TALL-HERB BOREAL FORESTS ON NORTH URAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Aleinikov

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background. One of the pressing aims of today’s natural resource management is its re-orientation to preserving and restoring ecological functions of ecosystems, among which the function of biodiversity maintenance plays an indicator role. The majority of today’s forests have not retained their natural appearance as the result of long-standing human impact. In this connection, refugia studies are becoming particularly interesting, as they give us an insight into the natural appearance of forests. Materials and methods. Studies were performed in dark conifer forests of the Pechora–Ilych reserve, in the lower reaches of the Bol’shaya Porozhnyaya River in 2013 yr. Vegetation data sampling was done at 50 temporary square plots of a fixed size (100 m2 randomly placed within a forest type. A list of plant species with species abundance was made for each forest layer. The overstorey (or tree canopy layer was denoted by the Latin letter A. The understorey layer (indicated by the letter B included tree undergrowth and tall shrubs. Ground vegetation was subdivided into the layers C and D. Layer C (field layer comprised the herbaceous species (herbs, grasses, sedges and dwarf shrubs together with low shrubs, tree and shrub seedlings. The height of the field layer was defined by the maximal height of the herbaceous species, ferns, and dwarf shrubs; the height varied from several cm to more than 200 cm in the ‘tall-herb’ forest types. Layer D (bottom layer included cryptogamic species (bryophytes and lichens. Species abundance in the each layer was usually assessed using the Braun-Blanquet cover scale (Braun-Blanquet 1928. The nomenclature used follows Cherepanov’s (1995 for vascular plants, and Ignatov & Afonina’s (1992. Results. The present article contains descriptions of unique tall-herb boreal forests of European Russia preserved in certain refugia which did not experience prolonged anthropogenic impact or any other catastrophes

The changing effects of Alaska's boreal forest on the climate system

Science.gov (United States)

E.S. Euskirchen; A.D. McGuire; F.S. Chapin; T.S. Rupp

2010-01-01

In the boreal forests of Alaska, recent changes in climate have influenced the exchange of trace gases, water, and energy between these forests and the atmosphere. These changes in the structure and function of boreal forests can then feed back to impact regional and global climates. We examine the type and magnitude of the climate feedbacks from boreal forests in...

Browning boreal forests of western North America

Science.gov (United States)

Verbyla, David

2011-12-01

Forest Ecol. Manag. 227 219-32 Berg E E, Hillman K M, Dial R and DeRuwe A 2009 Recent woody invasion of wetlands on the Kenai Peninsula Lowlands, south-central Alaska: a major regime shift after 18 000 years of wet Sphagnum-sedge peat recruitment Canadian J. Forest Res. 39 2033-46 Brabets T P and Walvoord M A 2009 Trends in streamflow in the Yukon River Basin from 1944 to 2004 and the influence of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation J. Hydrol. 371 108-19 Bunn A G, Goetz S J, Kimball J S and Zhang K 2007 Northern high-latitude ecosystems respond to climate change EOS Trans. Am. Geophys. Union 88 333-40 D'Arrigo R, Kaufmann R K, Davi N, Jacoby G C, Laskowski C, Myneni R B and Cherubini P 2004 Thresholds for warming-induced growth decline at elevational tree line in the Yukon Territory, Canada Glob. Biogeochem. Cycles 18 GB3021 Goetz S J, Bunn A G, Fiske G J and Houghton R A 2005 Satellite-observed photosynthetic trends across boreal North America associated with climate and fire disturbance Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102 13521-5 Lloyd A H and Bunn A G 2007 Responses of the circumpolar boreal forest to the 20th century climate variability Environ. Res. Lett. 2 045013 Lloyd A H and Fastie C L 2002 Spatial and temporal variability in the growth and climate response of treeline trees in Alaska Clim. Change 52 481-509 Malmström C and Raffa K R 2000 Biotic disturbance agents in the boreal forest: considerations for vegetation change models Glob. Change Biol. 6 (Suppl. 1) 35-48 McGuire A D, Ruess R W, Lloyd A, Yarie J, Clein J S and Juday G P 2010 Vulnerability of white spruce tree growth in interior Alaska in response to climate variability: dendrochronological, demographic, and experimental perspectives Canadian J. Forest Res. 40 1197-209 Michealian M, Hogg E H, Hall R J and Arsenault E 2011 Massive mortality of aspen following severe drought along the southern edge of the Canadian boreal forest Glob. Change Biol. 17 2084-94 Parent M B and Verbyla D 2010 The browning of Alaska

Modelling Holocene carbon accumulation and methane emissions of boreal wetlands – an Earth system model approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. J. Schuldt

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Since the Last Glacial Maximum, boreal wetlands have accumulated substantial amounts of peat, estimated at 180–621 Pg of carbon. Wetlands have significantly affected the atmospheric greenhouse gas composition in the past and will play a significant role in future changes of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 concentrations. In order to investigate those changes with an Earth system model, biogeochemical processes in boreal wetlands need to be accounted for. Thus, a model of peat accumulation and decay was developed and included in the land surface model JSBACH of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM. Here we present the evaluation of model results from 6000 yr BP to the pre-industrial period. Over this period of time, 240 Pg of peat carbon accumulated in the model in the areas north of 40° N. Simulated peat accumulation rates agree well with those reported for boreal wetlands. The model simulates CH4 emissions of 49.3 Tg CH4 yr−1 for 6000 yr BP and 51.5 Tg CH4 yr−1 for pre-industrial times. This is within the range of estimates in the literature, which range from 32 to 112 Tg CH4 yr−1 for boreal wetlands. The modelled methane emission for the West Siberian Lowlands and Hudson Bay Lowlands agree well with observations. The rising trend of methane emissions over the last 6000 yr is in agreement with measurements of Antarctic and Greenland ice cores.

Global climate change adaptation: examples from Russian boreal forests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krankina, O.N.; Dixon, R.K.; Kirilenko, A.P.; Kobak, K.I.

1997-01-01

The Russian Federation contains approximately 20% of the world's timber resources and more than half of all boreal forests. These forests play a prominent role in environmental protection and economic development at global, national, and local levels, as well as, provide commodities for indigenous people and habitat for a variety of plant and animal species. The response and feedbacks of Russian boreal forests to projected global climate change are expected to be profound. Current understanding of the vulnerability of Russian forest resources to projected climate change is discussed and examples of possible adaptation measures for Russian forests are presented including: (1) artificial forestation techniques that can be applied with the advent of failed natural regeneration and to facilitate forest migration northward; (2) silvicultural measures that can influence the species mix to maintain productivity under future climates; (3) identifying forests at risk and developing special management adaption measures for them: (4) alternative processing and uses of wood and non-wood products from future forests; and (5) potential future infrastructure and transport systems that can be employed as boreal forests shift northward into melting permafrost zones. Current infrastructure and technology can be employed to help Russian boreal forests adapt to projected global environmental change, however many current forest management practices may have to be modified. Application of this technical knowledge can help policymakers identify priorities for climate change adaptation

Total and methyl mercury concentrations and fluxes from small boreal forest catchments in Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Porvari, Petri; Verta, Matti

2003-01-01

Peatlands have higher methyl mercury output than uplands. - Total mercury (TotHg) and methyl mercury (MeHg) concentrations were studied in runoff from eight small (0.02-1.3 km 2 ) boreal forest catchments (mineral soil and peatland) during 1990-1995. Runoff waters were extremely humic (TOC 7-70 mg l -1 ). TotHg concentrations varied between 0.84 and 24 ng l -1 and MeHg between 0.03 and 3.8 ng l -1 . TotHg fluxes from catchments ranged from 0.92 to 1.8 g km -2 a -1 , and MeHg fluxes from 0.03 to 0.33 g km -2 a -1 . TotHg concentrations and output fluxes measured in runoff water from small forest catchments in Finland were comparable with those measured in other boreal regions. By contrast, MeHg concentrations were generally higher. Estimates for MeHg output fluxes in this study were comparable at sites with forests and wetlands in Sweden and North America, but clearly higher than those measured at upland or agricultural sites in other studies. Peatland catchments released more MeHg than pure mineral soil or mineral soil catchments with minor area of peatland

Simulation of Forest Cover Dynamics for Eastern Eurasian Boreal Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Shugart, H. H.; Yan, X.; Zhang, N.; Isaev, A. S.; Shuman, J. K.

2006-12-01

We are developing and testing a boreal zone forest dynamics model capable of simulating the forest cover dynamics of the Eurasian boreal forest, a major biospheric ecosystem with potentially large roles in the planetary carbon cycle and in the feedback between terrestrial surface and the atmosphere. In appreciating the role of this region in the coupling between atmosphere and terrestrial surface, on must understand the interactions between CO2 source/sink relationships (associated with growing or clearing forests) and the albedo effects (from changes in terrestrial surface cover). There is some evidence that in the Eurasian Boreal zone, the Carbon budget effects from forest change may oppose the albedo changes. This creates complex feedbacks between surface and atmosphere and motivates the need for a forest dynamics model that simultaneous represents forest vegetation and carbon storage and release. A forest dynamics model applied to Eastern Eurasia, FAREAST, has been tested using three types of information: 1. Direct species composition comparisons between simulated and observed mature forests at the same locations; 2. Forest type comparisons between simulated and observed forests along altitudinal gradients of several different mountains; 3. Comparison with forest stands in different succession stages of simulated forests. Model comparisons with independent data indicate the FAREAST model is capable of representing many of the broad features of the forests of Northeastern China. After model validation in the Northeast China region, model applications were developed for the forests of the Russian Far East. Continental-scale forest cover can be simulated to a relatively realistic degree using a forest gap model with standard representations of individual-plant processes. It appears that such a model, validated relatively locally in this case, in Northeastern China, can then be applied over a much larger region and under conditions of climatic change.

Nitrogen alters carbon dynamics during early succession in boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Steven D. Allison; Tracy B. Gartner; Michelle C. Mack; Krista McGuire; Kathleen. Treseder

2010-01-01

Boreal forests are an important source of wood products, and fertilizers could be used to improve forest yields, especially in nutrient poor regions of the boreal zone. With climate change, fire frequencies may increase, resulting in a larger fraction of the boreal landscape present in early successional stages. Since most fertilization studies have focused on mature...

Controls on moss evaporation in a boreal black spruce forest

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heijmans, M.M.P.D.; Arp, W.J.; Chapin, F.S.

2004-01-01

[1] Mosses are an important component of the boreal forest, but little is known about their contribution to ecosystem carbon, water, and energy exchange. We studied the role of mosses in boreal forest evapotranspiration by conducting two experiments in a black spruce forest in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Newtonian boreal forest ecology

OpenAIRE

Hari, Pertti; Aakala, Tuomas; Aalto, Juho; Bäck, Jaana; Hollmén, Jaakko; Jõgiste, Kalev; Koupaei, Kourosh Kabiri; Kähkönen, Mika A.; Korpela, Mikko; Kulmala, Liisa; Nikinmaa, Eero; Pumpanen, Jukka; Salkinoja-Salonen, Mirja; Schiestl-Aalto, Pauliina; Simojoki, Asko

2017-01-01

Isaac Newton's approach to developing theories in his book Principia Mathematica proceeds in four steps. First, he defines various concepts, second, he formulates axioms utilising the concepts, third, he mathematically analyses the behaviour of the system defined by the concepts and axioms obtaining predictions and fourth, he tests the predictions with measurements. In this study, we formulated our theory of boreal forest ecosystems, called NewtonForest, following the four steps introduced by...

Land cover mapping, fire regeneration, and scaling studies in the Canadian boreal forest with 1 km AVHRR and Landsat TM data

Science.gov (United States)

Steyaert, L.T.; Hall, F.G.; Loveland, Thomas R.

1997-01-01

A multitemporal 1 km advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) land cover analysis approach was used as the basis for regional land cover mapping, fire disturbance-regeneration, and multiresolution land cover scaling studies in the boreal forest ecosystem of central Canada. The land cover classification was developed by using regional field observations from ground and low-level aircraft transits to analyze spectral-temporal clusters that were derived from an unsupervised cluster analysis of monthly normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) image composites (April-September 1992). Quantitative areal proportions of the major boreal forest components were determined for a 821 km ?? 619 km region, ranging from the southern grasslands-boreal forest ecotone to the northern boreal transitional forest. The boreal wetlands (mostly lowland black spruce, tamarack, mosses, fens, and bogs) occupied approximately 33% of the region, while lakes accounted for another 13%. Upland mixed coniferous-deciduous forests represented 23% of the ecosystem. A SW-NE productivity gradient across the region is manifested by three levels of tree stand density for both the boreal wetland conifer and the mixed forest classes, which are generally aligned with isopleths of regional growing degree days. Approximately 30% of the region was directly affected by fire disturbance within the preceding 30-35 years, especially in the Canadian Shield Zone where large fire-regeneration patterns contribute to the heterogeneous boreal landscape. Intercomparisons with land cover classifications derived from 30-m Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data provided important insights into the relative accuracy of the 1 km AVHRR land cover classification. Primarily due to the multitemporal NDVI image compositing process, the 1 km AVHRR land cover classes have an effective spatial resolution in the 3-4 km range; therefore fens, bogs, small water bodies, and small patches of dry jack pine cannot be resolved within

Rock, Paper, Protest: The Fight for the Boreal Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Gunz, Sally; Whittaker, Linda

2016-01-01

Canada's boreal forests are second only to the Amazon in producing life-giving oxygen and providing a habitat for thousands of species, from the large woodland caribou to the smallest organisms. The boreal forests are the lifeblood of many Aboriginal communities and the thousands of workers, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, who harvest and process…

Resilience of Alaska's Boreal Forest to Climatic Change

Science.gov (United States)

Chapin, F. S., III; McGuire, A. D.; Ruess, R. W.; Hollingsworth, T. N.; Mack, M. C.; Johnstone, J. F.; Kasischke, E. S.; Euskirchen, E. S.; Jones, J. B.; Jorgenson, M. T.;

Growth Decline Linked to Warming-Induced Water Limitation in Hemi-Boreal Forests

OpenAIRE

Wu, Xiuchen; Liu, Hongyan; Guo, Dali; Anenkhonov, Oleg A.; Badmaeva, Natalya K.; Sandanov, Denis V.

2012-01-01

Hemi-boreal forests, which make up the transition from temperate deciduous forests to boreal forests in southern Siberia, have experienced significant warming without any accompanying increase in precipitation during the last 80 years. This climatic change could have a profound impact on tree growth and on the stability of forest ecosystems in this region, but at present evidence for these impacts is lacking. In this study, we report a recent dramatic decline in the growth of hemi-boreal fore...

Resilience of Alaska's boreal forest to climatic change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chapin, F.S. III; Ruess, R.W.; Euskirchen, E.S.; Jones, J.B.; Kielland, K.; Taylor, D.L. [Alaska Univ., Fairbanks, AK (United States). Dept. of Biology, Inst. of Arctic Biology; McGuire, A.D. [United Sates Geological Survey, Fairbanks, AK (United States). Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Alaska Univ., Fairbanks, AK (United States); Hollingsworth, T.N. [United States Dept. of Agriculture, Portland, OR (United States). Forest Services, Pacific Northwest Research Station; Alaska Univ., Fairbanks, AK (United States); Mack, M.C. [Florida Univ., Gainesville, FL (United States). Dept. of Botany; Johnstone, J.F. [Saskatchewan Univ., Saskatoon, SK (Canada). Dept. of Biology; Kasischke, E.S. [Maryland Univ., College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Geography; Jorgenson, M.T. [Alaska Ecoscience, Fairbanks, AK (United States); Kofinas, G.P. [Alaska Univ., Fairanks, AK (United States). School of Natural Resources and Agricultureal Sciences, Inst. of Arctic Biology; Turetsky, M.R. [Guelph Univ., Guelph, ON (Canada). Dept. of Integrative Biology; Yarie, J. [Alaska Univ., Fairbanks, AK (United States). Dept. of Forest Sciences, Forest Soils Laboratory; Lloyd, A.H. [Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT (United States). Dept. of Biology

2010-07-15

This paper reported on a study that evaluated the resilience of Alaska's boreal forest system to rapid climatic change. As the most northern and coldest forested biome, the boreal forest is underlain by discontinuous permafrost. High-latitude amplification of global warming has caused Alaska's boreal forest to warm twice as rapidly as the global average. Recent warming has resulted in reduced growth of dominant tree species, plant disease, insect outbreaks, thawing of permafrost, drying of lakes and increased wildfires. These changes have modified key structural features in the boreal forest, including long-term landscape-scale change in carbon stocks. This study reviewed the findings of the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research program and determined that the Alaskan boreal system remains quite resilient but is undergoing changes in ecosystem and landscape structure, feedbacks, and interactions that, with continued warming, will likely cause reorganization or potentially transformation to a fundamentally different system. Permafrost will also remain relatively resilient to continued warming except in high-ice-content lowlands and in areas burned by severe wildfires. The greatest sources of uncertainty are changes in snow cover, which will influence the rate at which these changes occur. 71 refs., 2 figs.

The effects of boreal forest expansion on the summer Arctic frontal zone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liess, Stefan; Snyder, Peter K.; Harding, Keith J. [University of Minnesota, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, Saint Paul, MN (United States)

2012-05-15

Over the last 100 years, Arctic warming has resulted in a longer growing season in boreal and tundra ecosystems. This has contributed to a slow northward expansion of the boreal forest and a decrease in the surface albedo. Corresponding changes to the surface and atmospheric energy budgets have contributed to a broad region of warming over areas of boreal forest expansion. In addition, mesoscale and synoptic scale patterns have changed as a result of the excess energy at and near the surface. Previous studies have identified a relationship between the positioning of the boreal forest-tundra ecotone and the Arctic frontal zone in summer. This study examines the climate response to hypothetical boreal forest expansion and its influence on the summer Arctic frontal zone. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting model over the Northern Hemisphere, an experiment was performed to evaluate the atmospheric response to expansion of evergreen and deciduous boreal needleleaf forests into open shrubland along the northern boundary of the existing forest. Results show that the lower surface albedo with forest expansion leads to a local increase in net radiation and an average hemispheric warming of 0.6 C at and near the surface during June with some locations warming by 1-2 C. This warming contributes to changes in the meridional temperature gradient that enhances the Arctic frontal zone and strengthens the summertime jet. This experiment suggests that continued Northern Hemisphere high-latitude warming and boreal forest expansion might contribute to additional climate changes during the summer. (orig.)

Identifying forest patterns from space to explore dynamics across the circumpolar boreal

Science.gov (United States)

Montesano, P. M.; Neigh, C. S. R.; Feng, M.; Channan, S.; Sexton, J. O.; Wagner, W.; Wooten, M.; Poulter, B.; Wang, L.

2017-12-01

A variety of forest patterns are the result of interactions between broad-scale climate and local-scale site factors and history across the northernmost portion of the circumpolar boreal. Patterns of forest extent, height, and cover help describe forest structure transitions that influence future and reflect past dynamics. Coarse spaceborne observations lack structural detail at forest transitions, which inhibits understanding of these dynamics. We highlight: (1) the use of sub-meter spaceborne stereogrammetry for deriving structure estimates in boreal forests; (2) its potential to complement other spaceborne estimates of forest structure at critical scales; and (3) the potential of these sub-meter and other Landsat-derived structure estimates for improving understanding of broad-scale boreal dynamics such as carbon flux and albedo, capturing the spatial variability of the boreal-tundra biome boundary, and assessing its potential for change.

A Passive Microwave L-Band Boreal Forest Freeze/Thaw and Vegetation Phenology Study

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, A.; Sonnentag, O.; Pappas, C.; Mavrovic, A.; Royer, A.; Berg, A. A.; Rowlandson, T. L.; Lemay, J.; Helgason, W.; Barr, A.; Black, T. A.; Derksen, C.; Toose, P.

2016-12-01

The boreal forest is the second largest land biome in the world and thus plays a major role in the global and regional climate systems. The extent, timing and duration of seasonal freeze/thaw (F/T) state influences vegetation developmental stages (phenology) and, consequently, constitute an important control on how boreal forest ecosystems exchange carbon, water and energy with the atmosphere. The effective retrieval of seasonal F/T state from L-Band radiometry was demonstrated using satellite mission. However, disentangling the seasonally differing contributions from forest overstory and understory vegetation, and the soil surface to the satellite signal remains challenging. Here we present initial results from a radiometer field campaign to improve our understanding of the L-Band derived boreal forest F/T signal and vegetation phenology. Two L-Band surface-based radiometers (SBR) are installed on a micrometeorological tower at the Southern Old Black Spruce site in central Saskatchewan over the 2016-2017 F/T season. One radiometer unit is installed on the flux tower so it views forest including all overstory and understory vegetation and the moss-covered ground surface. A second radiometer unit is installed within the boreal forest overstory, viewing the understory and the ground surface. The objectives of our study are (i) to disentangle the L-Band F/T signal contribution of boreal forest overstory from the understory and ground surface, (ii) to link the L-Band F/T signal to related boreal forest structural and functional characteristics, and (iii) to investigate the use of the L-Band signal to characterize boreal forest carbon, water and energy fluxes. The SBR observations above and within the forest canopy are used to retrieve the transmissivity (γ) and the scattering albedo (ω), two parameters that describe the emission of the forest canopy though the F/T season. These two forest parameters are compared with boreal forest structural and functional

Development of biogenic VOC emission inventories for the boreal forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tarvainen, V.

2008-07-01

The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by vegetation, especially forests, can affect local and regional atmospheric photochemistry through their reactions with atmospheric oxidants. Their reaction products may also participate in the formation and growth of new particles which affect the radiation balance of the atmosphere, and thus climate, by scattering and absorbing shortwave and longwave radiation and by modifying the radiative properties, amount and lifetime of clouds. Globally, anthropogenic VOC emissions are far surpassed by the biogenic ones, making biogenic emission inventories an integral element in the development of efficient air quality and climate strategies. The inventories are typically constructed based on landcover information, measured emissions of different plants or vegetation types, and empirical dependencies of the emissions on environmental variables such as temperature and light. This thesis is focused on the VOC emissions from the boreal forest, the largest terrestrial biome with characteristic vegetation patterns and strong seasonality. The isoprene, monoterpene and sesquiterpene emissions of the most prevalent boreal tree species in Finland, Scots pine, have been measured and their seasonal variation and dependence on temperature and light have been studied. The measured emission data and other available observations of the emissions of the principal boreal trees have been used in a biogenic emission model developed for the boreal forests in Finland. The model utilizes satellite landcover information, Finnish forest classification and hourly meteorological data to calculate isoprene, monoterpene, sesquiterpene and other VOC emissions over the growing season. The principal compounds emitted by Scots pine are DELTA3-carene and alpha-pinene in the south boreal zone and alpha- and beta-pinene in the north boreal zone. The monoterpene emissions are dependent on temperature and have a clear seasonal cycle with high emissions in spring

Main dynamics and drivers of boreal forests fire regimes during the Holocene

Science.gov (United States)

Molinari, Chiara; Lehsten, Veiko; Blarquez, Olivier; Clear, Jennifer; Carcaillet, Christopher; Bradshaw, Richard HW

2015-04-01

Forest fire is one of the most critical ecosystem processes in the boreal megabiome, and it is likely that its frequency, size and severity have had a primary role in vegetation dynamics since the Last Ice Age (Kasischke & Stocks 2000). Fire not only organizes the physical and biological attributes of boreal forests, but also affects biogeochemical cycling, particularly the carbon balance (Balshi et al. 2007). Due to their location at climatically sensitive northern latitudes, boreal forests are likely to be significantly affected by global warming with a consequent increase in biomass burning (Soja et al. 2007), a variation in vegetation structure and composition (Johnstone et al. 2004) and a rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (Bond-Lamberty et al. 2007). Even if the ecological role of wildfire in boreal forest is widely recognized, a clearer understanding of the environmental factors controlling fire dynamics and how variations in fire regimes impact forest ecosystems is essential in order to place modern fire processes in a meaningful context for projecting ecosystem behaviour in a changing environment (Kelly et al. 2013). Because fire return intervals and successional cycles in boreal forests occur over decadal to centennial timescales (Hu et al. 2006), palaeoecological research seems to be one of the most promising tool for elucidating ecosystem changes over a broad range of environmental conditions and temporal scales. Within this context, our first aim is to reconstruct spatial and temporal patterns of boreal forests fire dynamics during the Holocene based on sedimentary charcoal records. As a second step, trends in biomass burning will be statistically analysed in order to disentangle between regional and local drivers. The use of European and north-American sites will give us the unique possibility to perform a large scale analysis on one of the broadest biome in the world and to underline the different patterns of fire in these two

Boreal forests and atmosphere - Biosphere exchange of carbon dioxide

Science.gov (United States)

D'Arrigo, Rosanne; Jacoby, Gordon C.; Fung, Inez Y.

1987-01-01

Two approaches to investigating the role of boreal forests in the global carbon cycle are presented. First, a tracer support model which incorporates the normalized-difference vegetation index obtained from advanced, very high resolution radiometer radiances was used to simulate the annual cycle of CO2 in the atmosphere. Results indicate that the seasonal growth of the combined boreal forests of North America and Eurasia accounts for about 50 percent of the mean seasonal CO2 amplitude recorded at Pt. Barrow, Alaska and about 30 percent of the more globally representative CO2 signal at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Second, tree-ring width data from four boreal treeline sites in northern Canada were positively correlated with Pt. Barrow CO2 drawdown for the period 1971-1982. These results suggest that large-scale changes in the growth of boreal forests may be contributing to the observed increasing trend in CO2 amplitude. They further suggest that tree-ring data may be applicable as indices for CO2 uptake and remote sensing estimates of photosynthetic activity.

Resilience of Alaska’s boreal forest to climatic change

Science.gov (United States)

Chapin, F.S.; McGuire, A. David; Ruess, Roger W.; Hollingsworth, Teresa N.; Mack, M.C.; Johnstone, J.F.; Kasischke, E.S.; Euskirchen, E.S.; Jones, J.B.; Jorgenson, M.T.; Kielland, K.; Kofinas, G.; Turetsky, M.R.; Yarie, J.; Lloyd, A.H.; Taylor, D.L.

2010-01-01

This paper assesses the resilience of Alaska’s boreal forest system to rapid climatic change. Recent warming is associated with reduced growth of dominant tree species, plant disease and insect outbreaks, warming and thawing of permafrost, drying of lakes, increased wildfire extent, increased postfire recruitment of deciduous trees, and reduced safety of hunters traveling on river ice. These changes have modified key structural features, feedbacks, and interactions in the boreal forest, including reduced effects of upland permafrost on regional hydrology, expansion of boreal forest into tundra, and amplification of climate warming because of reduced albedo (shorter winter season) and carbon release from wildfires. Other temperature-sensitive processes for which no trends have been detected include composition of plant and microbial communities, long-term landscape-scale change in carbon stocks, stream discharge, mammalian population dynamics, and river access and subsistence opportunities for rural indigenous communities. Projections of continued warming suggest that Alaska’s boreal forest will undergo significant functional and structural changes within the next few decades that are unprecedented in the last 6000 years. The impact of these social–ecological changes will depend in part on the extent of landscape reorganization between uplands and lowlands and on policies regulating subsistence opportunities for rural communities.

Size-mediated tree transpiration along soil drainage gradients in a boreal black spruce forest wildfire chronosequence.

Science.gov (United States)

Angstmann, J L; Ewers, B E; Kwon, H

2012-05-01

Boreal forests are crucial to climate change predictions because of their large land area and ability to sequester and store carbon, which is controlled by water availability. Heterogeneity of these forests is predicted to increase with climate change through more frequent wildfires, warmer, longer growing seasons and potential drainage of forested wetlands. This study aims at quantifying controls over tree transpiration with drainage condition, stand age and species in a central Canadian black spruce boreal forest. Heat dissipation sensors were installed in 2007 and data were collected through 2008 on 118 trees (69 Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb. (black spruce), 25 Populus tremuloides Michx. (trembling aspen), 19 Pinus banksiana Lamb. (jack pine), 3 Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch (tamarack) and 2 Salix spp. (willow)) at four stand ages (18, 43, 77 and 157 years old) each containing a well- and poorly-drained stand. Transpiration estimates from sap flux were expressed per unit xylem area, J(S), per unit ground area, E(C) and per unit leaf area, E(L), using sapwood (A(S)) and leaf (A(L)) area calculated from stand- and species-specific allometry. Soil drainage differences in transpiration were variable; only the 43- and 157-year-old poorly-drained stands had ∼ 50% higher total stand E(C) than well-drained locations. Total stand E(C) tended to decrease with stand age after an initial increase between the 18- and 43-year-old stands. Soil drainage differences in transpiration were controlled primarily by short-term physiological drivers such as vapor pressure deficit and soil moisture whereas stand age differences were controlled by successional species shifts and changes in tree size (i.e., A(S)). Future predictions of boreal climate change must include stand age, species and soil drainage heterogeneity to avoid biased estimates of forest water loss and latent energy exchanges.

Industry and forest wetlands: Cooperative research initiatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, J.P.; Lucier, A.A.; Haines, L.W.

1993-01-01

In 1989 the forest products industry responded to a challenge of the National Wetlands Policy Forum to initiate a cooperative research program on forest wetlands management organized through the National Council of the Paper Industry for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI). The objective is to determine how forest landowners can manage wetlands for timber production while protecting other wetland functions such as flood storage, water purification, and food chain/wildlife habitat support. Studies supported by the NCASI in 9 states are summarized. Technical support on wetland regulatory issues to member companies is part of the research program. Since guidelines for recognizing wetlands for regulatory proposed have changed frequently, the NCASI has recommend an explicit link between wetland delineation and a classification system that considers difference among wetland types in vegetation, soils, hydrology, appearance, landscape position, and other factors. 16 refs

Determining Hydroperiod for Boreal and Prairie Pothole Wetlands using SAR, Optical and LiDAR Remote Sensing Data Fusion

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, J. S.; Hopkinson, C.; Brisco, B.; Patterson, S.; Chasmer, L.; Mahoney, C.

