Vegetation shifts observed in arctic tundra 17 years after fire

Barrett, Kirsten; Rocha, A. V.; Weg, Martine Janet van de; Shaver, Gaius R.

doi:10.1080/2150704x.2012.676741

Cited by 58 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Barrett et al . () documented after‐fire vegetation shifts in arctic tundra that persisted at least 17 years. Repeated intense fires were found to be one of the main causes of deforestation in the subarctic zone (Sirois & Payette, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand‐replacing fire

Dore

Montes-Helu

Hart

et al. 2012

Global Change Biology

160

129

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Carbon uptake by forests is a major sink in the global carbon cycle, helping buffer the rising concentration of CO in the atmosphere, yet the potential for future carbon uptake by forests is uncertain. Climate warming and drought can reduce forest carbon uptake by reducing photosynthesis, increasing respiration, and by increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires, leading to large releases of stored carbon. Five years of eddy covariance measurements in a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)-dominated ecosystem in northern Arizona showed that an intense wildfire that converted forest into sparse grassland shifted site carbon balance from sink to source for at least 15 years after burning. In contrast, recovery of carbon sink strength after thinning, a management practice used to reduce the likelihood of intense wildfires, was rapid. Comparisons between an undisturbed-control site and an experimentally thinned site showed that thinning reduced carbon sink strength only for the first two posttreatment years. In the third and fourth posttreatment years, annual carbon sink strength of the thinned site was higher than the undisturbed site because thinning reduced aridity and drought limitation to carbon uptake. As a result, annual maximum gross primary production occurred when temperature was 3 °C higher at the thinned site compared with the undisturbed site. The severe fire consistently reduced annual evapotranspiration (range of 12-30%), whereas effects of thinning were smaller and transient, and could not be detected in the fourth year after thinning. Our results show large and persistent effects of intense fire and minor and short-lived effects of thinning on southwestern ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water exchanges.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand‐replacing fire

Dore

Montes-Helu

Hart

et al. 2012

Global Change Biology

160

129

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The eight sites were selected from approximately 20 potential sites randomly identified prior to sampling. Unlike similar studies in Alaskan tundra [ Mack et al ., ; Barrett et al ., ], we did not have access to prefire satellite images or the logistical support necessary to sample more extensively across the landscape. We therefore situated the unburned sites around the periphery of the fire perimeter.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fire impacts on vegetation communities vary, likely due to a combination of factors including local environmental conditions and fire severity. Satellite-derived greenness metrics illustrate recovery of surface spectral properties in the first decade after fire [Barrett et al, 2012]. A number of field studies indicate rapid recovery of graminoids, primarily Eriophorum vaginatum, in the first decade after fire, and generally slow recovery of nonvascular plants, particularly lichens but also bryophytes, [Bliss and Wein, 1972;Fetcher et al, 1984;Landhäusser and Wein, 1993;Racine et al, 2004;Jandt et al, 2008;Barrett et al, 2011;Bret-Harte et al, 2013].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A number of field studies indicate rapid recovery of graminoids, primarily Eriophorum vaginatum, in the first decade after fire, and generally slow recovery of nonvascular plants, particularly lichens but also bryophytes, [Bliss and Wein, 1972;Fetcher et al, 1984;Landhäusser and Wein, 1993;Racine et al, 2004;Jandt et al, 2008;Barrett et al, 2011;Bret-Harte et al, 2013]. However, in the second and third decades after fire, a transition to shrub tundra has been observed in some locations [Landhäusser and Wein, 1993;Racine et al, 2004], while graminoid dominance persists in others [Vavrek et al, 1999;Barrett et al, 2012]. Several recently identified large tundra fire perimeters that burned more than a century ago also exhibit an apparent shift from graminoid to shrub-dominated vegetation communities [Jones et al, 2013].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Siberian tundra ecosystem vegetation and carbon stocks four decades after wildfire

et al. 2014

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Tundra ecosystem fire regimes are intensifying with important implications for regional and global carbon (C) and energy dynamics. Although a substantial portion of the tundra biome is located in Russia, the vast majority of accessible studies describe North American tundra fires. Here we use field observations and high-resolution satellite remote sensing observations to describe the effects of wildfire on ecosystem C pools and vegetation communities four decades after fire for a tundra ecosystem in northeastern Siberia. Our analyses reveal no differences between soil physical properties and C pools in burned and unburned tundra, which we attribute to low combustion of organic soil associated with low-severity fire. Field and remote sensing data show no differences in aboveground C pools and vegetation communities indicating recovery to prefire conditions. These results are comparable to observations of ecosystem recovery in North American tundra. An assessment of literature data indicate that the average annual area burned in Russian tundra is an order of magnitude larger than that of Alaskan tundra, highlighting a crucial need to assess Russian tundra fire regimes in order to understand the current and future role of the biome wide fire regime in regional and global C and energy dynamics.

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“…In most small tundra fires that have been studied so far, vegetation cover has recovered within 5–10 years, though there may be transient changes in relative abundance of different functional groups of plants for the first decade, and some subtle changes in composition may persist for several decades [10–15]. However, in at least three high-severity tundra fires, vegetation has shifted towards dominance by deciduous shrubs [11,16] or grasses [17], which have persisted for more than 30 years and may represent regime shifts. A widespread increase in the cover of large deciduous shrubs appears to be underway in the Arctic [18,19], coincident with recent warming.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The response of Arctic vegetation and soils following an unusually severe tundra fire

Bret‐Harte

Mack

Shaver

et al. 2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

129

157

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Fire causes dramatic short-term changes in vegetation and ecosystem function, and may promote rapid vegetation change by creating recruitment opportunities. Climate warming likely will increase the frequency of wildfire in the Arctic, where it is not common now. In 2007, the unusually severe Anaktuvuk River fire burned 1039 km2 of tundra on Alaska's North Slope. Four years later, we harvested plant biomass and soils across a gradient of burn severity, to assess recovery. In burned areas, above-ground net primary productivity of vascular plants equalled that in unburned areas, though total live biomass was less. Graminoid biomass had recovered to unburned levels, but shrubs had not. Virtually all vascular plant biomass had resprouted from surviving underground parts; no non-native species were seen. However, bryophytes were mostly disturbance-adapted species, and non-vascular biomass had recovered less than vascular plant biomass. Soil nitrogen availability did not differ between burned and unburned sites. Graminoids showed allocation changes consistent with nitrogen stress. These patterns are similar to those seen following other, smaller tundra fires. Soil nitrogen limitation and the persistence of resprouters will likely lead to recovery of mixed shrub–sedge tussock tundra, unless permafrost thaws, as climate warms, more extensively than has yet occurred.

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Vegetation shifts observed in arctic tundra 17 years after fire

Cited by 58 publications

References 25 publications

Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand‐replacing fire

Recovery of ponderosa pine ecosystem carbon and water fluxes from thinning and stand‐replacing fire

Siberian tundra ecosystem vegetation and carbon stocks four decades after wildfire

The response of Arctic vegetation and soils following an unusually severe tundra fire

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