 2011a;Rocha and Shaver, 2011). Albedo differences between common moss and lichen species may also contribute to large differences in T SG in ways that either amplify or 5292 M. M. Loranty et al: Changing ecosystem influences on soil thermal regimes decrease the effects of physiological differences in evaporative cooling (Higgins and Garon-Labrecque, 2018;Loranty et al, 2018;Stoy et al, 2012). Variability in ground cover can correspond to large differences in T SG that depend on the joint effects of albedo and LE, and are strongly dependent on available moisture.…”

Section: Groundcover Impacts On Ground Surface Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vegetation change may also alter organic soil accumulation rates via altered litter quality and quantity (Cornelissen et al, 2007). This overall effect on soil K T will depend on the net effects of changing litter inputs, lability, and decomposition rates with warming (Christiansen et al, 2018;Cornelissen et al, 2007;Hobbie, 1996;Hobbie and Gough, 2004;Lynch et al, 2018). Overall the effects of vegetation change on snow redistribution and soil moisture will likely have the strongest influence on soil thermal regimes.…”

Section: Vegetation Change In Response To Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

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Reviews and syntheses: Changing ecosystem influences on soil thermal regimes in northern high-latitude permafrost regions

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Soils in Arctic and boreal ecosystems store twice as much carbon as the atmosphere, a portion of which may be released as high-latitude soils warm. Some of the uncertainty in the timing and magnitude of the permafrost–climate feedback stems from complex interactions between ecosystem properties and soil thermal dynamics. Terrestrial ecosystems fundamentally regulate the response of permafrost to climate change by influencing surface energy partitioning and the thermal properties of soil itself. Here we review how Arctic and boreal ecosystem processes influence thermal dynamics in permafrost soil and how these linkages may evolve in response to climate change. While many of the ecosystem characteristics and processes affecting soil thermal dynamics have been examined individually (e.g., vegetation, soil moisture, and soil structure), interactions among these processes are less understood. Changes in ecosystem type and vegetation characteristics will alter spatial patterns of interactions between climate and permafrost. In addition to shrub expansion, other vegetation responses to changes in climate and rapidly changing disturbance regimes will affect ecosystem surface energy partitioning in ways that are important for permafrost. Lastly, changes in vegetation and ecosystem distribution will lead to regional and global biophysical and biogeochemical climate feedbacks that may compound or offset local impacts on permafrost soils. Consequently, accurate prediction of the permafrost carbon climate feedback will require detailed understanding of changes in terrestrial ecosystem distribution and function, which depend on the net effects of multiple feedback processes operating across scales in space and time.

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Section: Groundcover Impacts On Ground Surface Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vegetation Change In Response To Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Reviews and syntheses: Changing ecosystem influences on soil thermal regimes in northern high-latitude permafrost regions

et al. 2018

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“…of LE once moisture held in surface vegetation is depleted, whereas higher hydraulic 256 conductivity in underlying soil layers may allow for evaporation of deeper soil moisture and 257 increased LE observed with moss removal (Rocha & Shaver, 2011;Blok et al, 2011a). Albedo 258 differences between common moss and lichen species may also contribute to large differences in 259 T SG ; in ways that either amplify or ameliorate the effects of physiological differences in 260 evaporative cooling (Stoy et al, 2012;Loranty et al, 2018). Variability in ground cover can 261…”

Section: Vegetation Canopies During the Non-growing Season 190mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reviews and syntheses: Changing ecosystem influences on soil thermal regimes in northern high-latitude permafrost regions