2017-12-01

Cultivation, irrigation networks, and infrastructure have all greatly impacted the ecology and hydrology of the Prairie Pothole and Boreal regions of western Canada. Due to sub-humid climate and high potential evaporation, many wetlands in these natural regions are seldom continuously occupied by water, and are often confined to local depressions. In the Boreal region, wetlands may be difficult to monitor due to their remote location, whereas prairie wetlands have highly varying degrees of surface water and soil saturation throughout the year. This study examines how high-resolution Lidar, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and optical data can be utilized in spatial-temporal studies to classify wetlands based on water extent, riparian vegetation, and topographic characteristics. An intensity (dB) threshold routine was used to extract open surface water extent to determine hydroperiod. Digital Elevation Models (DEM) are used with a topographic position index to infer local depressions, while Digital Surface Models (DSMs) are used to characterise vegetation structural characteristics within and proximal to wetlands. The proposed framework provides an index of wetland permanence and wetland class, where permanence varies seasonally and annually. Boreal wetland hydroperiod is less variable than that found in prairie pothole wetlands, most notably the semi-permanent class, varying by only 2%, compared to >50% in prairie pothole wetlands. For years studied, prairie pothole wetlands reached maximum water extent following major rainfall events. Seasonal and semi-permanent wetlands were found to have greater change in surface water between years than temporary wetlands (75.3% and 59.1% from average respectively). The lowest frequency of water pixel inundation for seasonal and semi-permanent wetlands was found to be in the year with the most precipitation during the growing season (2013, 384mm), compared to 2014 (289mm), and 2015 (310mm). A combination of statistical analyses

Modelling carbon cycle in boreal wetlands with the Earth System Model ECHAM6/MPIOM

Science.gov (United States)

Getzieh, Robert J.; Brovkin, Victor; Kleinen, Thomas; Raivonen, Maarit; Sevanto, Sanna

2010-05-01

Wetlands of the northern high latitudes provide excellent conditions for peat accumulation and methanogenesis. High moisture and low O2 content in the soils lead to effective preservation of soil organic matter and methane emissions. Boreal Wetlands contain about 450 PgC and currently constitute a significant natural source of methane (CH4) even though they cover only 3% of the global land surface. While storing carbon and removing CO2 from the atmosphere, boreal wetlands have contributed to global cooling on millennial timescales. Undisturbed boreal wetlands are likely to continue functioning as a net carbon sink. On the other hand these carbon pools might be destabilised in future since they are sensitive to climate change. Given that processes of peat accumulation and decay are closely dependent on hydrology and temperature, this balance may be altered significantly in the future. As a result, northern wetlands could have a large impact on carbon cycle-climate feedback mechanisms and therefore play an important role in global carbon cycle dynamics. However global biogeochemistry models used for simulations of CO2 dynamics in past and future climates usually neglect carbon cycle in wetlands. We investigate the potential for positive or negative feedbacks to the climate system through fluxes of greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) with the general circulation model ECHAM6/MPIOM. A generic model of peat accumulation and decay has been developed and implemented into the land surface module JSBACH. We consider anaerobic biogeochemical processes which lead to formation of thick organic soils. Furthermore we consider specific wetland plant functional types (PFTs) in our model such as vascular plants (sedges) which impact methane transport and oxidation processes and non vascular plants (sphagnum mosses) which are promoting peat growth. As prototypes we use the modelling approaches by Frolking et al. (2001) as well as Walter & Heimann (2001) for the peat dynamics, and the

Carbon dynamics in lakes of the boreal forest under a changing climate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benoy, G.; Wrona, F. [Environment Canada, Saskatoon, SK (Canada). National Water Research Inst.; Cash, K. [Environment Canada, Saskatoon, SK (Canada). Prairie and Northern Wildlife Research Centre; McCauley, E. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Dept. of Biology

2007-09-15

This article reviewed factors influencing lake ecosystem carbon dynamics in boreal forest regions and identified research areas needed to accurately forecast the impacts of climate change on carbon pools and flux rates. The review suggested that carbon pools in profundal and littoral sediments across the boreal forest should be identified. Climate change experiments should be conducted to quantify ecosystem carbon dynamics as well as changes in aquatic food web structures. Whole system experiments are also needed to examine the hydrologic and bio-geochemical conditions in which allochthonous carbon is integrated into food webs in potentially drier climates. Results also indicated the need for a watershed-scale assessment of carbon budgets for lakes in transitional zones between boreal forests, prairies, parklands, forests, and tundra. It was concluded that studies are also needed to investigate the integration of lacustrine carbon pools and flux rates on carbon budgets at both the local watershed and boreal forest biome scale. 113 refs., 3 figs.

The changing effects of Alaska’s boreal forests on the climate system

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Euskirchen, E.S.; McGuire, A. David; Chapin, F.S.; Rupp, T.S.

2010-01-01

In the boreal forests of Alaska, recent changes in climate have influenced the exchange of trace gases, water, and energy between these forests and the atmosphere. These changes in the structure and function of boreal forests can then feed back to impact regional and global climates. In this manuscript, we examine the type and magnitude of the climate feedbacks from boreal forests in Alaska. Research generally suggests that the net effect of a warming climate is a positive regional feedback to warming. Currently, the primary positive climate feedbacks are likely related to decreases in surface albedo due to decreases in snow cover. Fewer negative feedbacks have been identified, and they may not be large enough to counterbalance the large positive feedbacks. These positive feedbacks are most pronounced at the regional scale and reduce the resilience of the boreal vegetation – climate system by amplifying the rate of regional warming. Given the recent warming in this region, the large variety of associated mechanisms that can alter terrestrial ecosystems and influence the climate system, and a reduction in the boreal forest resilience, there is a strong need to continue to quantify and evaluate the feedback pathways.

Coupling of Water and Carbon Cycles in Boreal Ecosystems at Watershed and National Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, J. M.; Ju, W.; Govind, A.; Sonnentag, O.

2009-05-01

The boreal landscapes is relatively flat giving the impression of spatial homogeneity. However, glacial activities have left distinct fingerprints on the vegetation distribution on moderately rolling terrains over the boreal landscape. Upland or lowland forests types or wetlands having various degrees of hydrological connectivitiy to the surrounding terrain are typical of the boreal landscape. The nature of the terrain creates unique hydrological conditions affecting the local-scale ecophysiological and biogeochemical processes. As part of the Canadian Carbon Program, we investigated the importance of lateral water redistribution through surface and subsurface flows in the spatial distribution of the vertical fluxes of water and carbon. A spatially explicit hydroecological model (BEPS-TerrainLab) has been developed and tested in forested and wetland watersheds . Remotely sensed vegetation parameters along with other spatial datasets are used to run this model, and tower flux data are used for partial validation. It is demonstrated in both forest and wetland watersheds that ignoring the lateral water redistribution over the landscape, commonly done in 1-dimensional bucket models, can cause considerable biases in the vertical carbon and water flux estimation, in addition to the distortion of the spatial patterns of these fluxes. The biases in the carbon flux are considerably larger than those in the water flux. The significance of these findings in national carbon budget estimation is demonstrated by separate modeling of 2015 watersheds over the Canadian landmass.

The effect of fire intensity on soil respiration in Siberia boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

S. Baker; A. V. Bogorodskaya

2010-01-01

Russian boreal forests have an annual wildfire activity averaging 10 to 20 million ha, which has increased in recent years. This wildfire activity, in response to changing climate has the potential to significantly affect the carbon storage capacity of Siberian forests. A better understanding of the effect of fire on soil respiration rates in the boreal forest of...

The changing effects of Alaska's boreal forests on the climate system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Euskirchen, E.S.; Chapin, F.S. III [Alaska Univ., Fairbanks, AK (United States). Dept. of Biology, Inst. of Arctic Biology; McGuire, A.D. [United Sates Geological Survey, Fairbanks, AK (United States). Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Alaska Univ., Fairbanks, AK (United States); Rupp, T.S. [Alaska Univ., Fairbanks, AK (United States). Dept. of Forest Sciences

2010-07-15

The boreal forest is the northernmost forested biome and is expected to be sensitive to global warming. Recent climate warming in the boreal forests of Alaska has influenced the exchange of trace gases, water, and energy between the forests and the atmosphere. In turn, these changes in the structure and function of boreal forests can influence regional and global climates. This study examined the type and magnitude of the climate feedbacks from boreal forests in Alaska. Biogeophysical and biogeochemical feedbacks were examined with particular reference to surface energy balance across boreal ecosystems and over the full annual cycle. The impact of ground heat exchange on permafrost was studied in terms of vegetation dynamics and disturbance regimes such as fires and insect outbreaks. In general, research has indicated that the net effect of a warming climate is a positive regional feedback to warming. The main positive climate feedbacks are currently related to decreases in surface albedo due to decreases in snow cover. Fewer negative feedbacks have been identified, and they may not be large enough to counterbalance the large positive feedbacks. These positive feedbacks are most dominant at the regional scale and reduce the resilience of the boreal vegetation by amplifying the rate of regional warming. This paper also described carbon and methane release from permafrost degradation, changes in lake area, changes in land use and snow season changes. The role of earth system models in representing climate feedbacks from Alaskan boreal forests was discussed. It was concluded that although the boreal forest provides climate regulation as an ecosystem service, the net effect of the climate feedbacks to climate warming are not fully understood. As such, there is a need to continue to evaluate feedback pathways, given the recent warming in Alaska and the large variety of associated mechanisms that can change terrestrial ecosystems and affect the climate system. 59 refs

Permafrost thaw and fire history: implications of boreal tree cover changes on land surface properties and turbulent energy fluxes in the Taiga Plains, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Sonnentag, Oliver; Helbig, Manuel; Payette, Fanny; Wischnewski, Karoline; Kljun, Natascha; Chasmer, Laura; Pappas, Christoforos; Detto, Matteo; Baltzer, Jennifer; Quinton, William; Marsh, Philip

2016-04-01

Given their large areal coverage, high carbon densities, and unique land surface properties and disturbance regimes (e.g., wildfires), the world's boreal forests are integral components of the global and regional climate systems. A large portion of boreal forests contain permafrost, i.e., perennially cryotic ground. In the Taiga Plains ecozone in northwestern Canada, the northernmost boreal forests grow on cold (100 m) continuous permafrost (>90 % in areal extent). More southerly boreal forests occur in areas with discontinuous (>50 - 90 % in areal extent), sporadic (>10 - 50 % in areal extent) and isolated permafrost (<10 % in areal extent). Using annual MODIS Percent Tree Cover (PTC) data from the MOD44B product in combination with spatial information on fire history, and permafrost and drainage characteristics, we show that in low-lying, poorly-drained areas along the southern fringe of permafrost, thawing induces widespread decreases in PTC and dominates over PTC increases due to post-fire regrowth. In contrast, PTC appears to be slightly increasing in the central and northern Taiga Plains with more stable discontinuous and continuous permafrost, respectively. While these increases are partly explained by post-fire regrowth, more favourable growing conditions may also contribute to increasing PTC. To better understand the implications of permafrost thaw on land surface properties (e.g., aerodynamic conductance for heat [ga] and surface conductance for water vapour [gs]), and the turbulent fluxes of latent (LE) and sensible heat (H) along the southern fringe of permafrost, we examined nested eddy covariance flux measurements made at two nearby locations at Scotty Creek (61°18' N; 121°18' W) starting May 2013. The low-lying, poorly-drained southern portion of this 152 km2-watershed contains rapidly thawing sporadic permafrost resulting in a highly dynamic mosaic dominated by decreasing forested permafrost peat plateaus, and increasing permafrost-free wetlands

Forest fires may cause cooling in boreal Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, Atreyee

2012-08-01

As climate in North America continues to become warmer and drier through the 21st century, a new study finds that fire may be playing an increasingly important role in shaping the climate of the boreal regions of Canada. Forest fires change the amount of shortwave radiation absorbed by Earth's surface by reducing vegetation cover and changing the composition of plant species, thereby changing the reflectivity of the surface (albedo). Fires also affect other ecosystem processes and increase aerosol (particularly soot) emission and deposition, all of which alter regional climate through a series of feedbacks mechanisms. Jin et al. used satellite observations of surface albedo from 2000 to 2011 and fire perimeter data since 1970 to study how forest fires affect surface albedo and associated shortwave radiation at the surface, across forests in boreal Canada.

Tree and forest water use under elevated CO2 and temperature in Scandinavian boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Berg Hasper, Thomas; Wallin, Göran; Lamba, Shubhangi; Sigurdsson, Bjarni D.; Laudon, Hjalmar; Medhurst, Jane L.; Räntfors, Mats; Linder, Sune; Uddling, Johan

2014-05-01

According to experimental studies and models, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]) and temperature have the potential to affect stomatal conductance and, consequently, tree and forest transpiration. This effect has in turn the capacity to influence the terrestrial energy and water balance, including affecting of the magnitude of river runoff. Furthermore, forest productivity is currently water-limited in southern Scandinavia and in a near future, under the projected climatic change, this limitation may become a reality in the central and northern parts of Scandinavia. In this study we examine the water-use responses in 12 40-year old native boreal Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) trees exposed to a factorial combination of two levels of [CO2] (ambient and doubled) and temperature (ambient and +2.8 °C in summer / +5.6 °C in winter), as well as of entire boreal forests to temporal variation in [CO2], temperature and precipitation over the past 50 years in central and northern Sweden. The controlled factorial CO2 and temperature whole-tree chamber experiment at Flakaliden study site demonstrated that Norway spruce trees lacked elevated [CO2]-induced water savings at guard cell, shoot, and tree levels in the years of measurements. Experimentally, elevated temperature did not result in increased shoot or tree water use as stomatal closure fully cancelled the effect of higher vapour pressure deficit in warmed air environment. Consistent with these results, large scale river runoff data and evapotranspiration estimates from large forested watersheds in central Sweden supported lack of elevated CO2-mediated water savings, and rather suggested that the increasing evapotranspiration trend found in this study was primarily linked to increasing precipitation, rising temperature and more efficient forest management. The results from the whole-tree chamber experiment and boreal forested watersheds have important implications for more accurate

Pennsylvania boreal conifer forests and their bird communities: past, present, and potential

Science.gov (United States)

Douglas A. Gross

2010-01-01

Pennsylvania spruce (Picea spp.)- and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)-dominated forests, found primarily on glaciated parts of the Allegheny Plateau, are relicts of boreal forest that covered the region following glacial retreat. The timber era of the late 1800s and early 1900s (as late as 1942) destroyed most of the boreal...

Forest disturbance by an ecosystem engineer: beaver in boreal forest landscapes

OpenAIRE

Nummi, Petri; Kuuluvainen, Timo

2013-01-01

Natural disturbances are important for forest ecosystem dynamics and maintenance of biodiversity. In the boreal forest, large-scale disturbances such as wildfires and windstorms have been emphasized, while disturbance agents acting at smaller scales have received less attention. Especially in Europe beavers have long been neglected as forest disturbance agents because they were extirpated from most of their range centuries ago. However, now they are returning to many parts of their former dis...

Traditional use of medicinal plants in the boreal forest of Canada: review and perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uprety Yadav

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The boreal forest of Canada is home to several hundred thousands Aboriginal people who have been using medicinal plants in traditional health care systems for thousands of years. This knowledge, transmitted by oral tradition from generation to generation, has been eroding in recent decades due to rapid cultural change. Until now, published reviews about traditional uses of medicinal plants in boreal Canada have focused either on particular Aboriginal groups or on restricted regions. Here, we present a review of traditional uses of medicinal plants by the Aboriginal people of the entire Canadian boreal forest in order to provide comprehensive documentation, identify research gaps, and suggest perspectives for future research. Methods A review of the literature published in scientific journals, books, theses and reports. Results A total of 546 medicinal plant taxa used by the Aboriginal people of the Canadian boreal forest were reported in the reviewed literature. These plants were used to treat 28 disease and disorder categories, with the highest number of species being used for gastro-intestinal disorders, followed by musculoskeletal disorders. Herbs were the primary source of medicinal plants, followed by shrubs. The medicinal knowledge of Aboriginal peoples of the western Canadian boreal forest has been given considerably less attention by researchers. Canada is lacking comprehensive policy on harvesting, conservation and use of medicinal plants. This could be explained by the illusion of an infinite boreal forest, or by the fact that many boreal medicinal plant species are widely distributed. Conclusion To our knowledge, this review is the most comprehensive to date to reveal the rich traditional medicinal knowledge of Aboriginal peoples of the Canadian boreal forest. Future ethnobotanical research endeavours should focus on documenting the knowledge held by Aboriginal groups that have so far received less attention

Boreal Forests of Kamchatka: Structure and Composition

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Markus P. Eichhorn

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Central Kamchatka abounds in virgin old-growth boreal forest, formed primarily by Larix cajanderi and Betula platyphylla in varying proportions. A series of eight 0.25–0.30 ha plots captured the range of forests present in this region and their structure is described. Overall trends in both uplands and lowlands are for higher sites to be dominated by L. cajanderi with an increasing component of B. platyphylla with decreasing altitude. The tree line on wet sites is commonly formed by mono-dominant B. ermanii forests. Basal area ranged from 7.8–38.1 m2/ha and average tree height from 8.3–24.7 m, both being greater in lowland forests. Size distributions varied considerably among plots, though they were consistently more even for L. cajanderi than B. platyphylla. Upland sites also contained a dense subcanopy of Pinus pumila averaging 38% of ground area. Soil characteristics differed among plots, with upland soils being of lower pH and containing more carbon. Comparisons are drawn with boreal forests elsewhere and the main current threats assessed. These forests provide a potential baseline to contrast with more disturbed regions elsewhere in the world and therefore may be used as a target for restoration efforts or to assess the effects of climate change independent of human impacts.

Disentangling Modern Fire-Climate-Vegetation Relationships across the Boreal Forest Biome

Science.gov (United States)

Young, A. M.; Boschetti, L.; Duffy, P.; Hu, F.; Higuera, P.

2015-12-01

Fire regimes differ between Eurasian and North American boreal forests, due in part to differences in climate and the dominant forest types. While North American boreal forests are dominated by stand-replacing fires, much of the Eurasian boreal forest is characterized by lower intensity surface fires. These different fire regimes have important consequences for continental-scale biogeochemical cycling and surface-energy fluxes1. Here, we use generalized linear models (GLM) and boosted regression trees (BRT) to explore the relative importance of vegetation, annual climatic factors, and their interactions in determining annual fire occurrence across Eurasian and North American boreal forests. We use remotely sensed burned area (MCD64A1), land cover (MCD12Q1), and observed climate data (CRU) from 2002-2012 at 0.25° spatial resolution to quantify these relationships at annual temporal scales and continental spatial scales. The spatial distribution of boreal fire occurrence was well explained with climate and vegetation variables, with similarities and differences in fire-climate-vegetation relationships between Eurasia and North America. For example, while GLMs indicate vegetation is a significant factor determining fire occurrence in both continents, the effect of climate differed. Spring temperature and precipitation are significant factors explaining fire occurrence in Eurasia, but no climate variables were significant for explaining fire occurrence in North America. BRTs complement this analysis, highlighting climatic thresholds to fire occurrence in both continents. The nature of these thresholds can vary among vegetation types, even within each continent, further implying regional sensitivity to climate-induced shifts in wildfire activity. To build on these results and better understand regional sensitivity of northern-high latitude fire regimes, future work will explore these relationships in forest-tundra and arctic tundra ecosystems, and apply historical

Variation in carbon storage and its distribution by stand age and forest type in boreal and temperate forests in northeastern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Yawei; Li, Maihe; Chen, Hua; Lewis, Bernard J; Yu, Dapao; Zhou, Li; Zhou, Wangming; Fang, Xiangmin; Zhao, Wei; Dai, Limin

2013-01-01

The northeastern forest region of China is an important component of total temperate and boreal forests in the northern hemisphere. But how carbon (C) pool size and distribution varies among tree, understory, forest floor and soil components, and across stand ages remains unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we selected three major temperate and two major boreal forest types in northeastern (NE) China. Within both forest zones, we focused on four stand age classes (young, mid-aged, mature and over-mature). Results showed that total C storage was greater in temperate than in boreal forests, and greater in older than in younger stands. Tree biomass C was the main C component, and its contribution to the total forest C storage increased with increasing stand age. It ranged from 27.7% in young to 62.8% in over-mature stands in boreal forests and from 26.5% in young to 72.8% in over-mature stands in temperate forests. Results from both forest zones thus confirm the large biomass C storage capacity of old-growth forests. Tree biomass C was influenced by forest zone, stand age, and forest type. Soil C contribution to total forest C storage ranged from 62.5% in young to 30.1% in over-mature stands in boreal and from 70.1% in young to 26.0% in over-mature in temperate forests. Thus soil C storage is a major C pool in forests of NE China. On the other hand, understory and forest floor C jointly contained less than 13% and forests respectively, and thus play a minor role in total forest C storage in NE China.

Proceedings of the 1999 Sustainable Forest Management Network conference: science and practice : sustaining the boreal forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Veeman, S.; Smith, D.W.; Purdy, B.G.; Salkie, F.J.; Larkin, G.A. [eds.

1999-05-01

The wide range and complex nature of research in sustainable forest management, supported cooperatively by the forest products industry, governments, the universities, First Nations and other groups, is reflected in the 128 papers presented at this conference. The range of topics discussed include historical perspectives of forest disturbances, including fires and harvesting, biological diversity, gaseous, liquid and solid wastes, community sustainability, public involvement, land aquatic interfaces, forest management planning tools, contaminant transfer, First Nations issues, certification, monitoring and resource trade-offs. The theme of the conference {sup S}cience and practice: sustaining the boreal forest` was selected to identify the key efforts of the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Network on boreal forest research. The objective of the conference was to exchange knowledge and integrate participants into a better working network for the improvement of forest management. refs., tabs., figs.

Indirect effects of rodents on arthropods in a Scandinavian boreal forest

OpenAIRE

Malá, Barbora

2016-01-01

Rodents in boreal forest are an important component of food webs. Their role as drivers of the boreal forest ecosystem is debated. As herbivores they affect plant communities and alter qualities of plants. Consequently availability of food resources for other herbivorous species is altered. In my thesis I studied whether rodents indirectly influence communities of arthropods via plant resources. It is assumed that phytophagous arthropods respond to changes in plant resources by different feed...

Proceedings of a symposium on the reclamation and restoration of boreal peatland and forest ecosystems : towards a sustainable future

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bhatti, J. [Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Foote, L.; Moran, S. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada); Nadeau, L. [Northern Alberta Inst. of Technology, Edmonton, AB (Canada); Rochefort, L. [Laval Univ., Quebec City, PQ (Canada); Short, P. [Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association, St. Albert, AB (Canada); Vitt, D.H. [Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale, IL (United States); Wieder, K. [Villanova Univ., Villanova, PA (United States)] (comps.)

2010-07-01

Disturbances in Canada's boreal forest occur in both upland forests and in peatlands. These disturbances originate from both anthropogenic and natural causes, particularly fire. Techniques for the restoration, as well as the reclamation of peatlands and forests impacted by agriculture, urban development, or oil and gas activities, have made significant advancement over the last decade and these techniques need to be incorporated into the regulation and management of peatland and forest ecosystems. This symposium addressed the issue of how this research is affected by climate change. The sessions were entitled: (1) reclaiming forest and forest soils impacted by oil and gas production, (2) influence of oil sands development on forest communities, (3) understanding the importance of peatland and forest carbon in the twenty-first century, (4) reclaiming wetlands on mined oil sands tailing, (5) disturbance in peatlands and its relevance to minimizing disturbance footprints and informing reclamation efforts, and (6) restoration and management of harvested peatlands. The symposium featured 37 presentations, of which 6 have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs.

Assessing ecosystem carbon stocks of Indonesia's threatened wetland forests

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, M.; Kauffman, B.; Murdiyarso, D.; Kurnianto, S.

2011-12-01

Over millennia, atmospheric carbon dioxide has been sequestered and stored in Indonesia's tropical wetland forests. Waterlogged conditions impede decomposition, allowing the formation of deep organic soils. These globally significant C pools are highly vulnerable to deforestation, degradation and climate change which can potentially switch their function as C sinks to long term sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Also at risk are critical ecosystem services which sustain millions of people and the conservation of unique biological communities. The multiple benefits derived from wetland forest conservation makes them attractive for international C offset programs such as the proposed Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism. Yet, ecosystem C pools and fluxes in wetland forests remain poorly quantified. Significant knowledge gaps exist regarding how land use changes impact C dynamics in tropical wetlands, and very few studies have simultaneously assessed above- and belowground ecosystem C pools in Indonesia's freshwater peat swamps and mangroves. In addition, most of what is known about Indonesia's tropical wetland forests is derived from few geographic locations where long-standing research has focused, despite their broad spatial distribution. Here we present results from an extensive survey of ecosystem C stocks across several Indonesian wetland forests. Ecosystem C stocks were measured in freshwater peat swamp forests in West Papua, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and Sumatra. Carbon storage was also measured for mangrove forests in W. Papua, W. Kalimantan, and Sumatra. One overarching goal of this research is to support the development of REDD+ for tropical wetlands by informing technical issues related to carbon measuring, monitoring, and verification (MRV) and providing baseline data about the variation of ecosystem C storage across and within several Indonesian wetland forests.

Timing of plant phenophases since 1752 in the boreal forest environment

Science.gov (United States)

Kubin, Eero; Tolvanen, Anne; Karhu, Jouni; Valkama, Jari

2016-04-01

Global warming and climate change will significantly affect on forest environment in northern latitudes. There is the strong evidence that increase of early spring and late autumn temperatures will have impacts on growth and growth cycles. In Finland the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Luke since 2015) established in 1996 National Phenological Network to study changes of phenophases all over the country representing southern, middle and northern boreal forest zones. Continuous detailed scientific monitoring includes eleven forest plant species and it forms an excellent basis to evaluate responses of forest vegetation in respect to climate change. Monitoring is done together with Universities and other Institutes. Prior to the establishment of the Finnish National Phenological Network observations has been made solely based on volunteers since 1752. This citizen-science data is very important to analyze phenophases together with the results of the National Network. The long-term data since 1752 shows e.g. an advancement in the onset of Prunus padus flowering by five days per 100 years and correspondingly three days in the rowan (Sorbus aucuparia). The latest results of the Finnish National Network (1996 - 2014) fits well to this long term trend. In the Finnish National Phenological Network we have monitored phenophases of forest spieces throughout the growth period, focusing on nine forest tree species and two dwarf shrubs. The results can be followed in real time at: http://www.metla.fi/metinfo/fenologia/index-en.htm. We have observed big differences in phenophases between southern and northern boreal zone. Onset of downy birch leafing happens one month later in the north compared with southern boreal zone. Coming into leaf has clearly occurred earlier during the research period since 1996 in the northern boreal zone compared with southern boreal zone. This indicates the response of climate change. The timing of leaf colouring and leaf fall was observed remained

Remote Sensing Techniques in Monitoring Post-Fire Effects and Patterns of Forest Recovery in Boreal Forest Regions: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thuan Chu

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The frequency and severity of forest fires, coupled with changes in spatial and temporal precipitation and temperature patterns, are likely to severely affect the characteristics of forest and permafrost patterns in boreal eco-regions. Forest fires, however, are also an ecological factor in how forest ecosystems form and function, as they affect the rate and characteristics of tree recruitment. A better understanding of fire regimes and forest recovery patterns in different environmental and climatic conditions will improve the management of sustainable forests by facilitating the process of forest resilience. Remote sensing has been identified as an effective tool for preventing and monitoring forest fires, as well as being a potential tool for understanding how forest ecosystems respond to them. However, a number of challenges remain before remote sensing practitioners will be able to better understand the effects of forest fires and how vegetation responds afterward. This article attempts to provide a comprehensive review of current research with respect to remotely sensed data and methods used to model post-fire effects and forest recovery patterns in boreal forest regions. The review reveals that remote sensing-based monitoring of post-fire effects and forest recovery patterns in boreal forest regions is not only limited by the gaps in both field data and remotely sensed data, but also the complexity of far-northern fire regimes, climatic conditions and environmental conditions. We expect that the integration of different remotely sensed data coupled with field campaigns can provide an important data source to support the monitoring of post-fire effects and forest recovery patterns. Additionally, the variation and stratification of pre- and post-fire vegetation and environmental conditions should be considered to achieve a reasonable, operational model for monitoring post-fire effects and forest patterns in boreal regions.

