Filtyp
The role of the world's boreal forest for our understanding of the climate system is indisputable. Due to the large area covered, the forest's biophysical (e.g. surface energy balance, albedo) and biogeochemical (e.g. bidirectional exchange of greenhouse gases or aerosol precursors) processes are known to affect today's climate, and will need to be accounted for in studies of climate feedbacks in
This article reports a dataset on 8 years of monitoring carbon fluxes in a subarctic palsa mire based on micrometeorological eddy covariance measurements. The mire is a complex with wet minerotrophic areas and elevated dry palsa as well as intermediate sub-ecosystems. The measurements document primarily the emission originating from the wet parts of the mire dominated by a rather homogenous cover
Projections of terrestrial carbon (C) dynamics must account for interannual variation in ecosystem C exchange associated with climate change, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration, and species dynamics. We used a dynamic ecosystem model to (i) project the potential dynamics of C in New England forests under nine climate change scenarios (CCSs) for the 21st century and (ii) examine the sensitivi
The associations between floristic and palynological richness and landscape structure were studied based on modern pollen-vegetation data from a patchy cultural landscape in southern Estonia (northern temperate vegetation zone). Nine study sites (small lakes and their surrounding vegetation) represent land cover gradient from closed forest to semi-open vegetation. Floristic richness (number of spe
High and low pollen deposition years in the period 1998-2010 were recorded for ten forest-forming trees in Roztocze (SE Poland) using Tauber-style traps. The coincidence of very high/low pollen deposition years recorded in Tauber traps and aerobiological data obtained by volumetric samplers shows that these phenomena occur simultaneously in different places across vast areas of a tree's distributi
Satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a proxy of vegetation productivity, is known to be correlated with temperature in northern ecosystems. This relationship, however, may change over time following alternations in other environmental factors. Here we show that above 30°N, the strength of the relationship between the interannual variability of growing season NDVI and te
One major challenge to the improvement of regional climate scenarios for the northern high latitudes is to understand land surface feedbacks associated with vegetation shifts and ecosystem biogeochemical cycling. We employed a customized, Arctic version of the individual-based dynamic vegetation model LPJ-GUESS to simulate the dynamics of upland and wetland ecosystems under a regional climate mode
Here we present results from a field experiment in an Arctic wetland situated in Zackenberg, NE Greenland. During one growing season we investigated how dominance of the sedge Eriophorum scheuchzeri affected the below-ground concentrations of low molecular weight carbon compounds (LMWOC) and the fluxes of CO2 and CH4 in comparison to dominance of other sedges (Carex stans and Dupontia psilosantha)
Remote sensing (RS) time series are an excellent operative source for information about the land surface across several scales and different levels of landscape heterogeneity. Ustin and Gamon (2010) proposed the new concept of "optical types" (OT), meaning "optically distinguishable functional types", as a way to better understand remote sensing signals related to the actual functional behavior of
This paper reviews the currently available optical sensors, their limitations and opportunities for deployment at Eddy Covariance (EC) sites in Europe. This review is based on the results obtained from an online survey designed and disseminated by the Co-cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action ESO903-"Spectral Sampling Tools for Vegetation Biophysical Parameters and Flux Measurements i
The Arctic land area has warmed by > 1 A degrees C in the last 30 years and there is evidence that this has led to increased productivity and stature of tundra vegetation and reduced albedo, effecting a positive (amplifying) feedback to climate warming. We applied an individual-based dynamic vegetation model over the Arctic forced by observed climate and atmospheric CO2 for 1980-2006. Averaged ove
Arctic ecosystems play a key role in the terrestrial carbon cycle. Our aim was to combine satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) with field measurements of CO2 fluxes to investigate changes in gross primary production (GPP) for the peak growing seasons 1992-2008 in Rylekaerene, a wet tundra ecosystem in the Zackenberg valley, north-eastern Greenland. A method to incorporate
Palsa mires, nutrient poor permafrost peatlands common in subarctic regions, store a significant amount of carbon (C) and it has been hypothesized their net ecosystem C balance (NECB) is sensitive to climate change. Over two years we measured the NECB for Stordalen palsa mire and found it to accumulate 46 g C m(-2) yr(-1). While Stordalen NECB is comparable to nutrient poor peatlands without perma
Exchange of non-CO2 trace gases between the land surface and the atmosphere plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry and climate. Recent studies have highlighted its importance for interpretation of glacial-interglacial ice-core records, the simulation of the pre-industrial and present atmosphere, and the potential for large climate-chemistry and climate-aerosol feedbacks in the coming cen
The measured net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2 between the ecosystem and the atmosphere reflects the balance between gross CO2 assimilation [gross primary production (GPP)] and ecosystem respiration (R-eco). For understanding the mechanistic responses of ecosystem processes to environmental change it is important to separate these two flux components. Two approaches are conventionally used: (1)
Abstract is not available
This paper discusses the effects of vegetation cover and soil parameters on the climate change projections of a regional climate model over the Arctic domain. Different setups of the land surface model of the regional climate model HIRHAM were realized to analyze differences in the atmospheric circulation caused by (1) the incorporation of freezing/thawing of soil moisture, (2) the consideration o
Aim Vegetation dynamics and the competitive interactions involved are assumed to restrict the ability of species to migrate. But in most migration modelling approaches disturbance-driven succession and competition processes are reduced to simple assumptions or are even missing. The aim of this study was to test a combination of a migration model and a dynamic vegetation model to estimate the migra
Leaf area index (LAI), a measure of canopy density, is a key variable for modelling and understanding primary productivity, and also water use and energy exchange in forest ecosystems. However, LAI varies considerably with phenology and disturbance patterns, so alternative approaches to quantifying stand-level processes should be considered. The carbon isotope composition of soil organic matter (C