Loranty¹,

Abbott²,

Blok³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Permafrost soils in arctic and boreal ecosystems store twice the amount of current atmospheric carbon that may be mobilized and released to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases when soils thaw under a warming climate. This permafrost carbon climate feedback is among the most globally important terrestrial biosphere feedbacks to climate warming, yet its magnitude remains highly uncertain. This uncertainty lies in predicting the rates and spatial extent of permafrost thaw and subsequent carbon cycle processes. Terrestrial ecosystem influences on surface energy partitioning exert strong control on permafrost soil thermal dynamics and are critical for understanding permafrost soil responses to climate change and disturbance. Here we review how arctic and boreal ecosystem processes influence permafrost soils and characterize key ecosystem changes that regulate permafrost responses to climate. While many of the ecosystem characteristics and processes affecting soil thermal dynamics have been examined in isolation, interactions between processes are less well understood. In particular connections between vegetation, soil moisture, and soil thermal properties affecting permafrost conditions could benefit from additional research. In particular, connections between vegetation, soil moisture, and soil thermal properties affecting permafrost could benefit from additional research. Changes in ecosystem distribution and vegetation characteristics will alter spatial patterns of interactions between climate and permafrost. In addition to shrub expansion, other vegetation responses to changes in climate and disturbance regimes will all affect ecosystem surface energy partitioning in ways that are important for permafrost. Lastly, changes in vegetation and ecosystem distribution will lead to regional and global biophysical and biogeochemical climate feedbacks that may compound or offset local impacts on permafrost soils. Consequently, accurate prediction of the permafrost carbon climate feedback will require detailed understanding of changes in terrestrial ecosystem distribution and function and the net effects of multiple feedback processes operating across scales in space and time.</p>

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“…Mackay, 1970;Pozdnyakov, 1986;Yoshikawa et al, 2002), and decreases with subsequent re-vegetation (e.g. Fisher et al, 2016;Loranty et al, 2018;Mackay, 1995;Shiklomanov et al, 2010), the rates of these processes are unknown for Siberia. This pending task appears particularly relevant to current debates on the amount of carbon and methane that might be released from melting permafrost in a warmer future (Anisimov, 2007;Koven et al, 2011;Schaefer et al, 2011;Schuur et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree ring-based reconstruction of the long-term influence of wildfires on permafrost active layer dynamics in Central Siberia

Knorre

Kirdyanov

Prokushkin

et al. 2019

Science of The Total Environment

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Although it has been recognized that rising temperatures and shifts in the hydrological cycle affect the depth of the seasonally thawing upper permafrost stratum, it remains unclear to what extent the frequency and intensity of wildfires, and subsequent changes in vegetation cover, influence the soil active layer on different spatiotemporal scales. Here, we use ring width measurements of the subterranean stem part of 15 larch trees from a Sphagnum bog site in Central Siberia to reconstruct long-term changes in the thickness of the active layer since the last wildfire occurred in 1899. Our approach reveals a three-step feedback loop between aboveand belowground ecosystem components. After all vegetation is burned, direct atmospheric heat penetration over the first ~20 years caused thawing of the upper permafrost stratum. The slow recovery of the insulating ground vegetation reverses the process and initiates a gradual decrease of the active layer depth. Due to the continuous spreading and thickening of the peat layer during the last decades, the upper permafrost horizon has increased by 0.52 cm/year. This study demonstrates the strength of annually resolved and absolutely dated tree-ring series to reconstruct the effects of historical wildfires on the functioning and productivity of boreal forest ecosystems at multi-decadal to centennial timescale. In so doing, we show how complex interactions of above-and belowground components translate into successive changes in the active permafrost stratum. Our results are particularly relevant for improving long-term estimates of the global carbon cycle that strongly depends on the source and sink behavior of the boreal forest zone.

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Understory vegetation mediates permafrost active layer dynamics and carbon dioxide fluxes in open-canopy larch forests of northeastern Siberia

Cited by 24 publications

References 72 publications

Reviews and syntheses: Changing ecosystem influences on soil thermal regimes in northern high-latitude permafrost regions

Reviews and syntheses: Changing ecosystem influences on soil thermal regimes in northern high-latitude permafrost regions

Reviews and syntheses: Changing ecosystem influences on soil thermal regimes in northern high-latitude permafrost regions

Tree ring-based reconstruction of the long-term influence of wildfires on permafrost active layer dynamics in Central Siberia

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