Winter climate controls soil carbon dynamics during summer in boreal forests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haei, Mahsa; Öquist, Mats G; Ilstedt, Ulrik; Laudon, Hjalmar; Kreyling, Juergen

2013-01-01

Boreal forests, characterized by distinct winter seasons, store a large proportion of the global terrestrial carbon (C) pool. We studied summer soil C-dynamics in a boreal forest in northern Sweden using a seven-year experimental manipulation of soil frost. We found that winter soil climate conditions play a major role in controlling the dissolution/mineralization of soil organic-C in the following summer season. Intensified soil frost led to significantly higher concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Intensified soil frost also led to higher rates of basal heterotrophic CO 2 production in surface soil samples. However, frost-induced decline in the in situ soil CO 2 concentrations in summer suggests a substantial decline in root and/or plant associated rhizosphere CO 2 production, which overrides the effects of increased heterotrophic CO 2 production. Thus, colder winter soils, as a result of reduced snow cover, can substantially alter C-dynamics in boreal forests by reducing summer soil CO 2 efflux, and increasing DOC losses. (letter)

Use of middle infrared radiation to estimate the leaf area index of a boreal forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boyd, D.S. [Kingston Univ., Surrey (United Kingdom). Centre for Earth and Environmental Science Research, School of Geography; Wicks, T. E.; Curran, P.J. [Southampton Univ., Southampton, Hampshire (United Kingdom). Dept. of Geography

2000-06-01

Reflected radiation recorded by satellite sensors is a common procedure to estimate the leaf area index (LAI) of boreal forest. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), derived from measurements of visible and near infrared radiation were commonly used to estimate LAI. But research in tropical forest has shown that LAI is more closely related to radiation of middle infrared wavelengths than that of visible wavelengths. This research calculated a vegetation index (VI3) using radiation from vegetation recorded at near and middle infrared wavelengths. In the case of boreal forest, VI3 and LAI displayed a closer relationship than NDVI and LAI. Also, the use of VI3 explained approximately 76 per cent of the variation in field estimates of LAI, versus approximately 46 per cent for NDVI. The authors concluded that consideration should be given to information provided by middle infrared radiation to estimate the leaf area index of boreal forest. The research area was located in the Southern Study Area (SSA) of the BOReal Ecosystem-Atmospher Study (BOREAS), situated on the southern edge of the Canadian boreal forest, 40 km north of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. 1 tab., 4 figs., 46 refs.

An Overview of Hydrologic Studies at Center for Forested Wetlands Research, USDA Forest Service

Science.gov (United States)

Devendra M. Amatya; Carl C. Trettin; R. Wayne Skaggs; Timothy J. Callahan; Ge Sun; Masato Miwa; John E. Parsons

2004-01-01

Managing forested wetland landscapes for water quality improvement and productivity requires a detailed understanding of functional linkages between ecohydrological processes and management practices. Studies are being conducted at Center for Forested Wetlands Research (CFWR), USDA Forest Service to understand the fundamental hydrologic and biogeochemical processes...

Responses of Isolated Wetland Herpetofauna to Upland Forest Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, K.R.; Hanlin, H.G.; Wigley, T.B.; Guynn, D.C. Jr.

2002-01-01

Measurement of responses of herpetofauna at isolated wetlands in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina to disturbance of adjacent loblolly pine forest. Many species of isolated wetland herpetofauna in the Southeastern Coastal Plain may tolerate some disturbance in adjacent upland stands. Responses of isolated wetland herpetofauna to upland silviculture and the need for adjacent forested buffers likely depend on the specific landscape context in which the wetlands occur and composition of the resident herpetofaunal community

Growth decline linked to warming-induced water limitation in hemi-boreal forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiuchen; Liu, Hongyan; Guo, Dali; Anenkhonov, Oleg A; Badmaeva, Natalya K; Sandanov, Denis V

2012-01-01

Hemi-boreal forests, which make up the transition from temperate deciduous forests to boreal forests in southern Siberia, have experienced significant warming without any accompanying increase in precipitation during the last 80 years. This climatic change could have a profound impact on tree growth and on the stability of forest ecosystems in this region, but at present evidence for these impacts is lacking. In this study, we report a recent dramatic decline in the growth of hemi-boreal forests, based on ring width measurements from three dominant tree-species (Pinus sylvestris, Larix sibirica and Larix gmelinii), sampled from eight sites in the region. We found that regional tree growth has become increasingly limited by low soil water content in the pre- and early-growing season (from October of the previous year to July of the current year) over the past 80 years. A warming-induced reduction in soil water content has also increased the climate sensitivity of these three tree species. Beginning in the mid-1980s, a clear decline in growth is evident for both the pine forests and the larch forests, although there are increasing trends in the proxy of soil water use efficiencies. Our findings are consistent with those from other parts of the world and provide valuable insights into the regional carbon cycle and vegetation dynamics, and should be useful for devising adaptive forest management strategies.

Water quality and fish dynamics in forested wetlands associated with an oxbow lake

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, Caroline S.; Miranda, Leandro E.; Kroger, Robert

2015-01-01

Forested wetlands represent some of the most distinct environments in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Depending on season, water in forested wetlands can be warm, stagnant, and oxygen-depleted, yet may support high fish diversity. Fish assemblages in forested wetlands are not well studied because of difficulties in sampling heavily structured environments. During the April–July period, we surveyed and compared the water quality and assemblages of small fish in a margin wetland (forested fringe along a lake shore), contiguous wetland (forested wetland adjacent to a lake), and the open water of an oxbow lake. Dissolved-oxygen levels measured hourly 0.5 m below the surface were higher in the open water than in either of the forested wetlands. Despite reduced water quality, fish-species richness and catch rates estimated with light traps were greater in the forested wetlands than in the open water. The forested wetlands supported large numbers of fish and unique fish assemblages that included some rare species, likely because of their structural complexity. Programs developed to refine agricultural practices, preserve riparian zones, and restore lakes should include guidance to protect and reestablish forested wetlands.

NPP Boreal Forest: Kuusamo, Finland, 1967-1972, R1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set contains three files (.txt format). One file provides stand characteristics, biomass, and production allocation data for an old-growth boreal forest...

Simulating Changes in Fires and Ecology of the 21st Century Eurasian Boreal Forests of Siberia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ksenia Brazhnik

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Wildfires release the greatest amount of carbon into the atmosphere compared to other forest disturbances. To understand how current and potential future fire regimes may affect the role of the Eurasian boreal forest in the global carbon cycle, we employed a new, spatially-explicit fire module DISTURB-F (DISTURBance-Fire in tandem with a spatially-explicit, individually-based gap dynamics model SIBBORK (SIBerian BOReal forest simulator calibrated to Krasnoyarsk Region. DISTURB-F simulates the effect of forest fire on the boreal ecosystem, namely the mortality of all or only the susceptible trees (loss of biomass, i.e., carbon within the forested landscape. The fire module captures some important feedbacks between climate, fire and vegetation structure. We investigated the potential climate-driven changes in the fire regime and vegetation in middle and south taiga in central Siberia, a region with extensive boreal forest and rapidly changing climate. The output from this coupled simulation can be used to estimate carbon losses from the ecosystem as a result of fires of different sizes and intensities over the course of secondary succession (decades to centuries. Furthermore, it may be used to assess the post-fire carbon storage capacity of potential future forests, the structure and composition of which may differ significantly from current Eurasian boreal forests due to regeneration under a different climate.

Carbonaceous aerosols from prescribed burning of a boreal forest ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazurek, M.A.; Cofer, W.R. III; Levine, J.S.

1991-01-01

Smoke aerosol and background aerosol particles were collected from the controlled burning of boreal forest where vegetation species and relative mass distributions are known. Chemical mass balances were constructed for the total mass of carbonaceous aerosol particles emitted during the prescribed burn. In addition, a carbonaceous species inventory was developed for aerosol particles presnt under background, smoldering, and full-fire conditions; the production of organic carbon and elemental carbon particles is noted for these two fire regimes. Distributions of the solvent-soluble organic components of the sampled aerosols were generated to identify molecular properties that can be traced to unburned and pyrolyzed materials present in the boreal forest fuels

Boreal Forests of Kamchatka: Structure and Composition

OpenAIRE

Eichhorn, Markus P.

2010-01-01

Central Kamchatka abounds in virgin old-growth boreal forest, formed primarily by Larix cajanderi and Betula platyphylla in varying proportions. A series of eight 0.25–0.30 ha plots captured the range of forests present in this region and their structure is described. Overall trends in both uplands and lowlands are for higher sites to be dominated by L. cajanderi with an increasing component of B. platyphylla with decreasing altitude. The tree line on wet sites is commonly formed by mono-domi...

Water, Energy and Carbon Balance Research: Recovery Trajectories For Oil Sands Reclamation and Disturbed Watersheds in the Western Boreal Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Petrone, R. M.; Carey, S. K.

2014-12-01

The Oil Sand Region (OSR) of North-Central Alberta exists within the sub-humid Boreal Plains (BP) ecozone, with a slight long-term moisture deficit regime. Despite this deficit, the BP is comprised of productive wetland and mixed wood (aspen and conifer dominated) forests. Reclamation activities are now underway at a large number of surface mining operations in the OSR, where target ecosystems are identified, soil prescriptions placed and commercial forest species planted. Some watersheds have been created that now contain wetlands. However, recent work in the BP suggests that over time wetlands supply moisture for the productivity of upland forests. Thus, water use of reclaimed forests is going to be critical in determining the sustainability of these systems and adjacent wetlands, and whether in time, either will achieve some form of equivalent capability that will allow for certification by regulators. A critical component in the success of any reclamation is that sufficient water is available to support target ecosystems through the course of natural climate cycles in the region. Water Use Efficiency (WUE), which links photosynthesis (GEP) with water use (Evapotranspiration (ET)), provides a useful metric to compare ecosystems and evaluate their utilization of resources. In this study, 41 site years of total growing season water and carbon flux data over 8 sites (4 reclamation, 4 regeneration) were evaluated using eddy covariance micrometeorological towers. WUE shows clear discrimination among ecosystem types as aspen stands assimilate more carbon per unit weight of water than conifers. WUEs also change with time as ecosystems become more effective at transpiring water through plant pathways compared with bare-soil evaporation, which allows an assessment of ability to limit water loss without carbon uptake. In addition, clonal rooting systems allow aspen forests to recover quicker after disturbance than reclamation sites in terms of their WUE. For reclamation

Forested wetland area and distribution: A forest and paper industry policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubensky, M.M.; Berg, R.S.; Berry, W.S.

1993-01-01

The policy statement from the 1988 National Wetlands Policy Forum included the amorphous and ambiguous phase no overall net loss of the nation's remaining wetlands base. To industry and thousands of non-industrial landowners, timber production represents a major function of wetlands. The authors cover historical aspects of wetlands protection, the controversial and politicized issue of wetlands delineation, proposed revisions to the wetlands criteria, regulatory issues related to the US Corp of Engineers and EPA, and compensatory mitigation. A package of economic incentives, education, and favorable tax treatment to encourage landowners to maintain their forested wetlands is suggested. 5 refs

Growth decline linked to warming-induced water limitation in hemi-boreal forests.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiuchen Wu

Full Text Available Hemi-boreal forests, which make up the transition from temperate deciduous forests to boreal forests in southern Siberia, have experienced significant warming without any accompanying increase in precipitation during the last 80 years. This climatic change could have a profound impact on tree growth and on the stability of forest ecosystems in this region, but at present evidence for these impacts is lacking. In this study, we report a recent dramatic decline in the growth of hemi-boreal forests, based on ring width measurements from three dominant tree-species (Pinus sylvestris, Larix sibirica and Larix gmelinii, sampled from eight sites in the region. We found that regional tree growth has become increasingly limited by low soil water content in the pre- and early-growing season (from October of the previous year to July of the current year over the past 80 years. A warming-induced reduction in soil water content has also increased the climate sensitivity of these three tree species. Beginning in the mid-1980s, a clear decline in growth is evident for both the pine forests and the larch forests, although there are increasing trends in the proxy of soil water use efficiencies. Our findings are consistent with those from other parts of the world and provide valuable insights into the regional carbon cycle and vegetation dynamics, and should be useful for devising adaptive forest management strategies.

Forest structure and downed woody debris in boreal, temperate, and tropical forest fragments.

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, William A; González, Grizelle; Hudak, Andrew T; Hollingsworth, Teresa Nettleton; Hollingsworth, Jamie

2008-12-01

Forest fragmentation affects the heterogeneity of accumulated fuels by increasing the diversity of forest types and by increasing forest edges. This heterogeneity has implications in how we manage fuels, fire, and forests. Understanding the relative importance of fragmentation on woody biomass within a single climatic regime, and along climatic gradients, will improve our ability to manage forest fuels and predict fire behavior. In this study we assessed forest fuel characteristics in stands of differing moisture, i.e., dry and moist forests, structure, i.e., open canopy (typically younger) vs. closed canopy (typically older) stands, and size, i.e., small (10-14 ha), medium (33 to 60 ha), and large (100-240 ha) along a climatic gradient of boreal, temperate, and tropical forests. We measured duff, litter, fine and coarse woody debris, standing dead, and live biomass in a series of plots along a transect from outside the forest edge to the fragment interior. The goal was to determine how forest structure and fuel characteristics varied along this transect and whether this variation differed with temperature, moisture, structure, and fragment size. We found nonlinear relationships of coarse woody debris, fine woody debris, standing dead and live tree biomass with mean annual median temperature. Biomass for these variables was greatest in temperate sites. Forest floor fuels (duff and litter) had a linear relationship with temperature and biomass was greatest in boreal sites. In a five-way multivariate analysis of variance we found that temperature, moisture, and age/structure had significant effects on forest floor fuels, downed woody debris, and live tree biomass. Fragment size had an effect on forest floor fuels and live tree biomass. Distance from forest edge had significant effects for only a few subgroups sampled. With some exceptions edges were not distinguishable from interiors in terms of fuels.

The role of boreal forests and forestry in the global carbon budget : a synthesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fyles, I.H.; Shaw, C.H.; Apps, M.J.; Karjalainen, T.; Stocks, B.J.; Running, S.W.; Kurz, W.A.; Weyerhaeuser, G.Jr.; Jarvis, P.G.

2002-10-01

This paper provides a synthesis of all papers presented at the conference on the role of boreal forests in the global carbon budget. The scientific community is recognizing the critical links between boreal forest ecosystems, carbon dynamics and global climate change. This paper addresses the five main topics discussed at the conference including: (1) carbon stocks and fluxes, (2) the effects of natural disturbances on carbon dynamics, (3) effects of management practices on carbon dynamics, (4) afforestation and carbon sequestration, and (5) effects of climate change and elevated carbon dioxide concentration on carbon dynamics. Large-scale model simulations suggest that increased global temperatures will result in increased net ecosystem productivity (NEP). Several model simulations also indicate that net primary productivity (NPP) will increase. While most forest stands are currently carbon sinks, disturbances such as fire, insects and tree harvesting make forests susceptible to becoming a source of carbon. In contrast, some studies suggest that climate change will cause shifting vegetation patterns, increased soil carbon and higher forest productivity that may result in higher sequestration of carbon in the boreal forest. 84 refs.

Remote Sensing of Forest Cover in Boreal Zones of the Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Sedykh, V. N.

2011-12-01

Ecological tension resulting from human activities generates a need for joint efforts of countries in the boreal zone aimed at sustainable forest development, including: conservation of forests binding carbon and ensuring stability of the atmosphere gas composition; preservation of purity and water content of forest areas as conditions ensuring sustainability of the historically formed structure of forest landscapes; and preservation of all flora and fauna species composition diversity as a condition for sustainable existence and functioning of forest ecosystems. We have to address these problems urgently due to climate warming which can interact with the forest cover. In particular, in the forest zone of Siberia, the climate aridization will inevitably result in periodic drying of shallow bogs and upland forests with thick forest litter. This will bring fires of unprecedented intensity which will lead to catastrophic atmospheric pollution. In this connection, the above problems can be solved only by the united efforts of boreal-zone countries, through establishing a uniform system for remote sensing of forests aimed at obtaining and periodic update of comprehensive information for rational decision-making in prevention of adverse human effect on the forest. A need to join efforts in this field of natural resource management is determined by disparate data which were created expressly for economic accounting units used mainly for the solution of economic timber resource problems. However, ecological tasks outlined above can be solved appropriately only by using uniform technologies that are registered within natural territorial complexes (landscapes) established throughout the entire boreal zone. Knowledge of forest state within natural territorial entities having specific physiographic conditions, with account for current and future anthropogenic load, allow one to define evidence-based forest growth potential at these landscapes to ensure development of

Caesium-137 in a boreal forest ecosystem. Aspects on the long-term behaviour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergman, R.; Nylen, T.; Nelin, P.; Palo, T.

1993-11-01

Cycling of radioactive caesium, particularly the isotope Cs-137, is studied in boreal forest biotopes mainly located at the Vindeln experimental forest, 60 km NW of Umeaa, Sweden, (64 degrees 16'N, 19 degrees 48'E). The distribution of radioactive caesium in this forest ecosystem, prior to and in different periods after the Chernobyl accident, reflects the existence of fast changes particularly at an early stage after the deposition, superimposed on slow redistribution over long time periods. The definite causes to this complex dynamic behaviour are not yet unambiguously established. In this work we use the specific results from local field studies as a basis to describe the general pattern and time dependence of Cs-137 redistribution in a boreal forest. We raise the hypothesis that: 'Cs-137 present in a boreal forest tends towards a homogenous distribution among the living cells of that system'. This hypothesis is based on physiological characteristics concerning transport over cell membranes and intracellular distribution in comparison to potassium, and the apparently conservative conditions prevailing for caesium in boreal ecosystems - e.g. the facts that very little of the radioactive caesium deposited over the forest area is lost from the system by run off, more than 90% of the total deposition of Cs-137 resides in the upper organic horizon in podzol areas, and that the availability in the ecosystem, as can be seen from the Cs-137 concentration in moose meat, is not significantly different in 1985 (i.e. prior to the Chernobyl accident) in comparison to the period 1986-1990. The aim of this work is to elucidate how predictions, based on our hypothesis about redistribution processes in the boreal forest, corroborates with the main features in the time-dependent change of Cs-137 activity, according to measurements on perennial vegetation from the local sites. In particular the implicit dependence of the dynamics of the redistribution processes on primary

Spatially explicit estimation of aboveground boreal forest biomass in the Yukon River Basin, Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Lei; Wylie, Bruce K.; Brown, Dana R. N.; Peterson, Birgit E.; Alexander, Heather D.; Mack, Michelle C.; Rover, Jennifer R.; Waldrop, Mark P.; McFarland, Jack W.; Chen, Xuexia; Pastick, Neal J.

2015-01-01

Quantification of aboveground biomass (AGB) in Alaska’s boreal forest is essential to the accurate evaluation of terrestrial carbon stocks and dynamics in northern high-latitude ecosystems. Our goal was to map AGB at 30 m resolution for the boreal forest in the Yukon River Basin of Alaska using Landsat data and ground measurements. We acquired Landsat images to generate a 3-year (2008–2010) composite of top-of-atmosphere reflectance for six bands as well as the brightness temperature (BT). We constructed a multiple regression model using field-observed AGB and Landsat-derived reflectance, BT, and vegetation indices. A basin-wide boreal forest AGB map at 30 m resolution was generated by applying the regression model to the Landsat composite. The fivefold cross-validation with field measurements had a mean absolute error (MAE) of 25.7 Mg ha−1 (relative MAE 47.5%) and a mean bias error (MBE) of 4.3 Mg ha−1(relative MBE 7.9%). The boreal forest AGB product was compared with lidar-based vegetation height data; the comparison indicated that there was a significant correlation between the two data sets.

Patchwork policy, fragmented forests: In-situ oil sands, industrial development, and the ecological integrity of Alberta's boreal forest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacCrimmon, G.; Marr-Laing, T.

2000-05-01

Environmental impacts of current oil sands industry activities and the potential cumulative impacts of new in-situ oil sands development on the boreal forest of northeastern Alberta are reviewed. The objective is to improve understanding of the impacts of existing industrial activity on the broader boreal forest ecosystem, and the environmental implications of further disturbance to this ecosystem from future development of heavy and conventional fossil fuel reserves in the province. The report also outlines elements of a boreal forest use framework that could assist in managing industrial activity within ecologically sustainable limits and makes recommendations for specific actions that need to be taken by government and industry to guide future development decisions. The top 50 key landscape areas of interest in the province, identified by the World Wildlife Federation, based primarily on a series of reports by Alberta Environmental Protection, are briefly described. Implications of failure to act are also outlined. 138 end-notes, 8 tabs., 16 figs

Net aboveground biomass declines of four major forest types with forest ageing and climate change in western Canada's boreal forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Han Y H; Luo, Yong

2015-10-01

Biomass change of the world's forests is critical to the global carbon cycle. Despite storing nearly half of global forest carbon, the boreal biome of diverse forest types and ages is a poorly understood component of the carbon cycle. Using data from 871 permanent plots in the western boreal forest of Canada, we examined net annual aboveground biomass change (ΔAGB) of four major forest types between 1958 and 2011. We found that ΔAGB was higher for deciduous broadleaf (DEC) (1.44 Mg ha(-1)  year(-1) , 95% Bayesian confidence interval (CI), 1.22-1.68) and early-successional coniferous forests (ESC) (1.42, CI, 1.30-1.56) than mixed forests (MIX) (0.80, CI, 0.50-1.11) and late-successional coniferous (LSC) forests (0.62, CI, 0.39-0.88). ΔAGB declined with forest age as well as calendar year. After accounting for the effects of forest age, ΔAGB declined by 0.035, 0.021, 0.032 and 0.069 Mg ha(-1)  year(-1) per calendar year in DEC, ESC, MIX and LSC forests, respectively. The ΔAGB declines resulted from increased tree mortality and reduced growth in all forest types except DEC, in which a large biomass loss from mortality was accompanied with a small increase in growth. With every degree of annual temperature increase, ΔAGB decreased by 1.00, 0.20, 0.55 and 1.07 Mg ha(-1)  year(-1) in DEC, ESC, MIX and LSC forests, respectively. With every cm decrease of annual climatic moisture availability, ΔAGB decreased 0.030, 0.045 and 0.17 Mg ha(-1)  year(-1) in ESC, MIX and LSC forests, but changed little in DEC forests. Our results suggest that persistent warming and decreasing water availability have profound negative effects on forest biomass in the boreal forests of western Canada. Furthermore, our results indicate that forest responses to climate change are strongly dependent on forest composition with late-successional coniferous forests being most vulnerable to climate changes in terms of aboveground biomass. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Moss-nitrogen input to boreal forest soils

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rousk, Kathrin; Jones, Davey; DeLuca, Thomas

2014-01-01

Cyanobacteria living epiphytically on mosses in pristine, unpolluted areas fix substantial amounts of atmospheric nitrogen (N) and therefore represent a primary source of N in N-limited boreal forests. However, the fate of this N is unclear, in particular, how the fixed N2 enters the soil and bec...... and that transfer of N to the soil is not facilitated by fungal hyphae....

Who is the new sheriff in town regulating boreal forest growth?

Science.gov (United States)

Park Williams, A.; Xu, Chonggang; McDowell, Nate G.

2011-12-01

Climate change appears to be altering boreal forests. One recently observed symptom of these changes has been an apparent weakening of the positive relationship between high-latitude boreal tree growth and temperature at some sites (D'Arrigo et al 2008). This phenomenon is referred to as the 'divergence problem' or 'divergence effect' and is thought to reflect a non-linear relationship between temperature and tree growth, where recent warming has allowed other factors besides growing-season temperature to emerge as dominant regulators of annual growth rates. Figure 1 demonstrates this divergence phenomenon with records of tree-ring widths collected from 59 populations of white spruce in Alaska 1. Key tendencies among these populations include: (1) growth is most sensitive to temperature during relatively cold growing seasons (figure 1(a)), (2) populations at colder sites are more sensitive to temperature than those at warmer sites are (figure 1(a)), and (3) growth at warmer sites may respond negatively to increased temperature beyond some optimal growing-season temperature (figure 1(b)). Since temperature is rising rapidly at high latitudes, one interpretation of figures 1(a) and (b) is that warming has promoted increased growth at colder sites, but caused growth to plateau or slow at warmer sites. Corroborating this interpretation, satellite imagery and tree-ring data indicate increasing vegetation productivity near the forest-tundra boundary but declining productivity in warmer regions within forest interiors (e.g., Bunn and Goetz 2006, Beck and Goetz 2011, Beck et al 2011, Berner et al 2011). Will continued warming cause a northward migration of boreal forests, with mortality in the warmer, southern locations and expansion into the colder tundra? This question is difficult to answer because many factors besides temperature influence boreal forest dynamics. Widespread productivity declines within interior boreal forests appear to be related to warming

Monitoring Forest Recovery Following Wildfire and Harvest in Boreal Forests Using Satellite Imagery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amar Madoui

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In the managed boreal forest, harvesting has become a disturbance as important as fire. To assess whether forest recovery following both types of disturbance is similar, we compared post-disturbance revegetation rates of forests in 22 fire events and 14 harvested agglomerations (harvested areas over 5–10 years in the same vicinity in the western boreal forest of Quebec. Pre-disturbance conditions were first compared in terms of vegetation cover types and surficial deposit types using an ordination technique. Post-disturbance changes over 30 years in land cover types were characterized by vectors of succession in an ordination. Four post-disturbance stages were identified from the 48 land thematic classes in the Landsat images: “S0” stand initiation phase; “S1” early regeneration phase; “S2” stem exclusion phase; and “S3” the coniferous forest. Analyses suggest that fire occurs in both productive and unproductive forests, which is not the case for harvesting. Revegetation rates (i.e., rapidity with which forest cover is re-established appeared to be more advanced in harvested agglomerations when compared with entire fire events. However, when considering only the productive forest fraction of each fire, the revegetation rates are comparable between the fire events and the harvested agglomerations. The S0 is practically absent from harvested agglomerations, which is not the case in the fire events. The difference in revegetation rates between the two disturbance types could therefore be attributed mostly to the fact that fire also occurs in unproductive forest, a factor that has to be taken into account in such comparisons.

The full annual carbon balance of Eurasian boreal forests is highly sensitive to precipitation

Science.gov (United States)

Öquist, Mats; Bishop, Kevin; Grelle, Achim; Klemedtsson, Leif; Köhler, Stephan; Laudon, Hjalmar; Lindroth, Anders; Ottosson Löfvenius, Mikaell; Wallin, Marcus; Nilsson, Mats

2013-04-01

Boreal forest biomes are identified as one of the major sinks for anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 and are also predicted to be particularly sensitive to climate change. Recent advances in understanding the carbon balance of these biomes stems mainly from eddy-covariance measurements of the net ecosystem exchange (NEE). However, NEE includes only the vertical CO2 exchange driven by photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration. A full net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) also requires inclusion of lateral carbon export (LCE) through catchment discharge. Currently LCE is often regarded as negligible for the NECB of boreal forest ecosystems of the northern hemisphere, commonly corresponding to ~5% of annual NEE. Here we use long term (13 year) data showing that annual LCE and NEE are strongly correlated (p=0.003); years with low C sequestration by the forest coincide with years when lateral C loss is high. The fraction of NEE lost annually through LCE varied markedly from solar radiation caused by clouds. The dual effect of precipitation implies that both the observed and the predicted increases in annual precipitation at high latitudes may reduce NECB in boreal forest ecosystems. Based on regional scaling of hydrological discharge and observed spatio-temporal variations in forest NEE we conclude that our finding is relevant for large areas of the boreal Eurasian landscape.

Canopy interaction with precipitation and sulphur deposition in two boreal forests of Quebec, Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marty, C.; Houle, D.; Duchesne, L.; Gagnon, C.

2012-01-01

The interaction of atmospheric sulphur (S) was investigated within the canopies of two boreal forests in Québec, Canada. The net canopy exchange approach, i.e. the difference between S–SO 4 in throughfall and precipitation, suggests high proportion of dry deposition in winter (up to 53%) as compared to summer (1–9%). However, a 3.5‰ decrease in δ 18 O–SO 4 throughfall in summer compared to incident precipitation points towards a much larger proportion of dry deposition during the warm season. We suggest that a significant fraction of dry deposition (about 1.2 kg ha −1 yr −1 , representing 30–40% of annual wet S deposition) which contributed to the decreased δ 18 O–SO 4 in throughfall was taken up by the canopy. Overall, these results showed that, contrary to what is commonly considered, S interchanges in the canopy could be important in boreal forests with low absolute atmospheric S depositions. - Highlights: ► We investigated sulphur interactions with the canopy of two boreal forests, Québec. ► Sulphur interchanges within the canopy were large and vary with seasons. ► About 1.2 kg S–SO 4 ha −1 yr −1 was taken up by the canopy during warm seasons. ► This represents 30–40% of annual wet S–SO 4 deposition. ► Canopy uptake must be considered for sulphur budget estimations in boreal forests. - The equivalent of 30–40% of annual wet S–SO 4 deposition was taken up by the canopy of two boreal forests during warm seasons.

Influence of different tree-harvesting intensities on forest soil carbon stocks in boreal and northern temperate forest ecosystems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clarke, Nicholas; Gundersen, Per; Jönsson-Belyazid, Ulrika

2015-01-01

) stocks. This paper reviews the findings in the scientific literature concerning the effects of harvesting of different intensities on SOC stocks and fluxes in boreal and northern temperate forest ecosystems to evaluate the evidence for significant SOC losses following biomass removal. An overview...... on SOC stocks in boreal and northern temperate forest ecosystems, which is in any case species-, site- and practice-specific. Properly conducted long-term experiments are therefore necessary to enable us to clarify the relative importance of different harvesting practices on the SOC stores, the key...

Book review: Southern Forested Wetlands: Ecology and Management

Science.gov (United States)

Carl C. Trettin

2000-01-01

The southern region has the largest proportion of wetlands in the conterminous US. The majority of that wetland resource is forested by diverse vegetation communities reflecting differences in soil, hydrology, geomorphology, climatic conditions and past management. Wetland resources in the southern US are very important to the economy providing both commodity and non-...

