Modelling Tundra Vegetation Response to Recent Arctic Warming

Summary, in English

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 over the study area, the model simulated increases in primary production and leaf area index, and an increasing representation of shrubs and trees in vegetation. The main underlying mechanism was a warming-driven increase in growing season length, enhancing the production of shrubs and trees to the detriment of shaded ground-level vegetation. The simulated vegetation changes were estimated to correspond to a 1.75 % decline in snow-season albedo. Implications for modelling future climate impacts on Arctic ecosystems and for the incorporation of biogeophysical feedback mechanisms in Arctic system models are discussed.

• Författare: Paul Miller; Benjamin Smith
• Avdelning/ar: Institutionen för naturgeografi och ekosystemvetenskap; MERGE: ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system; BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
• Publiceringsår: 2012
• Språk: Engelska
• Sidor: 281-291
• Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie: Ambio: a Journal of Human Environment
• Volym: 41
• Länkar: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0306-1
• Dokumenttyp: Artikel i tidskrift
• Förlag: Springer
• Ämne: Physical Geography
• Nyckelord: Arctic tundra vegetation; Climate change; Shrub expansion; Ecosystem; modelling; LPJ-GUESS; Biogeophysical feedbacks
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt: ISSN: 0044-7447