Declining plant nitrogen supply and carbon accumulation in ageing primary boreal forest ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Högberg, Mona N.; Yarwood, Stephanie A.; Trumbore, Susan; Högberg, Peter

2016-04-01

Boreal forest soils are commonly characterized by a low plant nitrogen (N) supply. A high tree below-ground allocation of carbon (C) to roots and soil microorganisms in response to the shortage of N may lead to high microbial immobilisation of N, thus aggravating the N limitation. We studied the N supply at a Swedish boreal forest ecosystem chronosequence created by new land rising out of the sea due to iso-static rebound. The youngest soils develop with meadows by the coast, followed by a zone of dinitrogen fixing alder trees, and primary boreal conifer forest on ground up to 560 years old. With increasing ecosystem age, the proportion of microbial C out of the total soil C pool from the youngest to the oldest coniferous ecosystem was constant (c. 1-1.5%), whereas immobilised N (microbial N out of total soil N) increased and approached the levels commonly observed in similar boreal coniferous forests (c. 6-7 %), whereas gross N mineralization declined. Simultaneously, plant foliar N % decreased and the natural abundance of N-15 in the soil increased. More specifically, the difference in N-15 between plant foliage and soil increased, which is related to greater retention of N-15 relative to N-14 by ectomycorrhizal fungi as N is taken up from the soil and some N is transferred to the plant host. In the conifer forest, where these changes were greatest, we found increased fungal biomass in the F- and H-horizons of the mor-layer, in which ectomycorrhizal fungi are known to dominate (the uppermost horizon with litter and moss is dominated by saprotrophic fungi). Hence, we propose that the decreasing N supply to the plants and the subsequent decline in plant production in ageing boreal forests is linked to high tree belowground C allocation to C limited ectomycorrhizal fungi (and other soil microorganisms), a strong sink for available soil N. Data on organic matter C-14 suggested that the largest input of recently fixed plant C occurred in the younger coniferous forest

Predicting Climate Change Impacts to the Canadian Boreal Forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trisalyn A. Nelson

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Climate change is expected to alter temperature, precipitation, and seasonality with potentially acute impacts on Canada’s boreal. In this research we predicted future spatial distributions of biodiversity in Canada’s boreal for 2020, 2050, and 2080 using indirect indicators derived from remote sensing and based on vegetation productivity. Vegetation productivity indices, representing annual amounts and variability of greenness, have been shown to relate to tree and wildlife richness in Canada’s boreal. Relationships between historical satellite-derived productivity and climate data were applied to modelled scenarios of future climate to predict and map potential future vegetation productivity for 592 regions across Canada. Results indicated that the pattern of vegetation productivity will become more homogenous, particularly west of Hudson Bay. We expect climate change to impact biodiversity along north/south gradients and by 2080 vegetation distributions will be dominated by processes of seasonality in the north and a combination of cumulative greenness and minimum cover in the south. The Hudson Plains, which host the world’s largest and most contiguous wetland, are predicted to experience less seasonality and more greenness. The spatial distribution of predicted trends in vegetation productivity was emphasized over absolute values, in order to support regional biodiversity assessments and conservation planning.

Diverse growth trends and climate responses across Eurasia's boreal forest

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hellmann, L.; Agafonov, L.; Ljungqvist, F. C.; Churakova (Sidorova), O.; Duethorn, E.; Esper, J.; Hulsmann, L.; Kirdyanov, A. V.; Moiseev, P.; Myglan, V. S.; Nikolaev, A. N.; Reinig, F.; Schweingruber, F. H.; Solomina, O.; Tegel, W.; Büntgen, Ulf

2016-01-01

Roč. 11, č. 7 (2016), č. článku 074021. ISSN 1748-9326 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LO1415 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : 20th-century summer warmth * tree-ring chronology * scots pine * 2 millennia * temperature variability * northern-hemisphere * central siberia * worlds forests * white spruce * carbon-cycle * boreal forest * climate variability * dendroecology * Eurasia * forest productivity * global warming * high northern latitudes Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 4.404, year: 2016

Modelling atmospheric OH-reactivity in a boreal forest ecosystem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mogensen, D.; Smolander, S.; Sogachev, Andrey

2011-01-01

We have modelled the total atmospheric OH-reactivity in a boreal forest and investigated the individual contributions from gas phase inorganic species, isoprene, monoterpenes, and methane along with other important VOCs. Daily and seasonal variation in OH-reactivity for the year 2008 was examined...

Gamma-ray irradiation of a boreal forest ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guthrie, J.E.; Dugle, J.R.

1983-01-01

A long-term radiation ecology research project called Field Irradiator - Gamma (FIG) began at the Whiteshell Nuclear Research Establishment in 1968. The experimental area is in southeastern Manitoba and is located on the western edge of the Precambrian shield. The project studies the ecological effects continuous exposure to a gradient of gamma radiation has on a mixed boreal forest ecosystem. The gradient ranges from 1 to 460,000 times the natural background radiation level. This paper describes the forest, the gamma irradiator and its radiation field, and the research program

Recreating wetland ecosystems in an oil sands disturbed landscape : Suncor consolidated-tailings demonstration wetlands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daly, C. [Suncor Energy, Fort McMurray, AB (Canada). Aquatic Reclamation Research; Tedder, W.; Marlowe, P. [Golder Associates Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada). Oil Sands Div.

2009-10-01

Open pit oil sands mining involves the disturbance of thin overburden covers of Boreal forest lands that must be returned to equivalent land capability after mining activities have ceased. Before mining starts, any wetlands are drained, timber is harvested, and peat, topsoils and subsoils are stockpiled for later use. This article discussed wetland reclamation activities conducted by Suncor Energy at its open pit mining operations. Research facilities were constructed in order to determine if wetlands constructed with consolidated tailings (CT) and pond effluent water (PEW) were able to support a sustainable vegetation community. Thirty-three cat-tail plots were established at the facility as well as unplanted plots in order to determine how quickly natural establishment occurred. Shoreline plug transplants and transplants from a natural saline lake were also introduced. Within 5 years, over 23 plant species had naturally colonized the CT wetlands. However, diversity was lower in CT and PEW-constructed wetlands. It was concluded that the application of a native peat-mineral mix soil may help to increase plant diversity. 20 refs., 5 figs.

Disturbance in boreal forest ecosystems: human impacts and natural processes. Proceedings of the International Boreal Forest Research Association 1997 annual meeting; 1997 August 4-7; Duluth, Minnesota.

Science.gov (United States)

2000-01-01

The papers in these proceedings cover a wide range of topics related to human and natural disturbance processes in forests of the boreal zone in North America and Eurasia. Topics include historic and predicted landscape change; forest management; disturbance by insects, fire, air pollution, severe weather, and global climate change; and carbon cycling.

Landscape control on the hydrogeochemistry of As, Co and Pb in a boreal stream network

Science.gov (United States)

Wällstedt, Teresia; Björkvald, Louise; Laudon, Hjalmar; Borg, Hans; Mörth, Carl-Magnus

2017-08-01

In a boreal stream network, stream water concentrations of As, Co and Pb (filtered, 30% wetland), which was suggested to be controlled by atmospheric deposition in combination with high DOC release from the wetlands. For Co, the highest concentrations were found in the forest dominated sites (>98% forest), which were attributed to the weathering of minerogenic sources. Contrasting response to runoff events could also be related to landscape type; during the spring flood, decreasing concentrations of As, Co and Pb were observed in the wetland dominated catchments due to dilution, while increasing concentrations during spring flood were observed in the mixed catchments (2-30% wetland) and to some degree in the forested catchments, probably due to flushing of the organic-rich riparian sources. Further, metal speciation was calculated using the geochemical equilibrium model Visual MINTEQ. This suggests that dissolved inorganic species of As and Co dominated in headwater streams with low pH while DOC had a major influencing role for Pb. In the larger mixed streams where pH was higher and precipitation of e.g. colloidal Fe and Mn (hydr)oxides was favoured, the major influencing factor was instead adsorption to colloidal Fe for As and Pb, while association to organic matter and colloids of e.g. Mn influenced the concentrations of Co. We thus conclude that landscape type and the magnitude of the runoff events are of great importance for the spatial and temporal variations of As, Co and Pb in this boreal stream network. Projected climate change, with increasing runoff, may therefore influence riverine concentrations and fluxes differently, depending on the prevailing landscape type.

Mirror image hydrocarbons from Tropical and Boreal forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Williams

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Monoterpenes, emitted in large quantities by trees to attract pollinators and repel herbivores, can exist in mirror image forms called enantiomers. In this study such enantiomeric pairs have been measured in ambient air over extensive forest ecosystems in South America and northern Europe. For the dominant monoterpene, α-pinene, the (−-form was measured in large excess over the (+-form over the Tropical rainforest, whereas the reverse was observed over the Boreal forest. Interestingly, over the Tropical forest (−-α-pinene did not correlate with its own enantiomer, but correlated well with isoprene. The results indicate a remarkable ecosystem scale enantiomeric fingerprint and a nexus between the biosphere and atmosphere.

Quantifying the missing link between forest albedo and productivity in the boreal zone

Science.gov (United States)

Hovi, Aarne; Liang, Jingjing; Korhonen, Lauri; Kobayashi, Hideki; Rautiainen, Miina

2016-11-01

Albedo and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR) determine the shortwave radiation balance and productivity of forests. Currently, the physical link between forest albedo and productivity is poorly understood, yet it is crucial for designing optimal forest management strategies for mitigating climate change. We investigated the relationships between boreal forest structure, albedo and FAPAR using a radiative transfer model called Forest Reflectance and Transmittance model FRT and extensive forest inventory data sets ranging from southern boreal forests to the northern tree line in Finland and Alaska (N = 1086 plots). The forests in the study areas vary widely in structure, species composition, and human interference, from intensively managed in Finland to natural growth in Alaska. We show that FAPAR of tree canopies (FAPARCAN) and albedo are tightly linked in boreal coniferous forests, but the relationship is weaker if the forest has broadleaved admixture, or if canopies have low leaf area and the composition of forest floor varies. Furthermore, the functional shape of the relationship between albedo and FAPARCAN depends on the angular distribution of incoming solar irradiance. We also show that forest floor can contribute to over 50 % of albedo or total ecosystem FAPAR. Based on our simulations, forest albedos can vary notably across the biome. Because of larger proportions of broadleaved trees, the studied plots in Alaska had higher albedo (0.141-0.184) than those in Finland (0.136-0.171) even though the albedo of pure coniferous forests was lower in Alaska. Our results reveal that variation in solar angle will need to be accounted for when evaluating climate effects of forest management in different latitudes. Furthermore, increasing the proportion of broadleaved trees in coniferous forests is the most important means of maximizing albedo without compromising productivity: based on our findings the potential of controlling forest

Ditch network maintenance in peat-dominated boreal forests: Review and analysis of water quality management options.

Science.gov (United States)

Nieminen, Mika; Piirainen, Sirpa; Sikström, Ulf; Löfgren, Stefan; Marttila, Hannu; Sarkkola, Sakari; Laurén, Ari; Finér, Leena

2018-03-27

The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of different water management options to mitigate sediment and nutrient exports from ditch network maintenance (DNM) areas in boreal peatland forests. Available literature was reviewed, past data reanalyzed, effects of drainage intensity modeled, and major research gaps identified. The results indicate that excess downstream loads may be difficult to prevent. Water protection structures constructed to capture eroded matter are either inefficient (sedimentation ponds) or difficult to apply (wetland buffers). It may be more efficient to decrease erosion, either by limiting peak water velocity (dam structures) or by adjusting ditch depth and spacing to enable satisfactory drainage without exposing the mineral soil below peat. Future research should be directed towards the effects of ditch breaks and adjusted ditch depth and spacing in managing water quality in DNM areas.

Offset of the potential carbon sink from boreal forestation by decreases in surface albedo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Betts, R.A.

2000-01-01

Carbon uptake by forestation is one method proposed to reduce net carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and so limit the radiative forcing of climate change. But the overall impact of forestation on climate will also depend on other effects associated with the creation of new forests. In particular the albedo of a forested landscape is generally lower than that of cultivated land, especially when snow is lying, and decreasing albedo exerts a positive radiative forcing on climate. Here I simulate the radiative forcings associated with changes in surface albedo as a result of forestation in temperate and boreal forest areas, and translate these forcings into equivalent changes in local carbon stock for comparison with estimated carbon sequestration potentials. I suggest that in many boreal forest areas, the positive forcing induced by decreases in albedo can offset the negative forcing that is expected from carbon sequestration. Some high-latitude forestation activities may therefore increase climate change, rather that mitigating it as intended

Effects of disturbance and climate change on ecosystem performance in the Yukon River Basin boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Wylie, Bruce K.; Rigge, Matthew B.; Brisco, Brian; Mrnaghan, Kevin; Rover, Jennifer R.; Long, Jordan

2014-01-01

A warming climate influences boreal forest productivity, dynamics, and disturbance regimes. We used ecosystem models and 250 m satellite Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data averaged over the growing season (GSN) to model current, and estimate future, ecosystem performance. We modeled Expected Ecosystem Performance (EEP), or anticipated productivity, in undisturbed stands over the 2000–2008 period from a variety of abiotic data sources, using a rule-based piecewise regression tree. The EEP model was applied to a future climate ensemble A1B projection to quantify expected changes to mature boreal forest performance. Ecosystem Performance Anomalies (EPA), were identified as the residuals of the EEP and GSN relationship and represent performance departures from expected performance conditions. These performance data were used to monitor successional events following fire. Results suggested that maximum EPA occurs 30–40 years following fire, and deciduous stands generally have higher EPA than coniferous stands. Mean undisturbed EEP is projected to increase 5.6% by 2040 and 8.7% by 2070, suggesting an increased deciduous component in boreal forests. Our results contribute to the understanding of boreal forest successional dynamics and its response to climate change. This information enables informed decisions to prepare for, and adapt to, climate change in the Yukon River Basin forest.

First Polarimetric GNSS-R Measurements from a Stratospheric Flight over Boreal Forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo Carreno-Luengo

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The first-ever dual-frequency multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite Systems Reflectometry (GNSS-R polarimetric measurements over boreal forests and lakes from the stratosphere are presented. Data were collected during the European Space Agency (ESA sponsored Balloon Experiments for University Students (BEXUS 19 stratospheric balloon experiment using the P(Y and C/A Reflect Ometer (PYCARO instrument operated in closed-loop mode. Maps of the polarimetric ratio for L1 and L2 Global Positioning System (GPS and GLObal Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS, and for E1 Galileo signals are derived from the float phase at 27,000 m height, and the specular points are geolocalized on the Earth’s surface. Polarimetric ratio ( maps over boreal forests are shown to be in the range 2–16 dB for the different GNSS codes. This result suggests that the scattering is taking place not only over the soil, but over the different forests elements as well. Additionally to the interpretation of the experimental results a theoretical investigation of the different contributions to the total reflectivity over boreal forests is performed using a bistatic scattering model. The simulated cross- (reflected Left Hand Circular Polarization LHCP and co-polar (reflected Right Hand Circular Polarization RHCP reflectivities are evaluated for the soil, the canopy, and the canopy–soil interactions for three different biomass densities: 725 trees/ha, 150 trees/ha and 72 trees/ha. For elevation angles larger than the Brewster angle, it is found that the cross-polar signal is dominant when just single reflections over the forests are evaluated, while in the case of multiple reflections the co-polar signal becomes the largest one. The first-ever dual-frequency multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite Systems Reflectometry (GNSS-R polarimetric measurements over boreal forests and lakes from the stratosphere are presented. Data were collected during the European Space

The impact of boreal forest fire on climate warming

Science.gov (United States)

Randerson, J.T.; Liu, H.; Flanner, M.G.; Chambers, S.D.; Jin, Y.; Hess, P.G.; Pfister, G.; Mack, M.C.; Treseder, K.K.; Welp, L.R.; Chapin, F.S.; Harden, J.W.; Goulden, M.L.; Lyons, E.; Neff, J.C.; Schuur, E.A.G.; Zender, C.S.

2006-01-01

We report measurements and analysis of a boreal forest fire, integrating the effects of greenhouse gases, aerosols, black carbon deposition on snow and sea ice, and postfire changes in surface albedo. The net effect of all agents was to increase radiative forcing during the first year (34 ?? 31 Watts per square meter of burned area), but to decrease radiative forcing when averaged over an 80-year fire cycle (-2.3 ?? 2.2 Watts per square meter) because multidecadal increases in surface albedo had a larger impact than fire-emitted greenhouse gases. This result implies that future increases in boreal fire may not accelerate climate warming.

The impact of boreal forest fire on climate warming.

Science.gov (United States)

Randerson, J T; Liu, H; Flanner, M G; Chambers, S D; Jin, Y; Hess, P G; Pfister, G; Mack, M C; Treseder, K K; Welp, L R; Chapin, F S; Harden, J W; Goulden, M L; Lyons, E; Neff, J C; Schuur, E A G; Zender, C S

2006-11-17

We report measurements and analysis of a boreal forest fire, integrating the effects of greenhouse gases, aerosols, black carbon deposition on snow and sea ice, and postfire changes in surface albedo. The net effect of all agents was to increase radiative forcing during the first year (34 +/- 31 Watts per square meter of burned area), but to decrease radiative forcing when averaged over an 80-year fire cycle (-2.3 +/- 2.2 Watts per square meter) because multidecadal increases in surface albedo had a larger impact than fire-emitted greenhouse gases. This result implies that future increases in boreal fire may not accelerate climate warming.

Carbon dioxide and water vapour exchange from understory species in boreal forest.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heijmans, M.M.P.D.; Arp, W.J.; Chapin, F.S.

2004-01-01

Although recent eddy covariance measurements in boreal forests provide CO2 and energy exchange data for the whole ecosystem, very little is known about the role of the understory vegetation. We conducted chamber flux measurements in an Alaskan black spruce forest in order to compare CO2 and water

Wetland forest statistics for the South Atlantic States

Science.gov (United States)

Mark J. Brown; Greg M. Smith; Joseph McCollum

2001-01-01

Twenty-one percent, or 17.6 million acres, of the timberland in the South Atlantic States was classified as wetland timberland. Sixty percent of the region’s wetland timberland was under nonindustrial private forest ownership. Forty-eight percent of the region’s wetland timberland was classified as sawtimber-sized stands. Lowland hardwood types made up 62 percent of...

Major losses of nutrients following a severe drought in a boreal forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Houle, Daniel; Lajoie, Geneviève; Duchesne, Louis

2016-11-28

Because of global warming, the frequency and severity of droughts are expected to increase, which will have an impact on forest ecosystem health worldwide 1 . Although the impact of drought on tree growth and mortality is being increasingly documented 2-4 , very little is known about the impact on nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. Here, based on long-term monitoring data, we report nutrient fluxes in a boreal forest before, during and following a severe drought in July 2012. During and shortly after the drought, we observed high throughfall (rain collected below the canopy) concentrations of nutrient base cations (potassium, calcium and magnesium), chlorine, phosphorus and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), differing by one to two orders of magnitude relative to the long-term normal, and resulting in important canopy losses. The high throughfall fluxes had repercussions in the soil solution at a depth of 30 cm, leading to high DOC, chlorine and potassium concentrations. The net potassium losses (atmospheric deposition minus leaching losses) following the drought were especially important, being the equivalent of nearly 20 years of net losses under 'normal' conditions. Our data show that droughts have unexpected impacts on nutrient cycling through impacts on tree canopy and soils and may lead to important episodes of potassium losses from boreal forest ecosystems. The potassium losses associated with drought will add to those originating from tree harvesting and from forest fires and insect outbreaks 5-7 (with the last two being expected to increase in the future as a result of climate change), and may contribute to reduced potassium availability in boreal forests in a warming world.

Climate effects on vegetation vitality at the treeline of boreal forests of Mongolia

Science.gov (United States)

Klinge, Michael; Dulamsuren, Choimaa; Erasmi, Stefan; Nikolaus Karger, Dirk; Hauck, Markus

2018-03-01

In northern Mongolia, at the southern boundary of the Siberian boreal forest belt, the distribution of steppe and forest is generally linked to climate and topography, making this region highly sensitive to climate change and human impact. Detailed investigations on the limiting parameters of forest and steppe in different biomes provide necessary information for paleoenvironmental reconstruction and prognosis of potential landscape change. In this study, remote sensing data and gridded climate data were analyzed in order to identify main distribution patterns of forest and steppe in Mongolia and to detect environmental factors driving forest development. Forest distribution and vegetation vitality derived from the normalized differentiated vegetation index (NDVI) were investigated for the three types of boreal forest present in Mongolia (taiga, subtaiga and forest-steppe), which cover a total area of 73 818 km2. In addition to the forest type areas, the analysis focused on subunits of forest and nonforested areas at the upper and lower treeline, which represent ecological borders between vegetation types. Climate and NDVI data were analyzed for a reference period of 15 years from 1999 to 2013. The presented approach for treeline delineation by identifying representative sites mostly bridges local forest disturbances like fire or tree cutting. Moreover, this procedure provides a valuable tool to distinguish the potential forested area. The upper treeline generally rises from 1800 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in the northeast to 2700 m a.s.l. in the south. The lower treeline locally emerges at 1000 m a.s.l. in the northern taiga and rises southward to 2500 m a.s.l. The latitudinal gradient of both treelines turns into a longitudinal one on the eastern flank of mountain ranges due to higher aridity caused by rain-shadow effects. Less productive trees in terms of NDVI were identified at both the upper and lower treeline in relation to the respective total boreal forest

Carbon in boreal coniferous forest soil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Westman, C J; Ilvesniemi, H; Liski, J; Mecke, M [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Forest Ecology; Fritze, H; Helmisaari, H S; Pietikaeinen, J; Smolander, A [Finnish Forest Research Inst., Vantaa (Finland)

1997-12-31

The working hypothesis of the research was that the soil of boreal forests is a large carbon store and the amount of C is still increasing in young soils, like in the forest soils of Finland, which makes these soils important sinks for atmospheric CO{sub 2}. Since the processes defining the soil C balance, primary production of plants and decomposition, are dependent on environmental factors and site properties, it was assumed that the organic carbon pool in the soil is also dependent on the same factors. The soil C store is therefore likely to change in response to climatic warming. The aim of this research was to estimate the C balance of forest soil in Finland and predict changes in the balance in response to changes in climatic conditions. To achieve the aim (1) intensive empirical experimentation on the density of C in different pools in the soil and on fluxes between the pools was done was done, (2) the effect of site fertility and climate on the amount and properties of organic C in forest soil was investigated and (3) dynamic modelling for investigating dynamics of the soil C storage was used

Carbon in boreal coniferous forest soil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Westman, C.J.; Ilvesniemi, H.; Liski, J.; Mecke, M. [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Forest Ecology; Fritze, H.; Helmisaari, H.S.; Pietikaeinen, J.; Smolander, A. [Finnish Forest Research Inst., Vantaa (Finland)

1996-12-31

The working hypothesis of the research was that the soil of boreal forests is a large carbon store and the amount of C is still increasing in young soils, like in the forest soils of Finland, which makes these soils important sinks for atmospheric CO{sub 2}. Since the processes defining the soil C balance, primary production of plants and decomposition, are dependent on environmental factors and site properties, it was assumed that the organic carbon pool in the soil is also dependent on the same factors. The soil C store is therefore likely to change in response to climatic warming. The aim of this research was to estimate the C balance of forest soil in Finland and predict changes in the balance in response to changes in climatic conditions. To achieve the aim (1) intensive empirical experimentation on the density of C in different pools in the soil and on fluxes between the pools was done was done, (2) the effect of site fertility and climate on the amount and properties of organic C in forest soil was investigated and (3) dynamic modelling for investigating dynamics of the soil C storage was used

Multi-trophic resilience of boreal lake ecosystems to forest fires.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Tyler L; Lindberg, Mark S; Schmutz, Joel A; Bertram, Mark R

2014-05-01

Fires are the major natural disturbance in the boreal forest, and their frequency and intensity will likely increase as the climate warms. Terrestrial nutrients released by fires may be transported to boreal lakes, stimulating increased primary productivity, which may radiate through multiple trophic levels. Using a before-after-control-impact (BACI) design, with pre- and postfire data from burned and unburned areas, we examined effects of a natural fire across several trophic levels of boreal lakes, from nutrient and chlorophyll levels, to macroinvertebrates, to waterbirds. Concentrations of total nitrogen and phosphorus were not affected by the fire. Chlorophyll a levels were also unaffected, likely reflecting the stable nutrient concentrations. For aquatic invertebrates, we found that densities of three functional feeding groups did not respond to the fire (filterers, gatherers, scrapers), while two groups increased (shredders, predators). Amphipods accounted for 98% of shredder numbers, and we hypothesize that fire-mediated habitat changes may have favored their generalist feeding and habitat ecology. This increase in amphipods may, in turn, have driven increased predator densities, as amphipods were the most numerous invertebrate in our lakes and are commonly taken as prey. Finally, abundance of waterbird young, which feed primarily on aquatic invertebrates, was not affected by the fire. Overall, ecosystems of our study lakes were largely resilient to forest fires, likely due to their high initial nutrient concentrations and small catchment sizes. Moreover, this resilience spanned multiple trophic levels, a significant result for ecologically similar boreal regions, especially given the high potential for increased fires with future climate change.

Climate-Induced Boreal Forest Change: Predictions versus Current Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Soja, Amber J.; Tchebakova, Nadezda M.; French, Nancy H. F.; Flannigan, Michael D.; Shugart, Herman H.; Stocks, Brian J.; Sukhinin, Anatoly I.; Parfenova, E. I.; Chapin, F. Stuart, III; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.

2007-01-01

For about three decades, there have been many predictions of the potential ecological response in boreal regions to the currently warmer conditions. In essence, a widespread, naturally occurring experiment has been conducted over time. In this paper, we describe previously modeled predictions of ecological change in boreal Alaska, Canada and Russia, and then we investigate potential evidence of current climate-induced change. For instance, ecological models have suggested that warming will induce the northern and upslope migration of the treeline and an alteration in the current mosaic structure of boreal forests. We present evidence of the migration of keystone ecosystems in the upland and lowland treeline of mountainous regions across southern Siberia. Ecological models have also predicted a moisture-stress-related dieback in white spruce trees in Alaska, and current investigations show that as temperatures increase, white spruce tree growth is declining. Additionally, it was suggested that increases in infestation and wildfire disturbance would be catalysts that precipitate the alteration of the current mosaic forest composition. In Siberia, five of the last seven years have resulted in extreme fire seasons, and extreme fire years have also been more frequent in both Alaska and Canada. In addition, Alaska has experienced extreme and geographically expansive multi-year outbreaks of the spruce beetle, which had been previously limited by the cold, moist environment. We suggest that there is substantial evidence throughout the circumboreal region to conclude that the biosphere within the boreal terrestrial environment has already responded to the transient effects of climate change. Additionally, temperature increases and warming-induced change are progressing faster than had been predicted in some regions, suggesting a potential non-linear rapid response to changes in climate, as opposed to the predicted slow linear response to climate change.

Waterfowl populations are resilient to immediate and lagged impacts of wildfires in the boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Tyler; Schmutz, Joel A.; Amundson, Courtney L.; Lindberg, Mark S.

2016-01-01

Summary 1. Wildfires are the principal disturbance in the boreal forest, and their size and frequency are increasing as the climate warms. Impacts of fires on boreal wildlife are largely unknown, especially for the tens of millions of waterfowl that breed in the region. This knowledge gap creates significant barriers to the integrative management of fires and waterfowl, leading to fire policies that largely disregard waterfowl. 2. Waterfowl populations across the western boreal forest of North America have been monitored annually since 1955 by the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (BPOP), widely considered the most extensive wildlife survey in the world. Using these data, we examined impacts of forest fires on abundance of two waterfowl guilds – dabblers and divers. We modelled waterfowl abundance in relation to fire extent (i.e. amount of survey transect burned) and time since fire, examining both immediate and lagged fire impacts. 3. From 1955 to 2014, >1100 fires in the western boreal forest intersected BPOP survey transects, and many transects burned multiple times. Nonetheless, fires had no detectable impact on waterfowl abundance; annual transect counts of dabbler and diver pairs remained stable from the pre- to post-fire period. 4. The absence of fire impacts on waterfowl abundance extended from the years immediately following the fire to those more than a decade afterwards. Likewise, the amount of transect burned did not influence waterfowl abundance, with similar pair counts from the pre- to post-fire period for small (1–20% burned), medium (21–60%) and large (>60%) burns. 5. Policy implications. Waterfowl populations appear largely resilient to forest fires, providing initial evidence that current policies of limited fire suppression, which predominate throughout much of the boreal forest, have not been detrimental to waterfowl populations. Likewise, fire-related management actions, such as prescribed burning or targeted suppression

Aboveground Biomass Monitoring over Siberian Boreal Forest Using Radar Remote Sensing Data

Science.gov (United States)

Stelmaszczuk-Gorska, M. A.; Thiel, C. J.; Schmullius, C.

2014-12-01

Aboveground biomass (AGB) plays an essential role in ecosystem research, global cycles, and is of vital importance in climate studies. AGB accumulated in the forests is of special monitoring interest as it contains the most of biomass comparing with other land biomes. The largest of the land biomes is boreal forest, which has a substantial carbon accumulation capability; carbon stock estimated to be 272 +/-23 Pg C (32%) [1]. Russian's forests are of particular concern, due to the largest source of uncertainty in global carbon stock calculations [1], and old inventory data that have not been updated in the last 25 years [2]. In this research new empirical models for AGB estimation are proposed. Using radar L-band data for AGB retrieval and optical data for an update of in situ data the processing scheme was developed. The approach was trained and validated in the Asian part of the boreal forest, in southern Russian Central Siberia; two Siberian Federal Districts: Krasnoyarsk Kray and Irkutsk Oblast. Together the training and testing forest territories cover an area of approximately 3,500 km2. ALOS PALSAR L-band single (HH - horizontal transmitted and received) and dual (HH and HV - horizontal transmitted, horizontal and vertical received) polarizations in Single Look Complex format (SLC) were used to calculate backscattering coefficient in gamma nought and coherence. In total more than 150 images acquired between 2006 and 2011 were available. The data were obtained through the ALOS Kyoto and Carbon Initiative Project (K&C). The data were used to calibrate a randomForest algorithm. Additionally, a simple linear and multiple-regression approach was used. The uncertainty of the AGB estimation at pixel and stand level were calculated approximately as 35% by validation against an independent dataset. The previous studies employing ALOS PALSAR data over boreal forests reported uncertainty of 39.4% using randomForest approach [2] or 42.8% using semi-empirical approach [3].

Ecophysiological modeling of photosynthesis and carbon allocation to the tree stem in the boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Gennaretti, Fabio; Gea-Izquierdo, Guillermo; Boucher, Etienne; Berninger, Frank; Arseneault, Dominique; Guiot, Joel

2017-11-01

A better understanding of the coupling between photosynthesis and carbon allocation in the boreal forest, together with its associated environmental factors and mechanistic rules, is crucial to accurately predict boreal forest carbon stocks and fluxes, which are significant components of the global carbon budget. Here, we adapted the MAIDEN ecophysiological forest model to consider important processes for boreal tree species, such as nonlinear acclimation of photosynthesis to temperature changes, canopy development as a function of previous-year climate variables influencing bud formation and the temperature dependence of carbon partition in summer. We tested these modifications in the eastern Canadian taiga using black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) gross primary production and ring width data. MAIDEN explains 90 % of the observed daily gross primary production variability, 73 % of the annual ring width variability and 20-30 % of its high-frequency component (i.e., when decadal trends are removed). The positive effect on stem growth due to climate warming over the last several decades is well captured by the model. In addition, we illustrate how we improve the model with each introduced model adaptation and compare the model results with those of linear response functions. Our results demonstrate that MAIDEN simulates robust relationships with the most important climate variables (those detected by classical response-function analysis) and is a powerful tool for understanding how environmental factors interact with black spruce ecophysiology to influence present-day and future boreal forest carbon fluxes.

Structure and dynamics of basin forested wetlands in North America

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, S.

1990-01-01

Freshwater basin wetlands are found in depressions of various depths, generally in areas where precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration or where the depression intersects the water table creating groundwater seeps or springs. Forested basins are those that contain woody vegetation with the potential for reaching tree stature; they do not include woody shrub wetlands. In North America these areas are mainly in the central and eastern region. Pertinent information and reviews on the distribution, floristic composition, structure and dynamics of basin forested wetlands are summarized. The major emphasis is on freshwater wetlands, but data for saltwater wetlands mainly from Florida and tropical America are included. The external factors affecting basin wetlands or the important components of a wetlands energy signature are described as well as the distribution and floristic composition of representative basin wetlands. Sections on structural characteristics, organic matter dynamics, and nutrient cycling comprise the bulk of quantitative information. The effects of disturbances, both natural and human induced, with varying degrees of impact depending upon the intensity and on the part of the ecosystem to which the stressor is applied are evaluated. Examples of stressors in basin wetlands include water impoundment, water diversion, thermal stress from hot water, sedimentation, addition of toxic substances, addition of wastewater, oil spills, and harvesting. 86 refs., 5 figs., 11 tabs

Effects of harvesting on spatial and temporal diversity of carbon stocks in a boreal forest landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Ter-Mikaelian, Michael T; Colombo, Stephen J; Chen, Jiaxin

2013-10-01

Carbon stocks in managed forests of Ontario, Canada, and in harvested wood products originated from these forests were estimated for 2010-2100. Simulations included four future forest harvesting scenarios based on historical harvesting levels (low, average, high, and maximum available) and a no-harvest scenario. In four harvesting scenarios, forest carbon stocks in Ontario's managed forest were estimated to range from 6202 to 6227 Mt C (millions of tons of carbon) in 2010, and from 6121 to 6428 Mt C by 2100. Inclusion of carbon stored in harvested wood products in use and in landfills changed the projected range in 2100 to 6710-6742 Mt C. For the no-harvest scenario, forest carbon stocks were projected to change from 6246 Mt C in 2010 to 6680 Mt C in 2100. Spatial variation in projected forest carbon stocks was strongly related to changes in forest age (r = 0.603), but had weak correlation with harvesting rates. For all managed forests in Ontario combined, projected carbon stocks in combined forest and harvested wood products converged to within 2% difference by 2100. The results suggest that harvesting in the boreal forest, if applied within limits of sustainable forest management, will eventually have a relatively small effect on long-term combined forest and wood products carbon stocks. However, there was a large time lag to approach carbon equality, with more than 90 years with a net reduction in stored carbon in harvested forests plus wood products compared to nonharvested boreal forest which also has low rates of natural disturbance. The eventual near equivalency of carbon stocks in nonharvested forest and forest that is harvested and protected from natural disturbance reflects both the accumulation of carbon in harvested wood products and the relatively young age at which boreal forest stands undergo natural succession in the absence of disturbance.

Plant component features of forest-bog ecotones of eutrophic paludification in the south of boreal forest zone of West Siberia

Science.gov (United States)

Klimova, N. V.; Chernova, N. A.; Pologova, N. N.

2018-03-01

Paludified forests formed in transitional forest-bog zone aren’t studied enough, inspite of its high expected diversity and large areas in the south of boreal forest zone of West Siberia. In this article wet birch (Betula pubescens) forests of forest-bog ecotones of eutrophic paludification are investigated on Vasyugan plain with nutrient-rich calcareous clays as soil-forming rocks. Species diversity and ecocoenotic structure of these phytocoenoses are discussed. They correlated with wetness and nutrient-availability of habitats evaluated with indicator values of plants. The participation of hydrophylous species is increasing as wetness of habitats increasing in the forest-to-bog direction like in mesotrophic paludification series. However the number of species is higher in the phytocoenoses of eutrophic paludification. The share of species required to nutrient availability is also higher, both in number and in abundance. A lot of these species are usual for eutrophic boreal forested swamps with groundwater input and absent in forests of mesotrophic paludification. Accordingly the nutrient-availability of habitats is also higher. All these features we connect with birch to be a forest forming species instead of dark-coniferous and with the influence of nutrient-rich parent rocks, which is evident in forest-bog ecotones of Vasyugan plain gradually decreasing together with peat horizon thickening.

Canadian boreal forest greening and browning trends: an analysis of biogeographic patterns and the relative roles of disturbance versus climate drivers

Science.gov (United States)

Sulla-Menashe, Damien; Woodcock, Curtis E.; Friedl, Mark A.

2018-01-01

Recent studies have used satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series to explore geographic patterns in boreal forest greening and browning. A number of these studies indicate that boreal forests are experiencing widespread browning, and have suggested that these patterns reflect decreases in forest productivity induced by climate change. Here we use NDVI time series from Landsat, which has much higher quality and spatial resolution than imagery used in most previous studies, to characterize biogeographic patterns in greening and browning across Canada’s boreal forest and to explore the drivers behind observed trends. Our results show that the majority of NDVI changes in Canada’s boreal forest reflect disturbance-recovery dynamics not climate change impacts, that greening and browning trends outside of disturbed forests are consistent with expected ecological responses to regional changes in climate, and that observed NDVI changes are geographically limited and relatively small in magnitude. By examining covariance between changes in NDVI and temperature and precipitation in locations not affected by disturbance, our results isolate and characterize the nature and magnitude of greening and browning directly associated with climate change. Consistent with biogeographic theory, greening and browning unrelated to disturbance tended to be located in ecotones near boundaries of the boreal forest bioclimatic envelope. We observed greening to be most prevalent in Eastern Canada, which is more humid, and browning to be most prevalent in Western Canada, where forests are more prone to moisture stress. We conclude that continued long-term climate change has the potential to significantly alter the character and function of Canada’s boreal forest, but recent changes have been modest and near-term impacts are likely to be focused in or near ecotones.

Vulnerability to climate-induced changes in ecosystem services of boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

Holmberg, Maria; Rankinen, Katri; Aalto, Tuula; Akujärvi, Anu; Nadir Arslan, Ali; Liski, Jari; Markkanen, Tiina; Mäkelä, Annikki; Peltoniemi, Mikko

2016-04-01

Boreal forests provide an array of ecosystem services. They regulate climate, and carbon, water and nutrient fluxes, and provide renewable raw material, food, and recreational possibilities. Rapid climate warming is projected for the boreal zone, and has already been observed in Finland, which sets these services at risk. MONIMET (LIFE12 ENV/FI/000409, 2.9.2013 - 1.9.2017) is a project funded by EU Life programme about Climate Change Indicators and Vulnerability of Boreal Zone Applying Innovative Observation and Modeling Techniques. The coordinating beneficiary of the project is the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Associated beneficiaries are the Natural Resources Institute Finland, the Finnish Environment Institute and the University of Helsinki. In the MONIMET project, we use state-of-the-art models and new monitoring methods to investigate the impacts of a warming climate on the provision of ecosystem services of boreal forests. This poster presents results on carbon storage in soil and assessment of drought indices, as a preparation for assessing the vulnerability of society to climate-induced changes in ecosystem services. The risk of decreasing provision of ecosystem services depends on the sensitivity of the ecosystem as well as its exposure to climate stress. The vulnerability of society, in turn, depends on the risk of decreasing provision of a certain service in combination with society's demand for that service. In the next phase, we will look for solutions to challenges relating to the quantification of the demand for ecosystem services and differences in spatial extent and resolution of the information on future supply and demand.

Temperate and boreal old-growth forests: how do their growth dynamics and biodiversity differ from young stands and managed forests?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schulze, E.D.; Hessenmoeller, D; Knohl, A.; Luyssaert, S; Boerner, A; Grace, J.

2009-01-01

This chapter investigates biomass, net primary productivity (NPP), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of boreal and temperate forest ecosystems in relation to stand density and age. Forests may accumulate woody biomass at constant rate for centuries and there is little evidence of an age-related

Influence of the forest canopy on total and methyl mercury deposition in the boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

E.L. Witt; R.K. Kolka; E.A. Nater; T.R. Wickman

2009-01-01

Atmospheric mercury deposition by wet and dry processes contributes mercury to terrestrial and aquatic systems. Factors influencing the amount of mercury deposited to boreal forests were identified in this study. Throughfall and open canopy precipitation samples were collected in 2005 and 2006 using passive precipitation collectors from pristine sites located across...

Quantifying the effect of fuel reduction treatments on fire behavior in boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

B.W. Butler; R.D. Ottmar; T.S. Rupp; R. Jandt; E. Miller; K. Howard; R. Schmoll; S. Theisen; R.E. Vihnanek; D. Jimenez

2013-01-01

Mechanical (e.g., shearblading) and manual (e.g., thinning) fuel treatments have become the preferred strategy of many fire managers and agencies for reducing fire hazard in boreal forests. This study attempts to characterize the effectiveness of four fuel treatments through direct measurement of fire intensity and forest floor consumption during a single prescribed...

Modeling Alaska boreal forests with a controlled trend surface approach

Science.gov (United States)

Mo Zhou; Jingjing Liang

2012-01-01

An approach of Controlled Trend Surface was proposed to simultaneously take into consideration large-scale spatial trends and nonspatial effects. A geospatial model of the Alaska boreal forest was developed from 446 permanent sample plots, which addressed large-scale spatial trends in recruitment, diameter growth, and mortality. The model was tested on two sets of...

Ecophysiological modeling of photosynthesis and carbon allocation to the tree stem in the boreal forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Gennaretti

2017-11-01

Full Text Available A better understanding of the coupling between photosynthesis and carbon allocation in the boreal forest, together with its associated environmental factors and mechanistic rules, is crucial to accurately predict boreal forest carbon stocks and fluxes, which are significant components of the global carbon budget. Here, we adapted the MAIDEN ecophysiological forest model to consider important processes for boreal tree species, such as nonlinear acclimation of photosynthesis to temperature changes, canopy development as a function of previous-year climate variables influencing bud formation and the temperature dependence of carbon partition in summer. We tested these modifications in the eastern Canadian taiga using black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill. B.S.P. gross primary production and ring width data. MAIDEN explains 90 % of the observed daily gross primary production variability, 73 % of the annual ring width variability and 20–30 % of its high-frequency component (i.e., when decadal trends are removed. The positive effect on stem growth due to climate warming over the last several decades is well captured by the model. In addition, we illustrate how we improve the model with each introduced model adaptation and compare the model results with those of linear response functions. Our results demonstrate that MAIDEN simulates robust relationships with the most important climate variables (those detected by classical response-function analysis and is a powerful tool for understanding how environmental factors interact with black spruce ecophysiology to influence present-day and future boreal forest carbon fluxes.

Climate change implications of shifting forest management strategy in a boreal forest ecosystem of Norway.

Science.gov (United States)

Bright, Ryan M; Antón-Fernández, Clara; Astrup, Rasmus; Cherubini, Francesco; Kvalevåg, Maria; Strømman, Anders H

2014-02-01

Empirical models alongside remotely sensed and station measured meteorological observations are employed to investigate both the local and global direct climate change impacts of alternative forest management strategies within a boreal ecosystem of eastern Norway. Stand-level analysis is firstly executed to attribute differences in daily, seasonal, and annual mean surface temperatures to differences in surface intrinsic biophysical properties across conifer, deciduous, and clear-cut sites. Relative to a conifer site, a slight local cooling of −0.13 °C at a deciduous site and −0.25 °C at a clear-cut site were observed over a 6-year period, which were mostly attributed to a higher albedo throughout the year. When monthly mean albedo trajectories over the entire managed forest landscape were taken into consideration, we found that strategies promoting natural regeneration of coniferous sites with native deciduous species led to substantial global direct climate cooling benefits relative to those maintaining current silviculture regimes – despite predicted long-term regional warming feedbacks and a reduced albedo in spring and autumn months. The magnitude and duration of the cooling benefit depended largely on whether management strategies jointly promoted an enhanced material supply over business-as-usual levels. Expressed in terms of an equivalent CO2 emission pulse at the start of the simulation, the net climate response at the end of the 21st century spanned −8 to −159 Tg-CO2-eq., depending on whether near-term harvest levels increased or followed current trends, respectively. This magnitude equates to approximately −20 to −300% of Norway's annual domestic (production) emission impact. Our analysis supports the assertion that a carbon-only focus in the design and implementation of forest management policy in boreal and other climatically similar regions can be counterproductive – and at best – suboptimal if boreal forests are to be used as a

Nitrogen balance along a northern boreal forest fire chronosequence.

Science.gov (United States)

Palviainen, Marjo; Pumpanen, Jukka; Berninger, Frank; Ritala, Kaisa; Duan, Baoli; Heinonsalo, Jussi; Sun, Hui; Köster, Egle; Köster, Kajar

2017-01-01

Fire is a major natural disturbance factor in boreal forests, and the frequency of forest fires is predicted to increase due to climate change. Nitrogen (N) is a key determinant of carbon sequestration in boreal forests because the shortage of N limits tree growth. We studied changes in N pools and fluxes, and the overall N balance across a 155-year non stand-replacing fire chronosequence in sub-arctic Pinus sylvestris forests in Finland. Two years after the fire, total ecosystem N pool was 622 kg ha-1 of which 16% was in the vegetation, 8% in the dead biomass and 76% in the soil. 155 years after the fire, total N pool was 960 kg ha-1, with 27% in the vegetation, 3% in the dead biomass and 69% in the soil. This implies an annual accumulation rate of 2.28 kg ha-1 which was distributed equally between soil and biomass. The observed changes in N pools were consistent with the computed N balance +2.11 kg ha-1 yr-1 over the 155-year post-fire period. Nitrogen deposition was an important component of the N balance. The biological N fixation increased with succession and constituted 9% of the total N input during the 155 post-fire years. N2O fluxes were negligible (≤ 0.01 kg ha-1 yr-1) and did not differ among post-fire age classes. The number and intensity of microbial genes involved in N cycling were lower at the site 60 years after fire compared to the youngest and the oldest sites indicating potential differences in soil N cycling processes. The results suggest that in sub-arctic pine forests, the non-stand-replacing, intermediate-severity fires decrease considerably N pools in biomass but changes in soil and total ecosystem N pools are slight. Current fire-return interval does not seem to pose a great threat to ecosystem productivity and N status in these sub-arctic forests.

Photosynthesis and carbon isotope discrimination in boreal forest ecosystems: A comparison of functional characteristics in plants from three mature forest types

Science.gov (United States)

Flanagan, Lawrence B.; Brooks, J. Renee; Ehleringer, James R.

1997-12-01

In this paper we compare measurements of photosynthesis and carbon isotope discrimination characteristics among plants from three mature boreal forest types (Black spruce, Jack pine, and aspen) in order to help explain variation in ecosystem-level gas exchange processes. Measurements were made at the southern study area (SSA) and northern study area (NSA) of the boreal forest in central Canada as part of the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS). In both the NSA and the SSA there were significant differences in photosynthesis among the major tree species, with aspen having the highest CO2 assimilation rates and spruce the lowest. Within a species, photosynthetic rates in the SSA were approximately twice those measured in the NSA, and this was correlated with similar variations in stomatal conductance. Calculations of the ratio of leaf intercellular to ambient CO2 concentration (ci/ca) from leaf carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) values indicated a relatively low degree of stomatal limitation of photosynthesis, despite the low absolute values of stomatal conductance in these boreal tree species. Within each ecosystem, leaf Δ values were strongly correlated with life-form groups (trees, shrubs, forbs, and mosses), and these differences are maintained between years. Although we observed significant variation in the 13C content of tree rings at the old Jack pine site in the NSA during the past decade (indicating interannual variation in the degree of stomatal limitation), changes in summer precipitation and temperature accounted for only 44% of the isotopic variance. We scaled leaf-level processes to the ecosystem level through analyses of well-mixed canopy air. On average, all three forest types had similar ecosystem-level Δ values (average value ± standard deviation, 19.1‰±0.5‰), calculated from measurements of change in the concentration and carbon isotope ratio of atmospheric CO2 during a diurnal cycle within a forest canopy. However, there were

Climate effects on vegetation vitality at the treeline of boreal forests of Mongolia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Klinge

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In northern Mongolia, at the southern boundary of the Siberian boreal forest belt, the distribution of steppe and forest is generally linked to climate and topography, making this region highly sensitive to climate change and human impact. Detailed investigations on the limiting parameters of forest and steppe in different biomes provide necessary information for paleoenvironmental reconstruction and prognosis of potential landscape change. In this study, remote sensing data and gridded climate data were analyzed in order to identify main distribution patterns of forest and steppe in Mongolia and to detect environmental factors driving forest development. Forest distribution and vegetation vitality derived from the normalized differentiated vegetation index (NDVI were investigated for the three types of boreal forest present in Mongolia (taiga, subtaiga and forest–steppe, which cover a total area of 73 818 km2. In addition to the forest type areas, the analysis focused on subunits of forest and nonforested areas at the upper and lower treeline, which represent ecological borders between vegetation types. Climate and NDVI data were analyzed for a reference period of 15 years from 1999 to 2013. The presented approach for treeline delineation by identifying representative sites mostly bridges local forest disturbances like fire or tree cutting. Moreover, this procedure provides a valuable tool to distinguish the potential forested area. The upper treeline generally rises from 1800 m above sea level (a.s.l. in the northeast to 2700 m a.s.l. in the south. The lower treeline locally emerges at 1000 m a.s.l. in the northern taiga and rises southward to 2500 m a.s.l. The latitudinal gradient of both treelines turns into a longitudinal one on the eastern flank of mountain ranges due to higher aridity caused by rain-shadow effects. Less productive trees in terms of NDVI were identified at both the upper and lower treeline in relation

The effect of increasing salinity and forest mortality on soil nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization in tidal freshwater forested wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

Noe, Gregory B.; Krauss, Ken W.; Lockaby, B. Graeme; Conner, William H.; Hupp, Cliff R.

2013-01-01

Tidal freshwater wetlands are sensitive to sea level rise and increased salinity, although little information is known about the impact of salinification on nutrient biogeochemistry in tidal freshwater forested wetlands. We quantified soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) mineralization using seasonal in situ incubations of modified resin cores along spatial gradients of chronic salinification (from continuously freshwater tidal forest to salt impacted tidal forest to oligohaline marsh) and in hummocks and hollows of the continuously freshwater tidal forest along the blackwater Waccamaw River and alluvial Savannah River. Salinification increased rates of net N and P mineralization fluxes and turnover in tidal freshwater forested wetland soils, most likely through tree stress and senescence (for N) and conversion to oligohaline marsh (for P). Stimulation of N and P mineralization by chronic salinification was apparently unrelated to inputs of sulfate (for N and P) or direct effects of increased soil conductivity (for N). In addition, the tidal wetland soils of the alluvial river mineralized more P relative to N than the blackwater river. Finally, hummocks had much greater nitrification fluxes than hollows at the continuously freshwater tidal forested wetland sites. These findings add to knowledge of the responses of tidal freshwater ecosystems to sea level rise and salinification that is necessary to predict the consequences of state changes in coastal ecosystem structure and function due to global change, including potential impacts on estuarine eutrophication.

Palaeodata-informed modelling of large carbon losses from recent burning of boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Ryan; Genet, Helene; McGuire, A. David; Hu, Feng Sheng

2016-01-01

Wildfires play a key role in the boreal forest carbon cycle1, 2, and models suggest that accelerated burning will increase boreal C emissions in the coming century3. However, these predictions may be compromised because brief observational records provide limited constraints to model initial conditions4. We confronted this limitation by using palaeoenvironmental data to drive simulations of long-term C dynamics in the Alaskan boreal forest. Results show that fire was the dominant control on C cycling over the past millennium, with changes in fire frequency accounting for 84% of C stock variability. A recent rise in fire frequency inferred from the palaeorecord5 led to simulated C losses of 1.4 kg C m−2 (12% of ecosystem C stocks) from 1950 to 2006. In stark contrast, a small net C sink of 0.3 kg C m−2 occurred if the past fire regime was assumed to be similar to the modern regime, as is common in models of C dynamics. Although boreal fire regimes are heterogeneous, recent trends6 and future projections7 point to increasing fire activity in response to climate warming throughout the biome. Thus, predictions8 that terrestrial C sinks of northern high latitudes will mitigate rising atmospheric CO2 may be over-optimistic.

Adaptive root foraging strategies along a boreal-temperate forest gradient.

Science.gov (United States)

Ostonen, Ivika; Truu, Marika; Helmisaari, Heljä-Sisko; Lukac, Martin; Borken, Werner; Vanguelova, Elena; Godbold, Douglas L; Lõhmus, Krista; Zang, Ulrich; Tedersoo, Leho; Preem, Jens-Konrad; Rosenvald, Katrin; Aosaar, Jürgen; Armolaitis, Kęstutis; Frey, Jane; Kabral, Naima; Kukumägi, Mai; Leppälammi-Kujansuu, Jaana; Lindroos, Antti-Jussi; Merilä, Päivi; Napa, Ülle; Nöjd, Pekka; Parts, Kaarin; Uri, Veiko; Varik, Mats; Truu, Jaak

2017-08-01

The tree root-mycorhizosphere plays a key role in resource uptake, but also in the adaptation of forests to changing environments. The adaptive foraging mechanisms of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) and fine roots of Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris and Betula pendula were evaluated along a gradient from temperate to subarctic boreal forest (38 sites between latitudes 48°N and 69°N) in Europe. Variables describing tree resource uptake structures and processes (absorptive fine root biomass and morphology, nitrogen (N) concentration in absorptive roots, extramatrical mycelium (EMM) biomass, community structure of root-associated EcM fungi, soil and rhizosphere bacteria) were used to analyse relationships between root system functional traits and climate, soil and stand characteristics. Absorptive fine root biomass per stand basal area increased significantly from temperate to boreal forests, coinciding with longer and thinner root tips with higher tissue density, smaller EMM biomass per root length and a shift in soil microbial community structure. The soil carbon (C) : N ratio was found to explain most of the variability in absorptive fine root and EMM biomass, root tissue density, N concentration and rhizosphere bacterial community structure. We suggest a concept of absorptive fine root foraging strategies involving both qualitative and quantitative changes in the root-mycorrhiza-bacteria continuum along climate and soil C : N gradients. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Use of ground-based radiometers for L-Band Freeze/Thaw retrieval in a boreal forest site

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, A.; Sonnentag, O.; Derksen, C.; Toose, P.; Pappas, C.; Mavrovic, A.; El Amine, M.; Royer, A.; Berg, A. A.; Rowlandson, T. L.; Barr, A.; Black, T. A.

2017-12-01

The boreal forest is the second largest land biome in the world and thus plays a major role in the global and regional climate systems. The extent, timing and duration of the seasonal freeze/thaw (F/T) state influences vegetation developmental stages (phenology) and, consequently, constitutes an important control on how boreal forest ecosystems exchange carbon, water and energy with the atmosphere. Recently, new L-Band satellite-derived F/T information has become available. However, disentangling the seasonally differing contributions from forest overstory and understory vegetation, and the ground surface to the satellite signal remains challenging. Here we present results from an ongoing campaign with two L-Band surface-based radiometers (SBR) installed on a micrometeorological tower at the Southern Old Black Spruce site (53.99°N / 105.12°W) in central Saskatchewan. One radiometer unit is installed on top of the tower viewing the multi-layer vegetation canopy from above. A second radiometer unit is installed within the multi-layer canopy, viewing the understory and the ground surface only. The objectives of our study are to (i) disentangle the L-Band F/T signal contribution of boreal forest overstory from the combined understory and ground surface contribution, and (ii) link the L-Band F/T signal to related boreal forest structural and functional characteristics. Analysis of these radiometer measurements made from September to November 2016 shows that when the ground surface is thawed, the main contributor to both radiometer signals is soil moisture. The Pearson correlation coefficient between brightness temperature (TB) at vertical polarization (V-pol) and soil permittivity is 0.79 for the radiometer above the canopy and 0.74 for the radiometer below the canopy. Under cold conditions when the soil was thawed (snow insulation) and the trees were frozen (below 0°C), TB at V-pol is negatively correlated with tree permittivity. The freezing tree contribution to

Outbreaks of Tularemia in a Boreal Forest Region Depends on Mosquito Prevalence

Science.gov (United States)

Rydén, Patrik; Björk, Rafael; Schäfer, Martina L.; Lundström, Jan O.; Petersén, Bodil; Lindblom, Anders; Forsman, Mats; Sjöstedt, Anders

2012-01-01

Background. We aimed to evaluate the potential association of mosquito prevalence in a boreal forest area with transmission of the bacterial disease tularemia to humans, and model the annual variation of disease using local weather data. Methods. A prediction model for mosquito abundance was built using weather and mosquito catch data. Then a negative binomial regression model based on the predicted mosquito abundance and local weather data was built to predict annual numbers of humans contracting tularemia in Dalarna County, Sweden. Results. Three hundred seventy humans were diagnosed with tularemia between 1981 and 2007, 94% of them during 7 summer outbreaks. Disease transmission was concentrated along rivers in the area. The predicted mosquito abundance was correlated (0.41, P tularemia (temporal correlation, 0.76; P tularemia in a tularemia-endemic boreal forest area of Sweden and that environmental variables can be used as risk indicators. PMID:22124130

APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING DATA FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE UJUK MOUNTAIN BOREAL FORESTS (THE TYVA REPUBLIC, RUSSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khulermaa B. Kuular

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses some issues related to assessment and monitoring of forests insouthern Siberia. This study aims to evaluate the response of southern boreal forests to climate warming at local scale. Estimating the impacts of climate change on mountain boreal forests requires a more complete accounting of tree growth/climate interaction. We used both remote sensing and field data. Field measurements were made from the upper to lower timberline of dark deciduous forest in 2005 and 2012. The remote sensing datasets were generated from LANDSAT scenes of different dates (19.08.1988, 25.06.1992 and 18.08.2011. For estimation of forests changes, we used values of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and NBR (Normalized Burn Ratio.

Are Boreal Ovenbirds, Seiurus aurocapilla, More Prone to Move across Inhospitable Landscapes in Alberta's Boreal Mixedwood Forest than in Southern Québec's Temperate Deciduous Forest?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marc Bélisle

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Population life-history traits such as the propensity to move across inhospitable landscapes should be shaped by exposure to landscape structure over evolutionary time. Thus, birds that recently evolved in landscapes fragmented by natural disturbances such as fire would be expected to show greater behavioral and morphological vagility relative to conspecifics that evolved under less patchy landscapes shaped by fewer and finer-scaled disturbances, i.e., the resilience hypothesis. These predictions are not new, but they remain largely untested, even for well-studied taxa such as neotropical migrant birds. We combined two experimental translocation, i.e., homing, studies to test whether Ovenbird, Seiurus aurocapilla, from the historically dynamic boreal mixedwood forest of north-central Alberta (n = 55 is more vagile than Ovenbird from historically less dynamic deciduous forest of southern Québec (n = 89. We found no regional difference in either wing loading or the response of homing Ovenbird to landscape structure. Nevertheless, this study presents a heuristic framework that can advance the understanding of boreal landscape dynamics as an evolutionary force.

Decadal-scale ecosystem memory reveals interactive effects of drought and insect defoliation on boreal forest productivity

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Itter, M.; D'Orangeville, L.; Dawson, A.; Kneeshaw, D.; Finley, A. O.

2017-12-01

Drought and insect defoliation have lasting impacts on the dynamics of the boreal forest. Impacts are expected to worsen under global climate change as hotter, drier conditions forecast for much of the boreal increase the frequency and severity of drought and defoliation events. Contemporary ecological theory predicts physiological feedbacks in tree responses to drought and defoliation amplify impacts potentially causing large-scale productivity losses and forest mortality. Quantifying the interactive impacts of drought and insect defoliation on regional forest health is difficult given delayed and persistent responses to disturbance events. We developed a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate forest growth responses to interactions between drought and insect defoliation by species and size class. Delayed and persistent responses to past drought and defoliation were quantified using empirical memory functions allowing for improved detection of interactions. The model was applied to tree-ring data from stands in Western (Alberta) and Eastern (Québec) regions of the Canadian boreal forest with different species compositions, disturbance regimes, and regional climates. Western stands experience chronic water deficit and forest tent caterpillar (FTC) defoliation; Eastern stands experience irregular water deficit and spruce budworm (SBW) defoliation. Ecosystem memory to past water deficit peaked in the year previous to growth and decayed to zero within 5 (West) to 8 (East) years; memory to past defoliation ranged from 8 (West) to 12 (East) years. The drier regional climate and faster FTC defoliation dynamics (compared to SBW) likely contribute to shorter ecosystem memory in the West. Drought and defoliation had the largest negative impact on large-diameter, host tree growth. Surprisingly, a positive interaction was observed between drought and defoliation for large-diameter, non-host trees likely due to reduced stand-level competition for water. Results highlight the

Large carbon dioxide fluxes from headwater boreal and sub-boreal streams.

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Venkiteswaran, Jason J; Schiff, Sherry L; Wallin, Marcus B

2014-01-01

Half of the world's forest is in boreal and sub-boreal ecozones, containing large carbon stores and fluxes. Carbon lost from headwater streams in these forests is underestimated. We apply a simple stable carbon isotope idea for quantifying the CO2 loss from these small streams; it is based only on in-stream samples and integrates over a significant distance upstream. We demonstrate that conventional methods of determining CO2 loss from streams necessarily underestimate the CO2 loss with results from two catchments. Dissolved carbon export from headwater catchments is similar to CO2 loss from stream surfaces. Most of the CO2 originating in high CO2 groundwaters has been lost before typical in-stream sampling occurs. In the Harp Lake catchment in Canada, headwater streams account for 10% of catchment net CO2 uptake. In the Krycklan catchment in Sweden, this more than doubles the CO2 loss from the catchment. Thus, even when corrected for aquatic CO2 loss measured by conventional methods, boreal and sub-boreal forest carbon budgets currently overestimate carbon sequestration on the landscape.

Modeling impacts of fire severity on successional trajectories and future fire behavior in Alaskan boreal forests

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Jill F. Johnstone; T. Scott Rupp; Mark Olson; David. Verbyla

2011-01-01

Much of the boreal forest in western North America and Alaska experiences frequent, stand-replacing wildfires. Secondary succession after fire initiates most forest stands and variations in fire characteristics can have strong effects on pathways of succession. Variations in surface fire severity that influence whether regenerating forests are dominated by coniferous...

Influence of wildfires in the boreal forests of Eastern Siberia on atmospheric aerosol parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Tomshin, Oleg A.; Solovyev, Vladimir S.

2017-11-01

The results of studies of the dynamics of forest fires in the boreal forests of Yakutia (Eastern Siberia) for 2001-2016 are presented. Variations of aerosol optical thickness (AOT), aerosol index (AI) and total carbon monoxide content during May-September were studied depending on the different forest fire activity level. It is shown that the seasonal variations of AOT, AI and CO in the most fire-dangerous years differ significantly from the fire seasons when forest fire activity was medium or low.

Cost-effective age structure and geographical distribution of boreal forest reserves.

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Lundström, Johanna; Ohman, Karin; Perhans, Karin; Rönnqvist, Mikael; Gustafsson, Lena; Bugman, Harald

2011-02-01

1. Forest reserves are established to preserve biodiversity, and to maintain natural functions and processes. Today there is heightened focus on old-growth stages, with less attention given to early successional stages. The biodiversity potential of younger forests has been overlooked, and the cost-effectiveness of incorporating different age classes in reserve networks has not yet been studied.2. We performed a reserve selection analysis in boreal Sweden using the Swedish National Forest Inventory plots. Seventeen structural variables were used as biodiversity indicators, and the cost of protecting each plot as a reserve was assessed using the Heureka system. A goal programming approach was applied, which allowed inclusion of several objectives and avoided a situation in which common indicators affected the result more than rare ones. The model was limited either by budget or area.3. All biodiversity indicators were found in all age classes, with more than half having the highest values in ages ≥ 100 years. Several large-tree indicators and all deadwood indicators had higher values in forests 0-14 years than in forests 15-69 years.4. It was most cost-effective to protect a large proportion of young forests since they generally have a lower net present value compared to older forests, but still contain structures of importance for biodiversity. However, it was more area-effective to protect a large proportion of old forests since they have a higher biodiversity potential per area.5. The geographical distribution of reserves selected with the budget-constrained model was strongly biassed towards the north-western section of boreal Sweden, with a large proportion of young forest, whereas the area-constrained model focussed on the south-eastern section, with dominance by the oldest age class.6.Synthesis and applications. We show that young forests with large amounts of structures important to biodiversity such as dead wood and remnant trees are cheap and cost

Stable carbon isotope analysis reveals widespread drought stress in boreal black spruce forests.

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Walker, Xanthe J; Mack, Michelle C; Johnstone, Jill F

2015-08-01

Unprecedented rates of climate warming over the past century have resulted in increased forest stress and mortality worldwide. Decreased tree growth in association with increasing temperatures is generally accepted as a signal of temperature-induced drought stress. However, variations in tree growth alone do not reveal the physiological mechanisms behind recent changes in tree growth. Examining stable carbon isotope composition of tree rings in addition to tree growth can provide a secondary line of evidence for physiological drought stress. In this study, we examined patterns of black spruce growth and carbon isotopic composition in tree rings in response to climate warming and drying in the boreal forest of interior Alaska. We examined trees at three nested scales: landscape, toposequence, and a subsample of trees within the toposequence. At each scale, we studied the potential effects of differences in microclimate and moisture availability by sampling on northern and southern aspects. We found that black spruce radial growth responded negatively to monthly metrics of temperature at all examined scales, and we examined ∆(13)C responses on a subsample of trees as representative of the wider region. The negative ∆(13)C responses to temperature reveal that black spruce trees are experiencing moisture stress on both northern and southern aspects. Contrary to our expectations, ∆(13)C from trees on the northern aspect exhibited the strongest drought signal. Our results highlight the prominence of drought stress in the boreal forest of interior Alaska. We conclude that if temperatures continue to warm, we can expect drought-induced productivity declines across large regions of the boreal forest, even for trees located in cool and moist landscape positions. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cross-scale controls on carbon emissions from boreal forest megafires.

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Walker, Xanthe J; Rogers, Brendan M; Baltzer, Jennifer L; Cumming, Steven G; Day, Nicola J; Goetz, Scott J; Johnstone, Jill F; Schuur, Edward A G; Turetsky, Merritt R; Mack, Michelle C

2018-04-26

Climate warming and drying is associated with increased wildfire disturbance and the emergence of megafires in North American boreal forests. Changes to the fire regime are expected to strongly increase combustion emissions of carbon (C) which could alter regional C balance and positively feedback to climate warming. In order to accurately estimate C emissions and thereby better predict future climate feedbacks, there is a need to understand the major sources of heterogeneity that impact C emissions at different scales. Here, we examined 211 field plots in boreal forests dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana) or jack pine (Pinus banksiana) of the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada after an unprecedentedly large area burned in 2014. We assessed both aboveground and soil organic layer (SOL) combustion, with the goal of determining the major drivers in total C emissions, as well as to develop a high spatial resolution model to scale emissions in a relatively understudied region of the boreal forest. On average, 3.35 kg C m -2 was combusted and almost 90% of this was from SOL combustion. Our results indicate that black spruce stands located at landscape positions with intermediate drainage contribute the most to C emissions. Indices associated with fire weather and date of burn did not impact emissions, which we attribute to the extreme fire weather over a short period of time. Using these results, we estimated a total of 94.3 Tg C emitted from 2.85 Mha of burned area across the entire 2014 NWT fire complex, which offsets almost 50% of mean annual net ecosystem production in terrestrial ecosystems of Canada. Our study also highlights the need for fine-scale estimates of burned area that represent small water bodies and regionally specific calibrations of combustion that account for spatial heterogeneity in order to accurately model emissions at the continental scale. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Plant hydraulic strategies and their variability at high latitudes: insights from a southern Canadian boreal forest site

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Pappas, C.; Matheny, A. M.; Maillet, J.; Baltzer, J. L.; Stephens, J.; Barr, A.; Black, T. A.; Sonnentag, O.

2016-12-01

Boreal forests cover about one third of the world's forested area with a large part of the boreal zone located in Canada. These high-latitude ecosystems respond rapidly to environmental changes. Plant water stress and the resulting drought-induced mortality has been recently hypothesised as a major driver of forest changes in western Canada. Although boreal forests often exhibit low floristic complexity, local scale abiotic heterogeneities may lead to highly variable plant functional traits and thus to diverging plant responses to environmental changes. However, detailed measurements of plant hydraulic strategies and their inter- and intra-specific variability are still lacking for these ecosystems. Here, we quantify plant water use and hydraulic strategies of black spruce (Picea mariana) and larch (Larix laricina), that are widespread in the boreal zone, at a long-term monitoring site located in central Saskatchewan (53.99° N, 105.12° W; elevation 628.94 m a.s.l.). The site is characterized by a mature black spruce overstorey that dominates the landscape with few larch individuals. The ground cover consists mainly of mosses with some peat moss and lichens over a rich soil organic layer. Tree-level sap flux density, measured with Granier-style thermal dissipation probes (N=39), and concurrently recorded radial stem dynamics, measured with high frequency dendrometers (N=13), are used to quantify plant hydraulic functioning during the 2016 growing season. Hydrometeorological measurements, including soil moisture and micrometeorological data, are used to describe environmental constraints in plant water use. Tree-level dynamics are then integrated to the landscape and compared with ecosystem-level evapotranspiration measurements from an adjacent eddy-covariance flux tower. This experimental design allows us to quantify the main environmental drivers that shape plant hydraulic strategies in this southern boreal zone and to provide new insights into the inter- and

Vulnerability of the boreal forest to climate change: are managed forests more susceptible?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leduc, A.; Gauthier, S.

2004-01-01

This paper postulates that forests dominated by younger seral stages are less vulnerable to climate change that those composed of mature and overmature stands. To support this analysis, an overview of expected changes in climate conditions was provided. Expected changes include higher maximum temperatures, higher minimum temperatures and a decrease in periods of intense cold and fewer frost days; reduction in the diurnal temperature range; an increase in the apparent heat index; greater numbers of intense precipitation; and, increased risk of drought associated with air mass movements. A comparison between conditions in a managed forest mosaic and natural forests was made, with managed forests differing due to efforts to regulate the age structure. The inversion in the age structure of forest mosaics creates significant changes in structural characteristics and composition, including greater hardwood components and more even-aged stands. It was concluded that in Canada, managed boreal forests are younger and have less black spruce and more hardwoods and fir, making younger forests less vulnerable to fire and more amenable to fire control due to increased accessibility. It was also noted that because of their relative youth, managed forests are more vulnerable to regeneration failure and that managed forests with more balsam fir and trembling aspen are at greater risk for insect outbreaks. In addition, wind throw, a threat to older forests, is not significant in managed forests. 15 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs

Methane flux from boreal peatlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crill, P.; Bartlett, K.; Roulet, N.

1992-01-01

The peatlands in the boreal zone (roughly 45 deg - 60 degN) store a significant reservoir of carbon, much of which is potentially available for exchange with the atmosphere. The anaerobic conditions that cause these soils to accumulate carbon also makes wet, boreal peatlands significant sources of methane to the global troposphere. It is estimated that boreal wetlands contribute approximately 19.5 Tg methane per year. The data available on the magnitude of boreal methane emissions have rapidly accumulated in the past twenty years. This paper offers a short review of the flux measured (with range roughly 1 - 2000 mg methane/m2d), considers environmental controls of the flux and briefly discusses how climate change might affect future fluxes

Alaska's Changing Fire Regime - Implications for the Vulnerability of Its Boreal Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Kasischke, E. S.; Hoy, E. E.; Verbyla, D. L.; Rupp, T. S.; Duffy, P. A.; McGuire, A. D.; Murphy, K. A.; Jandt, R.; Barnes, J. L.; Calef, M.;

Occurrence patterns of dead wood and wood-dependent lichens in managed boreal forest landscapes

OpenAIRE

Svensson, Måns

2013-01-01

Dead wood is a key resource for biodiversity, on which thousands of forest organisms are dependent. Because of current forest management, there has been a large-scale change in dead wood amounts and qualities, and consequently, many wood-dependent species are threatened. The general aim of this thesis is to increase our understanding of habitat requirements and occurrence patterns of wood-dependent lichens in managed, boreal forest landscapes. We surveyed dead wood and wood-dependent lichens ...

High-resolution records detect human-caused changes to the boreal forest wildfire regime in interior Alaska

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Gaglioti, Benjamin V.; Mann, Daniel H.; Jones, Benjamin M.; Wooller, Matthew J.; Finney, Bruce P.

2016-01-01

Stand-replacing wildfires are a keystone disturbance in the boreal forest, and they are becoming more common as the climate warms. Paleo-fire archives from the wildland–urban interface can quantify the prehistoric fire regime and assess how both human land-use and climate change impact ecosystem dynamics. Here, we use a combination of a sedimentary charcoal record preserved in varved lake sediments (annually layered) and fire scars in living trees to document changes in local fire return intervals (FRIs) and regional fire activity over the last 500 years. Ace Lake is within the boreal forest, located near the town of Fairbanks in interior Alaska, which was settled by gold miners in AD 1902. In the 400 years before settlement, fires occurred near the lake on average every 58 years. After settlement, fires became much more frequent (average every 18  years), and background charcoal flux rates rose to four times their preindustrial levels, indicating a region-wide increase in burning. Despite this surge in burning, the preindustrial boreal forest ecosystem and permafrost in the watershed have remained intact. Although fire suppression has reduced charcoal influx since the 1950s, an aging fuel load experiencing increasingly warm summers may pose management problems for this and other boreal sites that have similar land-use and fire histories. The large human-caused fire events that we identify can be used to test how increasingly common megafires may alter ecosystem dynamics in the future.

Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide fluxes from a fire chronosequence in subarctic boreal forests of Canada.

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Köster, Egle; Köster, Kajar; Berninger, Frank; Aaltonen, Heidi; Zhou, Xuan; Pumpanen, Jukka

2017-12-01

Forest fires are one of the most important natural disturbances in boreal forests, and their occurrence and severity are expected to increase as a result of climate warming. A combination of factors induced by fire leads to a thawing of the near-surface permafrost layer in subarctic boreal forest. Earlier studies reported that an increase in the active layer thickness results in higher carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) emissions. We studied changes in CO 2 , CH 4 and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) fluxes in this study, and the significance of several environmental factors that influence the greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes at three forest sites that last had fires in 2012, 1990 and 1969, and we compared these to a control area that had no fire for at least 100years. The soils in our study acted as sources of CO 2 and N 2 O and sinks for CH 4 . The elapsed time since the last forest fire was the only factor that significantly influenced all studied GHG fluxes. Soil temperature affected the uptake of CH 4 , and the N 2 O fluxes were significantly influenced by nitrogen and carbon content of the soil, and by the active layer depth. Results of our study confirm that the impacts of a forest fire on GHGs last for a rather long period of time in boreal forests, and are influenced by the fire induced changes in the ecosystem. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The role of novel forest ecosystems in the conservation of wood-inhabiting fungi in boreal broadleaved forests.

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Juutilainen, Katja; Mönkkönen, Mikko; Kotiranta, Heikki; Halme, Panu

2016-10-01

The increasing human impact on the earth's biosphere is inflicting changes at all spatial scales. As well as deterioration and fragmentation of natural biological systems, these changes also led to other, unprecedented effects and emergence of novel habitats. In boreal zone, intensive forest management has negatively impacted a multitude of deadwood-associated species. This is especially alarming given the important role wood-inhabiting fungi have in the natural decay processes. In the boreal zone, natural broad-leaved-dominated, herb-rich forests are threatened habitats which have high wood-inhabiting fungal species richness. Fungal diversity in other broadleaved forest habitat types is poorly known. Traditional wood pastures and man-made afforested fields are novel habitats that could potentially be important for wood-inhabiting fungi. This study compares species richness and fungal community composition across the aforementioned habitat types, based on data collected for wood-inhabiting fungi occupying all deadwood diameter fractions. Corticioid and polyporoid fungi were surveyed from 67 130 deadwood particles in four natural herb-rich forests, four birch-dominated wood pastures, and four birch-dominated afforested field sites in central Finland. As predicted, natural herb-rich forests were the most species-rich habitat. However, afforested fields also had considerably higher overall species richness than wood pastures. Many rare or rarely collected species were detected in each forest type. Finally, fungal community composition showed some divergence not only among the different habitat types, but also among deadwood diameter fractions. Synthesis and applications : In order to maintain biodiversity at both local and regional scales, conserving threatened natural habitat types and managing traditional landscapes is essential. Man-made secondary woody habitats could provide the necessary resources and serve as surrogate habitats for many broadleaved deadwood

Shifting Patterns of Boreal Forest Succession and Browning Over the Last 30 Years

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Goulden, M.; Czimczik, C. I.; Randerson, J. T.

2017-12-01

Climate and fire largely control the productivity ("greenness") and biodiversity of boreal forests in North America. Our research focuses on better understanding: 1) the patterns of, controls on, and recent changes in North American Boreal Forest "Browning" and the declining Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) observed in satellite records, and 2) the patterns of, controls on, and recent changes in North American Boreal Forest fire recovery and succession. Much of our effort has used the Landsat archive to analyze the patterns of wildfire and forest recovery along a transect cutting across central Canada; this study areas covers 3 Landsat rows x 25 paths with 2500 summer images. Key findings include: 1) Most (80-90%) of the recent NDVI trends in our study area are attributable to wildfire (areas that burned after 1995 and also before 1975 show browning; areas that burned in 1975-1995 show greening). 2) There are a significant number of non-fire related patches that show either browning or greening; some of these patches are related to fires or human disturbances that aren't in our disturbance database, but others occur in wetter areas, where there is a general tendency toward browning with many specific cases of greening. 3) Various remote sensing metrics yield complementary information providing a clearer sense of the biophysical trends during succession. 4) We see evidence of accelerating succession from 1985-1995 to 2005-2015. This acceleration isn't dramatic, just 1-3 years during early recovery and more during later succession, but it is a consistent feature of the analysis. We are not seeing a systematic decline in old-stand LAI. While NDVI declines in old stands with the loss of deciduous trees, we are not seeing a systematic decrease in old stand LAI or wide spread mortality.

Simulating boreal forest carbon dynamics after stand-replacing fire disturbance: insights from a global process-based vegetation model

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Yue, C.; Ciais, P.; Luyssaert, S.; Cadule, P.; Harden, J.; Randerson, J.; Bellassen, V.; Wang, T.; Piao, S.L.; Poulter, B.; Viovy, N.

2013-01-01

Stand-replacing fires are the dominant fire type in North American boreal forests. They leave a historical legacy of a mosaic landscape of different aged forest cohorts. This forest age dynamics must be included in vegetation models to accurately quantify the role of fire in the historical and current regional forest carbon balance. The present study adapted the global process-based vegetation model ORCHIDEE to simulate the CO2 emissions from boreal forest fire and the subsequent recovery after a stand-replacing fire; the model represents postfire new cohort establishment, forest stand structure and the self-thinning process. Simulation results are evaluated against observations of three clusters of postfire forest chronosequences in Canada and Alaska. The variables evaluated include: fire carbon emissions, CO2 fluxes (gross primary production, total ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem exchange), leaf area index, and biometric measurements (aboveground biomass carbon, forest floor carbon, woody debris carbon, stand individual density, stand basal area, and mean diameter at breast height). When forced by local climate and the atmospheric CO2 history at each chronosequence site, the model simulations generally match the observed CO2 fluxes and carbon stock data well, with model-measurement mean square root of deviation comparable with the measurement accuracy (for CO2 flux ~100 g C m−2 yr−1, for biomass carbon ~1000 g C m−2 and for soil carbon ~2000 g C m−2). We find that the current postfire forest carbon sink at the evaluation sites, as observed by chronosequence methods, is mainly due to a combination of historical CO2 increase and forest succession. Climate change and variability during this period offsets some of these expected carbon gains. The negative impacts of climate were a likely consequence of increasing water stress caused by significant temperature increases that were not matched by concurrent increases in precipitation. Our simulation

Ecological effects of pipeline construction through deciduous forested wetlands, Midland County, Michigan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zellmer, S.D. (Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)); Rastorfer, J.R. (Chicago State Univ., IL (United States). Dept. of Biological Sciences ANL/CSU Cooperative Herbarium, Chicago, IL (United States)); Van Dyke, G.D. (Trinity Christian Coll., Palos Heights, IL (United States). Dept. of Biology)

1991-07-01

Implementation of recent federal and state regulations promulgated to protect wetlands makes information on effects of gas pipeline rights-of-way (ROWs) in wetlands essential to the gas pipeline industry. This study is designed to record vegetational changes induced by the construction of a large-diameter gas pipeline through deciduous forested wetlands. Two second-growth forested wetland sites mapped as Lenawee soils, one mature and one subjected to recent selective logging, were selected in Midland County, Michigan. Changes in the adjacent forest and successional development on the ROW are being documented. Cover-class estimates are being made for understory and ROW plant species using 1 {times}1-m quadrats. Counts are also being made for all woody species with stems < 2 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh) in the same plots used for cover-class estimates. Individual stem diameters and species counts are being recorded for all woody understory and overstory plants with stems {ge}2 cm dbh in 10 {times} 10-m plots. Although analyses of the data have not been completed, preliminary analyses indicate that some destruction of vegetation at the ROW forest edge may have been avoidable during pipeline construction. Rapid regrowth of many native wetland plant species on the ROW occurred because remnants of native vegetation and soil-bearing propagules of existing species survived on the ROW after pipeline construction and seeding operations. 91 refs., 11 figs., 3 tabs.

Ecological effects of pipeline construction through deciduous forested wetlands, Midland County, Michigan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zellmer, S.D.; Rastorfer, J.R.; Van Dyke, G.D.

1991-07-01

Implementation of recent federal and state regulations promulgated to protect wetlands makes information on effects of gas pipeline rights-of-way (ROWs) in wetlands essential to the gas pipeline industry. This study is designed to record vegetational changes induced by the construction of a large-diameter gas pipeline through deciduous forested wetlands. Two second-growth forested wetland sites mapped as Lenawee soils, one mature and one subjected to recent selective logging, were selected in Midland County, Michigan. Changes in the adjacent forest and successional development on the ROW are being documented. Cover-class estimates are being made for understory and ROW plant species using 1 x1-m quadrats. Counts are also being made for all woody species with stems < 2 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh) in the same plots used for cover-class estimates. Individual stem diameters and species counts are being recorded for all woody understory and overstory plants with stems ≥2 cm dbh in 10 x 10-m plots. Although analyses of the data have not been completed, preliminary analyses indicate that some destruction of vegetation at the ROW forest edge may have been avoidable during pipeline construction. Rapid regrowth of many native wetland plant species on the ROW occurred because remnants of native vegetation and soil-bearing propagules of existing species survived on the ROW after pipeline construction and seeding operations. 91 refs., 11 figs., 3 tabs

High-latitude cooling associated with landscape changes from North American boreal forest fires

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. M. Rogers

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Fires in the boreal forests of North America are generally stand-replacing, killing the majority of trees and initiating succession that may last over a century. Functional variation during succession can affect local surface energy budgets and, potentially, regional climate. Burn area across Alaska and Canada has increased in the last few decades and is projected to be substantially higher by the end of the 21st century because of a warmer climate with longer growing seasons. Here we simulated changes in forest composition due to altered burn area using a stochastic model of fire occurrence, historical fire data from national inventories, and succession trajectories derived from remote sensing. When coupled to an Earth system model, younger vegetation from increased burning cooled the high-latitude atmosphere, primarily in the winter and spring, with noticeable feedbacks from the ocean and sea ice. Results from multiple scenarios suggest that a doubling of burn area would cool the surface by 0.23 ± 0.09 °C across boreal North America during winter and spring months (December through May. This could provide a negative feedback to winter warming on the order of 3–5% for a doubling, and 14–23% for a quadrupling, of burn area. Maximum cooling occurs in the areas of greatest burning, and between February and April when albedo changes are largest and solar insolation is moderate. Further work is needed to integrate all the climate drivers from boreal forest fires, including aerosols and greenhouse gasses.

n-Alkane distributions as indicators of novel ecosystem development in western boreal forest soils

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Charlotte; Dungait, Jennifer; Quideau, Sylvie

2013-04-01

Novel ecosystem development is occurring within the western boreal forest of Canada due to land reclamation following surface mining in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region. Sphagnum peat is the primary organic matter amendment used to reconstruct soils in the novel ecosystems. We hypothesised that ecosystem recovery would be indicated by an increasing similarity in the biomolecular characteristics of novel reconstructed soil organic matter (SOM) derived from peat to those of natural boreal ecosystems. In this study, we evaluated the use of the homologous series of very long chain (>C20) n-alkanes with odd-over-even predominance as biomarker signatures to monitor the re-establishment of boreal forests on reconstructed soils. The lipids were extracted from dominant vegetation inputs and SOM from a series of natural and novel ecosystem reference plots. We observed unique very long n-alkane signatures of the source vegetation, e.g. Sphagnum sp. was dominated by C31 and aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) leaves by C25. Greater concentrations of very long chain n-alkanes were extracted from natural than novel ecosystem SOM (puse of n-alkanes as biomarkers of ecosystem development is a promising method.

Interspecific variation in growth responses to tree size, competition and climate of western Canadian boreal mixed forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Xinyu; Huang, Jian-Guo; Cheng, Jiong; Dawson, Andria; Stadt, Kenneth J; Comeau, Philip G; Chen, Han Y H

2018-08-01

Tree growth of boreal forest plays an important role on global carbon (C) cycle, while tree growth in the western Canadian boreal mixed forests has been predicted to be negatively affected by regional drought. Individual tree growth can be controlled by many factors, such as competition, climate, tree size and age. However, information about contributions of different factors to tree growth is still limited in this region. In order to address this uncertainty, tree rings of two dominant tree species, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench.) Voss), were sampled from boreal mixed forest stands distributed across Alberta, Canada. Tree growth rates over different time intervals (10years interval, 1998-2007; 20years interval, 1988-2007; 30years interval, 1978-2007) were calculated to study the effects of different factors (tree size, competition, climate, and age) on tree growth. Results indicated that tree growth of two species were both primarily affected by competition or tree size, while climatic indices showed less effects on tree growth. Growth of trembling aspen was significantly affected by inter- and intraspecific competition, while growth of white spruce was primarily influenced by tree size, followed by competition. Positive relationship was found between growth of white spruce and competition index of coniferous group, suggesting an intraspecific mutualism mechanism within coniferous group. Our results further suggested that competition driven succession was the primary process of forest composition shift in the western Canadian boreal mixed forest. Although drought stress increased tree mortality, decline of stem density under climate change released competition stress of surviving trees, which in turn sustained growth of surviving trees. Therefore, climatic indices showed fewer effects on growth of dominant tree species compared to other factors in our study. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Drivers of variability in tree transpiration in a Boreal Black Spruce Forest Chronosequence

Science.gov (United States)

Angstmann, J. L.; Ewers, B. E.; Kwon, H.

2009-12-01

Boreal forests are of particular interest in climate change studies because of their large land area and ability to sequester and store carbon, which is controlled by water availability. Heterogeneity of these forests is predicted to increase with climate change through the impact of more frequent wildfires, warmer, longer growing seasons, and potential drainage of forested wetlands. This study aims to quantify the influence of stand age, drainage condition, and species on tree transpiration and its drivers in a central Canadian black spruce boreal forest. Heat dissipation sensors were installed in 113 trees (69 Picea mariana (black spruce), 25 Populus tremuloides (trembling aspen), and 19 Pinus banksiana (jack pine) at four stand ages, each containing a well- and poorly-drained site over three growing seasons (2006-2008). Sap flux per unit xylem area, JS, was expressed as transpiration per unit ground area, EC, and transpiration per unit leaf area, EL, using site- and species-specific allometry to obtain sapwood area (AS)and leaf area(AL)per unit ground area. Well-drained, younger Picea mariana daily JS was 47-64% greater than the older well-drained burn ages and younger poorly-drained stands were 64-68% greater than the two oldest poorly-drained stands. Daily EL in the well-drained Picea mariana stands was on average 12-33% higher in younger stand than in the two oldest stands whereas young, poorly-drained Picea mariana had 71% greater daily EL than the older stands. Well-drained Picea mariana trees had 52% higher daily EC than older trees and poorly-drained Picea mariana in the 1964 burn had 42-81% higher daily EC than the oldest stands. Populus tremuloides located in the two youngest stands had daily JS 38-58% greater rates than the 1930 burn, whereas daily EL and EC had no distint differences due to high interannual variability. Pinus banksiana experienced 21-33% greater daily JS in the 1989 burn than in the older 1964 burn for well- and poorly-drained sites

Conservation and restoration of forested wetlands: new techniques and perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

James Johnston; Steve Hartley; Antonio Martucci

2000-01-01

A partnership of state and federal agencies and private organizations is developing advanced spatial analysis techniques applied for conservation and restoration of forested wetlands. The project goal is to develop an application to assist decisionmakers in defining the eligibility of land sites for entry in the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) of the U.S. Department of...

Broadleaf deciduous forest counterbalanced the direct effect of climate on Holocene fire regime in hemiboreal/boreal region (NE Europe)

Science.gov (United States)

Feurdean, Angelica; Veski, Siim; Florescu, Gabriela; Vannière, Boris; Pfeiffer, Mirjam; O'Hara, Robert B.; Stivrins, Normunds; Amon, Leeli; Heinsalu, Atko; Vassiljev, Jüri; Hickler, Thomas

2017-08-01

Disturbances by fire are essential for the functioning of boreal/hemiboreal forests, but knowledge of long-term fire regime dynamics is limited. We analysed macrocharcoal morphologies and pollen of a sediment record from Lake Lielais Svētiņu (eastern Latvia), and in conjunction with fire traits analysis present the first record of Holocene variability in fire regime, fuel sources and fire types in boreal forests of the Baltic region. We found a phase of moderate to high fire activity during the cool and moist early (mean fire return interval; mFRI of ∼280 years; 11,700-7500 cal yr BP) and the late (mFRI of ∼190 years; 4500-0 cal yr BP) Holocene and low fire activity (mFRI of ∼630 years) during the Holocene Thermal Optimum (7500-4500 cal yr BP). Charcoal morphotypes and the pollen record show the predominance of frequent surface fires, occasionally transitioning to the crown during Pinus sylvestris-Betula boreal forests and less frequent surface fires during the dominance of temperate deciduous forests. In contrast to the prevailing opinion that fires in boreal forests are mostly low to moderate severity surface fires, we found evidence for common occurrence of stand-replacing crown fires in Picea abies canopy. Our results highlight that charcoal morphotypes analysis allows for distinguishing the fuel types and surface from crown fires, therefore significantly advancing our interpretation of fire regime. Future warmer temperatures and increase in the frequency of dry spells and abundant biomass accumulation can enhance the fire risk on the one hand, but will probably promote the expansion of broadleaf deciduous forests to higher latitudes, on the other hand. By highlighting the capability of broadleaf deciduous forests to act as fire-suppressing landscape elements, our results suggest that fire activity may not increase in the Baltic area under future climate change.

The Impact of Boreal Forest Fire on Climate Warming

OpenAIRE

Randerson, J. T.; Liu, H.; Flanner, M. G.; Chambers, S. D.; Jin, Y.; Hess, P. G.; Pfister, G.; Mack, M. C.; Treseder, K. K.; Welp, L. R.; Chapin, F. S.; Harden, J. W.; Goulden, M. L.; Lyons, E.; Neff, J. C.

2006-01-01

We report measurements and analysis of a boreal forest fire, integrating the effects of greenhouse gases, aerosols, black carbon deposition on snow and sea ice, and postfire changes in surface albedo. The net effect of all agents was to increase radiative forcing during the first year (34 ± 31 Watts per square meter of burned area), but to decrease radiative forcing when averaged over an 80-year fire cycle (–2.3 ± 2.2 Watts per square meter) because multidecadal increases in surface albedo ha...

Fire Regime along Latitudinal Gradients of Continuous to Discontinuous Coniferous Boreal Forests in Eastern Canada

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeanne Portier

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Fire is the main disturbance in North American coniferous boreal forests. In Northern Quebec, Canada, where forest management is not allowed, the landscape is gradually constituted of more opened lichen woodlands. Those forests are discontinuous and show a low regeneration potential resulting from the cumulative effects of harsh climatic conditions and very short fire intervals. In a climate change context, and because the forest industry is interested in opening new territories to forest management in the north, it is crucial to better understand how and why fire risk varies from the north to the south at the transition between the discontinuous and continuous boreal forest. We used time-since-fire (TSF data from fire archives as well as a broad field campaign in Quebec’s coniferous boreal forests along four north-south transects in order to reconstruct the fire history of the past 150 to 300 years. We performed survival analyses in each transect in order to (1 determine if climate influences the fire risk along the latitudinal gradient; (2 fractionate the transects into different fire risk zones; and (3 quantify the fire cycle—defined as the time required to burn an area equivalent to the size of the study area—of each zone and compare its estimated value with current fire activity. Results suggest that drought conditions are moderately to highly responsible for the increasing fire risk from south to north in the three westernmost transects. No climate influence was observed in the last one, possibly because of its complex physical environment. Fire cycles are shortening from south to north, and from east to west. Limits between high and low fire risk zones are consistent with the limit between discontinuous and continuous forests, established based on recent fire activity. Compared to the last 40 years, fire cycles of the last 150–300 years are shorter. Our results suggest that as drought episodes are expected to become more frequent

Simulating boreal forest carbon dynamics after stand-replacing fire disturbance : Insights from a global process-based vegetation model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yue, Chao; Ciais, P.; Luyssaert, S.; Cadule, Patricia; Harden, J. L.; Randerson, J.; Bellassen, V.; Wang, T.; Piao, S.L.; Poulter, B.; Viovy, N.

2013-01-01

Stand-replacing fires are the dominant fire type in North American boreal forests. They leave a historical legacy of a mosaic landscape of different aged forest cohorts. This forest age dynamics must be included in vegetation models to accurately quantify the role of fire in the historical and

Fire spread probabilities for experimental beds composed of mixedwood boreal forest fuels

Science.gov (United States)

M.B. Dickinson; E.A. Johnson; R. Artiaga

2013-01-01

Although fuel characteristics are assumed to have an important impact on fire regimes through their effects on extinction dynamics, limited capabilities exist for predicting whether a fire will spread in mixedwood boreal forest surface fuels. To improve predictive capabilities, we conducted 347 no-wind, laboratory test burns in surface fuels collected from the mixed-...

Russian boreal peatlands dominate the natural European methane budget

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, Julia; Jungkunst, Hermann F; Wolf, Ulrike; Schreiber, Peter; Kutzbach, Lars; Gazovic, Michal; Miglovets, Mikhail; Mikhaylov, Oleg; Grunwald, Dennis; Erasmi, Stefan; Wilmking, Martin

2016-01-01

About 60% of the European wetlands are located in the European part of Russia. Nevertheless, data on methane emissions from wetlands of that area are absent. Here we present results of methane emission measurements for two climatically different years from a boreal peatland complex in European Russia. Winter fluxes were well within the range of what has been reported for the peatlands of other boreal regions before, but summer fluxes greatly exceeded the average range of 5–80 mg CH 4 m −2 d −1 for the circumpolar boreal zone. Half of the measured fluxes ranged between 150 and 450 mg CH 4 m −2 d −1 . Extrapolation of our data to the whole boreal zone of European Russia shows that theses emissions could amount to up to 2.7 ± 1.1 Tg CH 4 a −1 , corresponding to 69% of the annual emissions from European wetlands or 33% of the total annual natural European methane emission. In 2008, climatic conditions corresponded to the long term mean, whereas the summer of 2011 was warmer and noticeably drier. Counterintuitively, these conditions led to even higher CH 4 emissions, with peaks up to two times higher than the values measured in 2008. As Russian peatlands dominate the areal extend of wetlands in Europe and are characterized by very high methane fluxes to the atmosphere, it is evident, that sound European methane budgeting will only be achieved with more insight into Russian peatlands. (letter)

Biased representation of disturbance rates in the roadside sampling frame in boreal forests: implications for monitoring design

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Steven L. Van Wilgenburg

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS is the principal source of data to inform researchers about the status of and trend for boreal forest birds. Unfortunately, little BBS coverage is available in the boreal forest, where increasing concern over the status of species breeding there has increased interest in northward expansion of the BBS. However, high disturbance rates in the boreal forest may complicate roadside monitoring. If the roadside sampling frame does not capture variation in disturbance rates because of either road placement or the use of roads for resource extraction, biased trend estimates might result. In this study, we examined roadside bias in the proportional representation of habitat disturbance via spatial data on forest "loss," forest fires, and anthropogenic disturbance. In each of 455 BBS routes, the area disturbed within multiple buffers away from the road was calculated and compared against the area disturbed in degree blocks and BBS strata. We found a nonlinear relationship between bias and distance from the road, suggesting forest loss and forest fires were underrepresented below 75 and 100 m, respectively. In contrast, anthropogenic disturbance was overrepresented at distances below 500 m and underrepresented thereafter. After accounting for distance from road, BBS routes were reasonably representative of the degree blocks they were within, with only a few strata showing biased representation. In general, anthropogenic disturbance is overrepresented in southern strata, and forest fires are underrepresented in almost all strata. Similar biases exist when comparing the entire road network and the subset sampled by BBS routes against the amount of disturbance within BBS strata; however, the magnitude of biases differed. Based on our results, we recommend that spatial stratification and rotating panel designs be used to spread limited BBS and off-road sampling effort in an unbiased fashion and that new BBS routes

Nitrogen and carbon reallocation in fungal mycelia during decomposition of boreal forest litter.

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Johanna B Boberg

Full Text Available Boreal forests are characterized by spatially heterogeneous soils with low N availability. The decomposition of coniferous litter in these systems is primarily performed by basidiomycete fungi, which often form large mycelia with a well-developed capacity to reallocate resources spatially- an advantageous trait in heterogeneous environments. In axenic microcosm systems we tested whether fungi increase their biomass production by reallocating N between Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine needles at different stages of decomposition. We estimated fungal biomass production by analysing the accumulation of the fungal cell wall compound chitin. Monospecific systems were compared with systems with interspecific interactions. We found that the fungi reallocated assimilated N and mycelial growth away from well-degraded litter towards fresh litter components. This redistribution was accompanied by reduced decomposition of older litter. Interconnection of substrates increased over-all fungal C use efficiency (i.e. the allocation of assimilated C to biomass rather than respiration, presumably by enabling fungal translocation of growth-limiting N to litter with higher C quality. Fungal connection between different substrates also restricted N-mineralization and production of dissolved organic N, suggesting that litter saprotrophs in boreal forest ecosystems primarily act to redistribute rather than release N. This spatial integration of different resource qualities was hindered by interspecific interactions, in which litters of contrasting quality were colonised by two different basidiomycete species. The experiments provide a detailed picture of how resource reallocation in two decomposer fungi leads to a more efficient utilisation of spatially separated resources under N-limitation. From an ecosystem point of view, such economic fungal behaviour could potentially contribute to organic matter accumulation in the litter layers of boreal forests.

Nitrogen and carbon reallocation in fungal mycelia during decomposition of boreal forest litter.

Science.gov (United States)

Boberg, Johanna B; Finlay, Roger D; Stenlid, Jan; Ekblad, Alf; Lindahl, Björn D

2014-01-01

Boreal forests are characterized by spatially heterogeneous soils with low N availability. The decomposition of coniferous litter in these systems is primarily performed by basidiomycete fungi, which often form large mycelia with a well-developed capacity to reallocate resources spatially- an advantageous trait in heterogeneous environments. In axenic microcosm systems we tested whether fungi increase their biomass production by reallocating N between Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) needles at different stages of decomposition. We estimated fungal biomass production by analysing the accumulation of the fungal cell wall compound chitin. Monospecific systems were compared with systems with interspecific interactions. We found that the fungi reallocated assimilated N and mycelial growth away from well-degraded litter towards fresh litter components. This redistribution was accompanied by reduced decomposition of older litter. Interconnection of substrates increased over-all fungal C use efficiency (i.e. the allocation of assimilated C to biomass rather than respiration), presumably by enabling fungal translocation of growth-limiting N to litter with higher C quality. Fungal connection between different substrates also restricted N-mineralization and production of dissolved organic N, suggesting that litter saprotrophs in boreal forest ecosystems primarily act to redistribute rather than release N. This spatial integration of different resource qualities was hindered by interspecific interactions, in which litters of contrasting quality were colonised by two different basidiomycete species. The experiments provide a detailed picture of how resource reallocation in two decomposer fungi leads to a more efficient utilisation of spatially separated resources under N-limitation. From an ecosystem point of view, such economic fungal behaviour could potentially contribute to organic matter accumulation in the litter layers of boreal forests.

Maintaining animal assemblages through single-species management: the case of threatened caribou in boreal forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Bichet, Orphé; Dupuch, Angélique; Hébert, Christian; Le Borgne, Hélène Le; Fortin, Daniel

2016-03-01

With the intensification of human activities, preserving animal populations is a contemporary challenge of critical importance. In this context, the umbrella species concept is appealing because preserving a single species should result in the protection of multiple co-occurring species. Practitioners, though, face the task of having to find suitable umbrellas to develop single-species management guidelines. In North America, boreal forests must be managed to facilitate the recovery of the threatened boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus). Yet, the effect of caribou conservation on co-occurring animal species remains poorly documented. We tested if boreal caribou can constitute an effective umbrella for boreal fauna. Birds, small mammals, and insects were sampled along gradients of post-harvest and post-fire forest succession. Predictive models of occupancy were developed from the responses of 95 species to characteristics of forest stands and their surroundings. We then assessed the similarity of species occupancy expected between simulated harvested landscapes and a 90 000-km2 uncut landscape. Managed landscapes were simulated based on three levels of disturbance, two timber-harvest rotation cycles, and dispersed or aggregated cut-blocks. We found that management guidelines that were more likely to maintain caribou populations should also better preserve animal assemblages. Relative to fragmentation or harvest cycle, we detected a stronger effect of habitat loss on species assemblages. Disturbing 22%, 35%, and 45% of the landscape should result, respectively, in 80%, 60%, and 40% probability for caribou populations to be sustainable; in turn, this should result in regional species assemblages with Jaccard similarity indices of 0.86, 0.79, and 0.74, respectively, relative to the uncut landscape. Our study thus demonstrates the value of single-species management for animal conservation. Our quantitative approach allows for the evaluation of management guidelines prior

Characterization of breeding habitats for black and surf scoters in the eastern boreal forest and subarctic regions of Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, M.C.; Kidwell, D.M.; Wells, A.M.; Lohnes, E.J.R.; Osenton, P.C.; Altmann, S.H.; Hanson, Alan; Kerekes, Joseph; Paquet, Julie

2006-01-01

We analyzed characteristics of wetland habitats used by breeding black scoters (Melanitta nigra) and surf scoters (M. perspicillata) in the eastern boreal forest and subarctic regions of Canada based on satellite telemetry data collected in the spring and summer. During 2002 and 2004, nine black scoters (four males, five females) were tracked to breeding areas in Quebec, Manitoba, and Northwest Territories. In addition, in 2001?04, seven surf scoters (three males, four females) were tracked to breeding areas in Labrador, Quebec, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Based on satellite telemetry data, locations of black and surf scoters in breeding areas were not significantly different in regard to latitude and longitude. Presumed breeding areas were manually plotted on topographic maps and percent cover type and water were estimated. Breeding habitat of black scoters was significantly different than that for surf scoters, with black scoters mainly using open (tundra) areas (44%) and surf scoters using mainly forest areas (66%). Surf scoters presumed breeding areas were at significantly higher elevations than areas used by black scoters. Some breeding areas were associated with islands, but the role of islands for breeding areas is equivocal. These results aid in the identification of potentially critical breeding areas and provide a baseline classification of breeding habitats used by these two species.

Changes in plant water use efficiency over the recent past reconstructed using palaeo plant records from the boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Gagen, M.; Finsinger, W.; McCarroll, D.; Wagner, F.

2009-04-01

The Boreal forests contains 33% of the earth's forest cover and are located at the latitude where most of the estimated global warming is predicted to occur. Warming as a consequence of rising carbon dioxide will affect evapotranspiration within the biome, with significant consequences given that water vapour is an important greenhouse gas. However, there is also a physiological forcing associated with the effects of rising carbon dioxide on plants. Higher atmospheric carbon dioxide will reduce evapotraspiration because tree stomata tend to close under elevated carbon dioxide. The warming associated with reduced evapotranspiration is known as carbon dioxide physiological forcing and it is not well constrained. Here we suggest that future predictions of evapotranspiration flux within the Boreal forest zone might be more accurately gauged by taking account of palaeo evidence of changing plant water use efficiency and stomatal density in the two most important Boreal plant species: Pinus sylvestris and Betula nana. Stable carbon isotope ratios in tree ring cellulose and stomatal density measurements, from preserved leaves falling on the forest floor, hold a record of the plant physiological changes associated with adjustment to rising carbon dioxide. We present evidence that, rather than plants simply closing their stomatal apertures under recent elevated carbon dioxide, over the last 150 years reduced evapotranspiration in the northern Boreal forest has been associated with a powerful plastic response including reductions in stomatal conductance via changes in stomatal density and pore length. Furthermore we present evidence that trees may be reaching the limits of their ability to respond plastically to rising carbon dioxide by increasing their water use efficiency.

Effects of ionizing radiation on the boreal forest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amiro, B.D.

1995-08-01

The Field-Irradiator-Gamma (FIG) project chronically exposed a section of the boreal forest to ionizing radiation by placing a 137 Cs source on tope of a 20-m tower at a forest site in southeastern Manitoba. The irradiation continued from 1973 to 1986 and the forest was exposed to radiological dose rates ranging from 65 mGy.h -1 to 0.005 mGy.h -1 along a gradient extending 500 m from the source. The irradiation killed the tree canopy close to the irradiator, resulting in the formation of a herbaceous zone of vegetation at high dose rates. After 14 years of irradiation, some tree species were still being affected at dose rates as low as about 1 mGy.h -1 . The data gathered at the FIG site can be used to identify radiological dose rates that forest communities can tolerate. This information allows decisions to be made concerning guidelines for protection of the general environment from radionuclide emissions from various anthropogenic sources, such as nuclear reactors and uranium tailings. This report reviews the previous data collected at the FIG site during the pre-irradiation and irradiation phases and the methodology used to establish a baseline for future comparisons. Permanently marked sampling plots are a particular strength to the study, whereby researchers can compare the present forest community with that measured during the past 25 years. (author). 53 refs., 6 tabs., 22 figs

Effects of ionizing radiation on the boreal forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amiro, B D [Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Chalk River, ON (Canada). Chalk River Nuclear Labs.

1995-08-01

The Field-Irradiator-Gamma (FIG) project chronically exposed a section of the boreal forest to ionizing radiation by placing a {sup 137}Cs source on tope of a 20-m tower at a forest site in southeastern Manitoba. The irradiation continued from 1973 to 1986 and the forest was exposed to radiological dose rates ranging from 65 mGy.h{sup -1} to 0.005 mGy.h{sup -1} along a gradient extending 500 m from the source. The irradiation killed the tree canopy close to the irradiator, resulting in the formation of a herbaceous zone of vegetation at high dose rates. After 14 years of irradiation, some tree species were still being affected at dose rates as low as about 1 mGy.h{sup -1}. The data gathered at the FIG site can be used to identify radiological dose rates that forest communities can tolerate. This information allows decisions to be made concerning guidelines for protection of the general environment from radionuclide emissions from various anthropogenic sources, such as nuclear reactors and uranium tailings. This report reviews the previous data collected at the FIG site during the pre-irradiation and irradiation phases and the methodology used to establish a baseline for future comparisons. Permanently marked sampling plots are a particular strength to the study, whereby researchers can compare the present forest community with that measured during the past 25 years. (author). 53 refs., 6 tabs., 22 figs.

Analysis of airborne LiDAR surveys to quantify the characteristic morphologies of northern forested wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

Murray C. Richardson; Carl P. J. Mitchell; Brian A. Branfireun; Randall K. Kolka

2010-01-01

A new technique for quantifying the geomorphic form of northern forested wetlands from airborne LiDAR surveys is introduced, demonstrating the unprecedented ability to characterize the geomorphic form of northern forested wetlands using high-resolution digital topography. Two quantitative indices are presented, including the lagg width index (LWI) which objectively...

Energy, water and carbon exchange in a boreal forest landscape - NOPEX experiences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halldin, S.; Gryning, Sven-Erik; Gottschalk, L.

1999-01-01

The role of the land surface in controlling climate is still underestimated and access to information from the boreal-forest zone is instrumental to improve this situation. This motivated the organisation of NOPEX (Northern hemisphere climate-Processes land-surface Experiment) in the southern part...... as an integrated part of this Special Issue. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved....

Habitat associations drive species vulnerability to climate change in boreal forests

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mazziotta, Adriano; Triviño, María; Tikkanen, Olli-Pekka

2016-01-01

if species sensitivity, the species ability to tolerate climatic variations determined by traits, plays a key role in determining vulnerability. We analyse the role of species’ habitat associations, a proxy for sensitivity, in explaining vulnerability for two poorly-known but species-rich taxa in boreal...... forest, saproxylic beetles and fungi, using three IPCC emissions scenarios. Towards the end of the 21st century we projected an improvement in habitat quality associated with an increase of deadwood, an important resource for species, as a consequence of increased tree growth under high emissions...... scenarios. However, climate change will potentially reduce habitat suitability for ~9–43 % of the threatened deadwood-associated species. This loss is likely caused by future increase in timber extraction and decomposition rates causing higher deadwood turnover, which have a strong negative effect on boreal...

An Approach for Forest Inventory in Canada's Northern Boreal region, Northwest Territories

Science.gov (United States)

Mahoney, C.; Hopkinson, C.; Hall, R.; Filiatrault, M.

2017-12-01

The northern extent of Canada's northern boreal forest is largely inaccessible resulting in logistical, financial, and human challenges with respect to obtaining concise and accurate forest resource inventory (FRI) attributes such as stand height, aboveground biomass and forest carbon stocks. This challenge is further exacerbated by mandated government resource management and reporting of key attributes with respect to assessing impacts of natural disturbances, monitoring wildlife habitat and establishing policies to mitigate effects of climate change. This study presents a framework methodology utilized to inventory canopy height and crown closure over a 420,000 km2 area in Canada's Northwest Territories (NWT) by integrating field, LiDAR and satellite remote sensing data. Attributes are propagated from available field to coincident airborne LiDAR thru to satellite laser altimetry footprints. A quality controlled form of the latter are then submitted to a k-nearest neighbor (kNN) imputation algorithm to produce a continuous map of each attribute on a 30 m grid. The resultant kNN stand height (r=0.62, p=0.00) and crown closure (r=0.64, p=0.00) products were identified as statistically similar to a comprehensive independent airborne LiDAR source. Regional uncertainty can be produced with each attribute to identify areas of potential improvement through future strategic data acquisitions or the fine tuning of model parameters. This study's framework concept was developed to inform Natural Resources Canada - Canadian Forest Service's Multisource Vegetation Inventory and update vast regions of Canada's northern forest inventories, however, its applicability can be generalized to any environment. Not only can such a framework approach incorporate other data sources (such as Synthetic Aperture Radar) to potentially better characterize forest attributes, but it can also utilize future Earth observation mission data (for example ICESat-2) to monitor forest dynamics and the

Thresholds for boreal biome transitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheffer, Marten; Hirota, Marina; Holmgren, Milena; Van Nes, Egbert H; Chapin, F Stuart

2012-12-26

Although the boreal region is warming twice as fast as the global average, the way in which the vast boreal forests and tundras may respond is poorly understood. Using satellite data, we reveal marked alternative modes in the frequency distributions of boreal tree cover. At the northern end and at the dry continental southern extremes, treeless tundra and steppe, respectively, are the only possible states. However, over a broad intermediate temperature range, these treeless states coexist with boreal forest (∼75% tree cover) and with two more open woodland states (∼20% and ∼45% tree cover). Intermediate tree covers (e.g., ∼10%, ∼30%, and ∼60% tree cover) between these distinct states are relatively rare, suggesting that they may represent unstable states where the system dwells only transiently. Mechanisms for such instabilities remain to be unraveled, but our results have important implications for the anticipated response of these ecosystems to climatic change. The data reveal that boreal forest shows no gradual decline in tree cover toward its limits. Instead, our analysis suggests that it becomes less resilient in the sense that it may more easily shift into a sparse woodland or treeless state. Similarly, the relative scarcity of the intermediate ∼10% tree cover suggests that tundra may shift relatively abruptly to a more abundant tree cover. If our inferences are correct, climate change may invoke massive nonlinear shifts in boreal biomes.

Snowpack concentrations and estimated fluxes of volatile organic compounds in a boreal forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Aaltonen

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Soil provides an important source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs to atmosphere, but in boreal forests these fluxes and their seasonal variations have not been characterized in detail. Especially wintertime fluxes are almost completely unstudied. In this study, we measured the VOC concentrations inside the snowpack in a boreal Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L. forest in southern Finland, using adsorbent tubes and air samplers installed permanently in the snow profile. Based on the VOC concentrations at three heights inside the snowpack, we estimated the fluxes of these gases. We measured 20 VOCs from the snowpack, monoterpenes being the most abundant group with concentrations varying from 0.11 to 16 μg m⁻³. Sesquiterpenes and oxygen-containing monoterpenes were also detected. Inside the pristine snowpack, the concentrations of terpenoids decreased from soil surface towards the surface of the snow, suggesting soil as the source for terpenoids. Forest damages (i.e. broken treetops and branches, fallen trees resulting from heavy snow loading during the measurement period increased the terpenoid concentrations dramatically, especially in the upper part of the snowpack. The results show that soil processes are active and efficient VOC sources also during winter, and that natural or human disturbance can increase forest floor VOC concentrations substantially. Our results stress the importance of soil as a source of VOCs during the season when other biological sources, such as plants, have lower activity.

Rating a Wildfire Mitigation Strategy with an Insurance Premium: A Boreal Forest Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgina Rodriguez-Baca

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Risk analysis entails the systematic use of historical information to determine the frequency, magnitude and effects of unexpected events. Wildfire in boreal North America is a key driver of forest dynamics and may cause very significant economic losses. An actuarial approach to risk analysis based on cumulative probability distributions was developed to reduce the adverse effects of wildfire. To this effect, we developed spatially explicit landscape models to simulate the interactions between harvest, fire and forest succession over time in a boreal forest of eastern Canada. We estimated the amount of reduction of timber harvest necessary to build a buffer stock of sufficient size to cover fire losses and compared it to an insurance premium estimated in units of timber volume from the probability of occurrence and the amount of damage. Overall, the timber harvest reduction we applied was much more costly than the insurance premium even with a zero interest rate. This is due to the fact that the insurance premium is directly related to risk while the timber harvest reduction is not and, as a consequence, is much less efficient. These results, especially the comparison with a standard indicator such as an insurance premium, have useful implications at the time of choosing a mitigation strategy to protect timber supplies against risk without overly diminishing the provision of services from the forest. They are also promoting the use of insurance against disastrous events in forest management planning.

The Effect of Pollution on Newly-Formed Particle Composition in Boreal Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Vaattovaara, Petri

2010-05-01

Petri Vaattovaara (1), Tuukka Petäjä (2), Jorma Joutsensaari (1), Pasi Miettinen (1), Boris Zaprudin (1,6), Aki Kortelainen (1), Juha Heijari (3,7), Pasi Yli-Pirilä (3), Pasi Aalto (2), Doug R. Worsnop (4), and Ari Laaksonen(1,5) (1) University of Eastern Finland, Finland (2) University of Helsinki, Finland (3) University of Eastern Finland, Finland (4) Aerodyne Research Inc., USA (5) Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland (6) Currently at University of Turku, Finland (7) Currently at Maritime Research Centre, Finland Email address of the Corresponding author: Petri.Vaattovaara@uef.fi The geographical extent of the tropical, temperate and boreal forests is about 30% of the Earth's land surface. Those forests are located around the world in different climate zones effecting widely on atmospheric composition via new particle formation. The Boreal forests solely cover one third of the forests extent and are one of the largest vegetation environments, forming a circumpolar band throughout the northern hemisphere continents, with a high potential to affect climate processes [1]. In order to more fully understand the possible climatic effects of the forests, the properties of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in varying conditions (e.g. a change in meteorological parameters or in the concentrations of biogenic and antropogenic trace gases) need to be better known. In this study, we applied the UFO-TDMA (ultrafine organic tandem differential mobility analyzer [2]) and the UFH-TDMA (ultrafine hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer [3]) methods parallel to shed light on the evolution of the nucleation and Aitken mode particle compositions (via physic-chemical properties) at a virgin boreal forest site in varying conditions. The measurements were carried out at Hyytiälä forest station in Northern Europe (Finland) during 15 spring nucleation events. We also carried out a statistical analysis using linear correlations in order to explain the variability in

The subcatchment- and catchment-scale hydrology of a boreal headwater peatland complex with sporadic permafrost.

Science.gov (United States)

Sonnentag, O.; Helbig, M.; Connon, R.; Hould Gosselin, G.; Ryu, Y.; Karoline, W.; Hanisch, J.; Moore, T. R.; Quinton, W. L.

2017-12-01

The permafrost region of the Northern Hemisphere has been experiencing twice the rate of climate warming compared to the rest of the Earth, resulting in the degradation of the cryosphere. A large portion of the high-latitude boreal forests of northwestern Canada grows on low-lying organic-rich lands with relative warm and thin isolated, sporadic and discontinuous permafrost. Along this southern limit of permafrost, increasingly warmer temperatures have caused widespread permafrost thaw leading to land cover changes at unprecedented rates. A prominent change includes wetland expansion at the expense of Picea mariana (black spruce)-dominated forest due to ground surface subsidence caused by the thawing of ice-rich permafrost leading to collapsing peat plateaus. Recent conceptual advances have provided important new insights into high-latitude boreal forest hydrology. However, refined quantitative understanding of the mechanisms behind water storage and movement at subcatchment and catchment scales is needed from a water resources management perspective. Here we combine multi-year daily runoff measurements with spatially explicit estimates of evapotranspiration, modelled with the Breathing Earth System Simulator, to characterize the monthly growing season catchment scale ( 150 km2) hydrological response of a boreal headwater peatland complex with sporadic permafrost in the southern Northwest Territories. The corresponding water budget components at subcatchment scale ( 0.1 km2) were obtained from concurrent cutthroat flume runoff and eddy covariance evapotranspiration measurements. The highly significant linear relationships for runoff (r2=0.64) and evapotranspiration (r2=0.75) between subcatchment and catchment scales suggest that the mineral upland-dominated downstream portion of the catchment acts hydrologically similar to the headwater portion dominated by boreal peatland complexes. Breakpoint analysis in combination with moving window statistics on multi

Optimal conservation resource allocation under variable economic and ecological time discounting rates in boreal forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazziotta, Adriano; Pouzols, Federico Montesino; Mönkkönen, Mikko; Kotiaho, Janne S; Strandman, Harri; Moilanen, Atte

2016-09-15

Resource allocation to multiple alternative conservation actions is a complex task. A common trade-off occurs between protection of smaller, expensive, high-quality areas versus larger, cheaper, partially degraded areas. We investigate optimal allocation into three actions in boreal forest: current standard forest management rules, setting aside of mature stands, or setting aside of clear-cuts. We first estimated how habitat availability for focal indicator species and economic returns from timber harvesting develop through time as a function of forest type and action chosen. We then developed an optimal resource allocation by accounting for budget size and habitat availability of indicator species in different forest types. We also accounted for the perspective adopted towards sustainability, modeled via temporal preference and economic and ecological time discounting. Controversially, we found that in boreal forest set-aside followed by protection of clear-cuts can become a winning cost-effective strategy when accounting for habitat requirements of multiple species, long planning horizon, and limited budget. It is particularly effective when adopting a long-term sustainability perspective, and accounting for present revenues from timber harvesting. The present analysis assesses the cost-effective conditions to allocate resources into an inexpensive conservation strategy that nevertheless has potential to produce high ecological values in the future. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating seasonal variations in cloud droplet number concentration over the boreal forest from satellite observations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, R.; Ganzeveld, L.N.; Kabat, P.; Kulmala, M.; Nieminen, T.; Roebeling, R.A.

2011-01-01

Seasonal variations in cloud droplet number concentration (NCD) in low-level stratiform clouds over the boreal forest are estimated from MODIS observations of cloud optical and microphysical properties, using a sub-adiabatic cloud model to interpret vertical profiles of cloud properties. An

Carbonaceous aerosols from prescribed burning of a boreal forest ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazurek, M.A.; Cofer, W.R. III; Levine, J.S.

1990-10-01

The identity and ambient mass concentrations of radiatively important carbonaceous aerosols were measured for a boreal forest prescribed burn conducted in northern Ontario, CAN in August 1989. Nonsize-segregated airborne particles were collected for smoldering-fire and full-fire conditions using a helicopter sampling platform. Total carbon (TC), organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) were measured. Smoke plume mass concentrations of the OC and EC particles were greatest for full-fire conditions and had ranges of 1.560 to 2.160 mg/m -1 (OC) and 0.120 to 0.160 mg/m -3 (EC) with OC:EC ratios of 10 to 18, respectively. Smoldering fire conditions showed smoke plume OC and EC levels of 0.570--1.030 mg/m -3 (OC) and 0.006--0.050 mg/m -3 (EC) and much higher ratios of OC:EC (21 to 95). These aerosol data indicate the formation of EC particles is greatest during full-fire combustion of boreal forest material relative to smoldering combustion. However, EC particles comprise a minor fraction of the particulate carbon smoke aerosols for both full-fire and smoldering conditions; the major component of carbonaceous smoke aerosols emitted during the prescribed burn is OC. Overall, the OC and EC in-plume smoke aerosol data show nonuniform production of these particles during various stages of the prescribed burn, and major differences in the type of carbonaceous aerosol that is generated (OC versus EC)

Modelling wetland-groundwater interactions in the boreal Kälväsvaara esker, Northern Finland

Science.gov (United States)

Jaros, Anna; Rossi, Pekka; Ronkanen, Anna-Kaisa; Kløve, Bjørn

2016-04-01

Many types of boreal peatland ecosystems such as alkaline fens, aapa mires and Fennoscandia spring fens rely on the presence of groundwater. In these ecosystems groundwater creates unique conditions for flora and fauna by providing water, nutrients and constant water temperature enriching local biodiversity. The groundwater-peatland interactions and their dynamics are not, however, in many cases fully understood and their measurement and quantification is difficult due to highly heterogeneous structure of peatlands and large spatial extend of these ecosystems. Understanding of these interactions and their changes due to anthropogenic impact on groundwater resources would benefit the protection of the groundwater dependent peatlands. The groundwater-peatland interactions were investigated using the fully-integrated physically-based groundwater-surface water code HydroGeoSphere in a case study of the Kälväsvaara esker aquifer, Northern Finland. The Kälväsvaara is a geologically complex esker and it is surrounded by vast aapa mire system including alkaline and springs fens. In addition, numerous small springs occur in the discharge zone of the esker. In order to quantify groundwater-peatland interactions a simple steady-state model was built and results were evaluated using expected trends and field measurements. The employed model reproduced relatively well spatially distributed hydrological variables such as soil water content, water depths and groundwater-surface water exchange fluxes within the wetland and esker areas. The wetlands emerged in simulations as a result of geological and topographical conditions. They could be identified by high saturation levels at ground surface and by presence of shallow ponded water over some areas. The model outputs exhibited also strong surface water-groundwater interactions in some parts of the aapa system. These areas were noted to be regions of substantial diffusive groundwater discharge by the earlier studies. In

The summertime Boreal forest field measurement intensive (HUMPPA-COPEC-2010): an overview of meteorological and chemical influences.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, J.; Petäjä, T.

2012-04-01

This submission describes the background, instrumentation, goals, and the regional influences on the HUMPPA-COPEC intensive field measurement campaign, conducted at the Boreal forest research station SMEAR II (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relation) in Hyytiälä, Finland from 12th July-12th August 2010. The prevailing meteorological conditions during the campaign are examined and contrasted with those of the past six years. Back trajectory analyses show that meteorological conditions at the site in 2010 were characterized by a higher proportion of southerly flow than in the other years studied. As a result the summer of 2010 was anomalously warm and high in ozone making the campaign relevant for the analysis of possible future climates. A comprehensive land use analysis, provided on both 5 and 50 km scales, shows that the main vegetation types surrounding the site on both the regional and local scales are: coniferous forest (Scots pine and/or Norway spruce); mixed forest (Birch and conifers); and woodland scrub (e.g. Willows, Aspen); indicating that the campaign results can be taken as representative of the Boreal forest ecosystem. In addition to the influence of biogenic emissions, the measurement site was occasionally impacted by sources other than vegetation. Specific tracers have been used here to identify the time periods when such sources have impacted the site namely: biomass burning (acetonitrile and CO), urban anthropogenic pollution (pentane and SO2) and the nearby Korkeakoski sawmill (enantiomeric ratio of chiral monoterpenes). None of these sources dominated the study period, allowing the Boreal forest summertime emissions to be assessed and contrasted with various other source signatures.

The summertime Boreal forest field measurement intensive (HUMPPA-COPEC-2010: an overview of meteorological and chemical influences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Williams

2011-10-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the background, instrumentation, goals, and the regional influences on the HUMPPA-COPEC intensive field measurement campaign, conducted at the Boreal forest research station SMEAR II (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relation in Hyytiälä, Finland from 12 July–12 August 2010. The prevailing meteorological conditions during the campaign are examined and contrasted with those of the past six years. Back trajectory analyses show that meteorological conditions at the site in 2010 were characterized by a higher proportion of southerly flow than in the other years studied. As a result the summer of 2010 was anomalously warm and high in ozone making the campaign relevant for the analysis of possible future climates. A comprehensive land use analysis, provided on both 5 and 50 km scales, shows that the main vegetation types surrounding the site on both the regional and local scales are: coniferous forest (Scots pine and/or Norway spruce; mixed forest (Birch and conifers; and woodland scrub (e.g. Willows, Aspen; indicating that the campaign results can be taken as representative of the Boreal forest ecosystem. In addition to the influence of biogenic emissions, the measurement site was occasionally impacted by sources other than vegetation. Specific tracers have been used here to identify the time periods when such sources have impacted the site namely: biomass burning (acetonitrile and CO, urban anthropogenic pollution (pentane and SO₂ and the nearby Korkeakoski sawmill (enantiomeric ratio of chiral monoterpenes. None of these sources dominated the study period, allowing the Boreal forest summertime emissions to be assessed and contrasted with various other source signatures.

Discerning fragmentation dynamics of tropical forest and wetland during reforestation, urban sprawl, and policy shifts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiong Gao

Full Text Available Despite the overall trend of worldwide deforestation over recent decades, reforestation has also been found and is expected in developing countries undergoing fast urbanization and agriculture abandonment. The consequences of reforestation on landscape patterns are seldom addressed in the literature, despite their importance in evaluating biodiversity and ecosystem functions. By analyzing long-term land cover changes in Puerto Rico, a rapidly reforested (6 to 42% during 1940-2000 and urbanized tropical island, we detected significantly different patterns of fragmentation and underlying mechanisms among forests, urban areas, and wetlands. Forest fragmentation is often associated with deforestation. However, we also found significant fragmentation during reforestation. Urban sprawl and suburb development have a dominant impact on forest fragmentation. Reforestation mostly occurs along forest edges, while significant deforestation occurs in forest interiors. The deforestation process has a much stronger impact on forest fragmentation than the reforestation process due to their different spatial configurations. In contrast, despite the strong interference of coastal urbanization, wetland aggregation has occurred due to the effective implementation of laws/regulations for wetland protection. The peak forest fragmentation shifted toward rural areas, indicating progressively more fragmentation in forest interiors. This shift is synchronous with the accelerated urban sprawl as indicated by the accelerated shift of the peak fragmentation index of urban cover toward rural areas, i.e., 1.37% yr-1 in 1977-1991 versus 2.17% yr-1 in 1991-2000. Based on the expected global urbanization and the regional forest transition from deforested to reforested, the fragmented forests and aggregated wetlands in this study highlight possible forest fragmentation processes during reforestation in an assessment of biodiversity and functions and suggest effective laws

Discerning fragmentation dynamics of tropical forest and wetland during reforestation, urban sprawl, and policy shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Qiong; Yu, Mei

2014-01-01

Despite the overall trend of worldwide deforestation over recent decades, reforestation has also been found and is expected in developing countries undergoing fast urbanization and agriculture abandonment. The consequences of reforestation on landscape patterns are seldom addressed in the literature, despite their importance in evaluating biodiversity and ecosystem functions. By analyzing long-term land cover changes in Puerto Rico, a rapidly reforested (6 to 42% during 1940-2000) and urbanized tropical island, we detected significantly different patterns of fragmentation and underlying mechanisms among forests, urban areas, and wetlands. Forest fragmentation is often associated with deforestation. However, we also found significant fragmentation during reforestation. Urban sprawl and suburb development have a dominant impact on forest fragmentation. Reforestation mostly occurs along forest edges, while significant deforestation occurs in forest interiors. The deforestation process has a much stronger impact on forest fragmentation than the reforestation process due to their different spatial configurations. In contrast, despite the strong interference of coastal urbanization, wetland aggregation has occurred due to the effective implementation of laws/regulations for wetland protection. The peak forest fragmentation shifted toward rural areas, indicating progressively more fragmentation in forest interiors. This shift is synchronous with the accelerated urban sprawl as indicated by the accelerated shift of the peak fragmentation index of urban cover toward rural areas, i.e., 1.37% yr-1 in 1977-1991 versus 2.17% yr-1 in 1991-2000. Based on the expected global urbanization and the regional forest transition from deforested to reforested, the fragmented forests and aggregated wetlands in this study highlight possible forest fragmentation processes during reforestation in an assessment of biodiversity and functions and suggest effective laws/regulations in land

Carbonaceous aerosols from prescribed burning of a boreal forest ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Mazurek, Monica A.; Cofer, Wesley R., III; Levine, Joel S.

1991-01-01

During the boreal forest burn studied, the ambient concentrations for the particle carbon smoke aerosol are highest for the full-fire burn conditions and vary significantly throughout the burn. Collection strategies must accordingly define ranges in the smoke aerosol concentrations produced. While the highest elemental C concentrations are observed during full-fire conditions, the great majority of smoke aerosol particles are in the form of organic C particles irrespective of fire temperature. The formation of organic C light-scattering particles was a significant process in the burn studied.

Effects of Boreal Lake Wetlands on Atmospheric 13CH3D and 12CH2D2

Science.gov (United States)

Haghnegahdar, M. A.; Kohl, I. E.; Schauble, E. A.; Walter Anthony, K. M.; Young, E. D.

2017-12-01

Recently, we developed a theoretical model to investigate the potential use of 13CH3D and 12CH2D2 as tools for tracking atmospheric methane budget. We used electronic structure methods to estimate kinetic isotope fractionations associated with the major sink reactions of CH4 in air (reactions with •OH and Cl•), and literature data with reconnaissance measurements of the relative abundances of 13CH3D and 12CH2D2 to estimate the compositions of the largest atmospheric sources. Here we present new methane rare isotopologue data from boreal wetlands, comprising one of the most important sources, in order to evaluate the robustness of the model. Boreal wetlands (>55° N) account for more than half of the wetland area in the Northern hemisphere. We analyzed methane samples from high latitude lakes representing different geographical regions, geological and ecological contexts, methane fluxes, and isotopic signatures. Using clumped isotopes of CH4 we are able to determine the likely production mechanism for natural CH4 samples. So far, all of our analyzed samples except one plot in the microbial pure-culture methanogenesis field (Young et al. 2017) with ranges of -0.2‰ to +1.2‰ for Δ13CH3D, and -29.6‰ to -18.2‰ for Δ12CH2D2. These compositions are far from equilibrium. The one exception, from Lake Doughnut, Alaska, exhibits Δ13CH3D and Δ12CH2D2 values of +5.2‰ and +18.7‰, respectively, which fall near ambient thermodynamic equilibrium values. This may be an effect of methanotrophy. Mean Δ13CH3D and Δ12CH2D2 for all lake samples are +1.7‰ and -15.4‰ respectively, compared to our original estimate of +6.1‰ and +21.2‰ for the wetland methane source based on an assumption of equilibrium. If we assume that these samples are representative of the overall wetland source, Δ13CH3D decreases by 0.8‰ and Δ12CH2D2 decreases by 0.6‰ in our model of bulk atmospheric methane. Δ13CH3D and Δ12CH2D2 values of air (including •OH and Cl• sink

Organic Matter Decomposition following Harvesting and Site Preparation of a Forested Wetland

Science.gov (United States)

Carl C. Trettin; M. Davidian; M.F. Jurgensen; R. Lea

1996-01-01

Organic matter accumulation is an important process that affects ecosystem function in many northern wetlands. The cotton strip assay (CSA)was used to measure the effect of harvesting and two different site preparation treatments, bedding and trenching, on organic matter decomposition in a forested wetland. A Latin square experimental design was used to determine the...

Patterns of Canopy and Surface Layer Consumption in a Boreal Forest Fire from Repeat Airborne Lidar

Science.gov (United States)

Alonzo, Michael; Morton, Douglas C.; Cook, Bruce D.; Andersen, Hans-Erik; Babcock, Chad; Pattison, Robert

2017-01-01

Fire in the boreal region is the dominant agent of forest disturbance with direct impacts on ecosystem structure, carbon cycling, and global climate. Global and biome-scale impacts are mediated by burn severity, measured as loss of forest canopy and consumption of the soil organic layer. To date, knowledge of the spatial variability in burn severity has been limited by sparse field sampling and moderate resolution satellite data. Here, we used pre- and post-fire airborne lidar data to directly estimate changes in canopy vertical structure and surface elevation for a 2005 boreal forest fire on Alaskas Kenai Peninsula. We found that both canopy and surface losses were strongly linked to pre-fire species composition and exhibited important fine-scale spatial variability at sub-30m resolution. The fractional reduction in canopy volume ranged from 0.61 in lowland black spruce stands to 0.27 in mixed white spruce and broad leaf forest. Residual structure largely reflects standing dead trees, highlighting the influence of pre-fire forest structure on delayed carbon losses from above ground biomass, post-fire albedo, and variability in understory light environments. Median loss of surface elevation was highest in lowland black spruce stands (0.18 m) but much lower in mixed stands (0.02 m), consistent with differences in pre-fire organic layer accumulation. Spatially continuous depth-of-burn estimates from repeat lidar measurements provide novel information to constrain carbon emissions from the surface organic layer and may inform related research on post-fire successional trajectories. Spectral measures of burn severity from Landsat were correlated with canopy (r = 0.76) and surface (r = -0.71) removal in black spruce stands but captured less of the spatial variability in fire effects for mixed stands (canopy r = 0.56, surface r = -0.26), underscoring the difficulty in capturing fire effects in heterogeneous boreal forest landscapes using proxy measures of burn severity

The importance of water quality to wetland establishment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trites, M.; Bayley, S. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Biological Sciences

2010-07-01

Extracting oil from sands produces huge volumes of saline tailings. This presentation demonstrated that the ability to recreate boreal peatland communities after oil sands mining will be constrained by water quality. Typical boreal wetlands can be described along a bog to poor fen to rich fen gradient that correlates to increasing water pH and calcium concentration. There are major differences in vegetation communities along this gradient. Bogs and poor fens are characterized by slowly decomposing Sphagnum moss, while brown moss and productive herbaceous communities characterize rich fens. Post-mining wetlands generally have sodium concentrations above the tolerance limits of most freshwater peatland species. This study involved a survey of 25 boreal wetlands across a natural salinity gradient to determine a suite of potential native vegetation species to use for oils sand reclamation. Sixteen herbaceous vegetation communities that could be incorporated into oil sands wetlands were identified, but the diversity of communities decreased as salinity increased. Some of these wetlands had thick organic matter accumulations, despite having salinity equal to or higher than oil sands wetlands. Organic matter accumulation rates were also measured. If salinity is moderate and nutrient levels adequate, highly productive species like Carex aquatilis and Typha latifolia can accumulate organic matter quickly. Triglochin maritima can accumulate organic matter over the long term, even if salinity is high and nutrient levels are low. Although there is potential for peat to accumulate in future oil sands wetlands, the rates of peat accumulation will probably be slower than in undisturbed freshwater bogs and fens because of the elevated salinity. tabs., figs.

The importance of water quality to wetland establishment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trites, M.; Bayley, S.

2010-01-01

Extracting oil from sands produces huge volumes of saline tailings. This presentation demonstrated that the ability to recreate boreal peatland communities after oil sands mining will be constrained by water quality. Typical boreal wetlands can be described along a bog to poor fen to rich fen gradient that correlates to increasing water pH and calcium concentration. There are major differences in vegetation communities along this gradient. Bogs and poor fens are characterized by slowly decomposing Sphagnum moss, while brown moss and productive herbaceous communities characterize rich fens. Post-mining wetlands generally have sodium concentrations above the tolerance limits of most freshwater peatland species. This study involved a survey of 25 boreal wetlands across a natural salinity gradient to determine a suite of potential native vegetation species to use for oils sand reclamation. Sixteen herbaceous vegetation communities that could be incorporated into oil sands wetlands were identified, but the diversity of communities decreased as salinity increased. Some of these wetlands had thick organic matter accumulations, despite having salinity equal to or higher than oil sands wetlands. Organic matter accumulation rates were also measured. If salinity is moderate and nutrient levels adequate, highly productive species like Carex aquatilis and Typha latifolia can accumulate organic matter quickly. Triglochin maritima can accumulate organic matter over the long term, even if salinity is high and nutrient levels are low. Although there is potential for peat to accumulate in future oil sands wetlands, the rates of peat accumulation will probably be slower than in undisturbed freshwater bogs and fens because of the elevated salinity. tabs., figs.

Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition in boreal forests has a minor impact on the global carbon cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Gundale, Michael J; From, Fredrik; Bach, Lisbet H; Nordin, Annika

2014-01-01

It is proposed that increases in anthropogenic reactive nitrogen (Nr ) deposition may cause temperate and boreal forests to sequester a globally significant quantity of carbon (C); however, long-term data from boreal forests describing how C sequestration responds to realistic levels of chronic Nr deposition are scarce. Using a long-term (14-year) stand-scale (0.1 ha) N addition experiment (three levels: 0, 12.5, and 50 kg N ha(-1)  yr(-1) ) in the boreal zone of northern Sweden, we evaluated how chronic N additions altered N uptake and biomass of understory communities, and whether changes in understory communities explained N uptake and C sequestration by trees. We hypothesized that understory communities (i.e. mosses and shrubs) serve as important sinks for low-level N additions, with the strength of these sinks weakening as chronic N addition rates increase, due to shifts in species composition. We further hypothesized that trees would exhibit nonlinear increases in N acquisition, and subsequent C sequestration as N addition rates increased, due to a weakening understory N sink. Our data showed that understory biomass was reduced by 50% in response to the high N addition treatment, mainly due to reduced moss biomass. A (15) N labeling experiment showed that feather mosses acquired the largest fraction of applied label, with this fraction decreasing as the chronic N addition level increased. Contrary to our hypothesis, the proportion of label taken up by trees was equal (ca. 8%) across all three N addition treatments. The relationship between N addition and C sequestration in all vegetation pools combined was linear, and had a slope of 16 kg C kg(-1)  N. While canopy retention of Nr deposition may cause C sequestration rates to be slightly different than this estimate, our data suggest that a minor quantity of annual anthropogenic CO2 emissions are sequestered into boreal forests as a result of Nr deposition. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Differences in ecosystem carbon distribution and nutrient cycling linked to forest tree species composition in a mid-successional boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Melvin, April M.; Mack, Michelle C.; Johnstone, Jill F.; McGuire, A. David; Genet, Helene; Schuur, Edward A.G.

2015-01-01

In the boreal forest of Alaska, increased fire severity associated with climate change is expanding deciduous forest cover in areas previously dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana). Needle-leaf conifer and broad-leaf deciduous species are commonly associated with differences in tree growth, carbon (C) and nutrient cycling, and C accumulation in soils. Although this suggests that changes in tree species composition in Alaska could impact C and nutrient pools and fluxes, few studies have measured these linkages. We quantified C, nitrogen, phosphorus, and base cation pools and fluxes in three stands of black spruce and Alaska paper birch (Betula neoalaskana) that established following a single fire event in 1958. Paper birch consistently displayed characteristics of more rapid C and nutrient cycling, including greater aboveground net primary productivity, higher live foliage and litter nutrient concentrations, and larger ammonium and nitrate pools in the soil organic layer (SOL). Ecosystem C stocks (aboveground + SOL + 0–10 cm mineral soil) were similar for the two species; however, in black spruce, 78% of measured C was found in soil pools, primarily in the SOL, whereas aboveground biomass dominated ecosystem C pools in birch forest. Radiocarbon analysis indicated that approximately one-quarter of the black spruce SOL C accumulated prior to the 1958 fire, whereas no pre-fire C was observed in birch soils. Our findings suggest that tree species exert a strong influence over C and nutrient cycling in boreal forest and forest compositional shifts may have long-term implications for ecosystem C and nutrient dynamics.

Use of Remote Sensing to Support Forest and Wetlands Policies in the USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Audrey L. Mayer

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The use of remote sensing for environmental policy development is now quite common and well-documented, as images from remote sensing platforms are often used to focus attention on emerging environmental issues and spur debate on potential policy solutions. However, its use in policy implementation and evaluation has not been examined in much detail. Here we examine the use of remote sensing to support the implementation and enforcement of policies regarding the conservation of forests and wetlands in the USA. Specifically, we focus on the “Roadless Rule” and “Travel Management Rules” as enforced by the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service on national forests, and the “No Net Loss” policy and Clean Water Act for wetlands on public and private lands, as enforced by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers. We discuss several national and regional examples of how remote sensing for forest and wetland conservation has been effectively integrated with policy decisions, along with barriers to further integration. Some of these barriers are financial and technical (such as the lack of data at scales appropriate to policy enforcement, while others are political.

Surface albedo in relation to disturbance and early stand dynamics in the boreal forest: Implications for climate models

Science.gov (United States)

Halim, M. A.; Thomas, S. C.

2017-12-01

Surface albedo is the most important biophysical radiative forcing in the boreal forest. General Circulation Model studies have suggested that harvesting of boreal forest has a net cooling effect, in contrast to other terrestrial biomes, by increasing surface albedo. However, albedo estimation in these models has been achieved by simplifying processes governing albedo at a coarse scale (both spatial and temporal). Biophysical processes that determine albedo likely operate on small spatial and temporal scales, requiring more direct estimates of effects of landcover change on net radiation. We established a chronosequence study in post-fire and post-clearcut sites (2013, 2006, 1998), logging data from July 2013 to July 2017 in boreal forest sites in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Each age-class X disturbance had 3 three replicates, matched to 18 permanent circular plots (10-m radius) each with an instrumented tower measuring surface albedo, air and soil temperature, and soil moisture. We also measured leaf area index, species composition and soil organic matter content at each site. BRDF-corrected surface albedo was calculated from daily 30m x 30m reflectance data fused from the MODIS MOD09GA product and Landsat 7 reflectance data. Calculated albedo was verified using ground-based measurements. Results show that fire sites generally had lower (15-25%) albedo than clearcut sites in all seasons. Because of rapid forest regrowth, large perturbations of clearcut harvests on forest albedo started to fade out within a year. Albedo differences between fire and clearcut sites also declined sharply with stand age. Younger stands generally had higher albedo than older stands mainly due to the presence of broadleaf species (for example, Populus tremuloides). In spring, snow melted 10-12 days earlier in recent (2013) clearcut sites compared to closed-canopy sites, causing a sharp reduction in surface albedo in comparison to old clearcut/fire sites (2006 and 1998). Snow melted

Upland Forest Linkages to Seasonal Wetlands: Litter Flux, Processing, and Food Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Brian J. Palik; Darold P. Batzer; Christel Kern

2005-01-01

The flux of materials across ecosystem boundaries has significant effects on recipient systems. Because of edge effects, seasonal wetlands in upland forest are good systems to explore these linkages. The purpose of this study was to examine flux of coarse particulate organic matter as litter fall into seasonal wetlands in Minnesota, and the relationship of this flux to...

The formation and fate of chlorinated organic substances in temperate and boreal forest soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Nicholas; Fuksová, Kvetoslava; Gryndler, Milan; Lachmanová, Zora; Liste, Hans-Holger; Rohlenová, Jana; Schroll, Reiner; Schröder, Peter; Matucha, Miroslav

2009-03-01

Chlorine is an abundant element, commonly occurring in nature either as chloride ions or as chlorinated organic compounds (OCls). Chlorinated organic substances were long considered purely anthropogenic products; however, they are, in addition, a commonly occurring and important part of natural ecosystems. Formation of OCls may affect the degradation of soil organic matter (SOM) and thus the carbon cycle with implications for the ability of forest soils to sequester carbon, whilst the occurrence of potentially toxic OCls in groundwater aquifers is of concern with regard to water quality. It is thus important to understand the biogeochemical cycle of chlorine, both inorganic and organic, to get information about the relevant processes in the forest ecosystem and the effects on these from human activities, including forestry practices. A survey is given of processes in the soil of temperate and boreal forests, predominantly in Europe, including the participation of chlorine, and gaps in knowledge and the need for further work are discussed. Chlorine is present as chloride ion and/or OCls in all compartments of temperate and boreal forest ecosystems. It contributes to the degradation of SOM, thus also affecting carbon sequestration in the forest soil. The most important source of chloride to coastal forest ecosystems is sea salt deposition, and volcanoes and coal burning can also be important sources. Locally, de-icing salt can be an important chloride input near major roads. In addition, anthropogenic sources of OCls are manifold. However, results also indicate the formation of chlorinated organics by microorganisms as an important source, together with natural abiotic formation. In fact, the soil pool of OCls seems to be a result of the balance between chlorination and degradation processes. Ecologically, organochlorines may function as antibiotics, signal substances and energy equivalents, in descending order of significance. Forest management practices can affect

Salvage logging following fires can minimize boreal caribou habitat loss while maintaining forest quotas: An example of compensatory cumulative effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Beguin, Julien; McIntire, Eliot J B; Raulier, Frédéric

2015-11-01

Protected area networks are the dominant conservation approach that is used worldwide for protecting biodiversity. Conservation planning in managed forests, however, presents challenges when endangered species use old-growth forests targeted by the forest industry for timber supply. In many ecosystems, this challenge is further complicated by the occurrence of natural disturbance events that disrupt forest attributes at multiple scales. Using spatially explicit landscape simulation experiments, we gather insights into how these large scale, multifaceted processes (fire risk, timber harvesting and the amount of protected area) influenced both the persistence of the threatened boreal caribou and the level of timber supply in the boreal forest of eastern Canada. Our result showed that failure to account explicitly and a priori for fire risk in the calculation of timber supply led to an overestimation of timber harvest volume, which in turn led to rates of cumulative disturbances that threatened both the long-term persistence of boreal caribou and the sustainability of the timber supply itself. Salvage logging, however, allowed some compensatory cumulative effects. It minimised the reductions of timber supply within a range of ∼10% while reducing the negative impact of cumulative disturbances caused by fire and logging on caribou. With the global increase of the human footprint on forest ecosystems, our approach and results provide useful tools and insights for managers to resolve what often appear as lose-lose situation between the persistence of species at risk and timber harvest in other forest ecosystems. These tools contribute to bridge the gap between conservation and forest management, two disciplines that remain too often disconnected in practice. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High Upward Fluxes of Formic Acid from a Boreal Forest Canopy

Science.gov (United States)

Schobesberger, Siegfried; Lopez-Hilifiker, Felipe D.; Taipale, Ditte; Millet, Dylan B.; D'Ambro, Emma L.; Rantala, Pekka; Mammarella, Ivan; Zhou, Putian; Wolfe, Glenn M.; Lee, Ben H.;

The role of novel forest ecosystems in the conservation of wood?inhabiting fungi in boreal broadleaved forests

OpenAIRE

Juutilainen, Katja; M?nkk?nen, Mikko; Kotiranta, Heikki; Halme, Panu

2016-01-01

Abstract The increasing human impact on the earth's biosphere is inflicting changes at all spatial scales. As well as deterioration and fragmentation of natural biological systems, these changes also led to other, unprecedented effects and emergence of novel habitats. In boreal zone, intensive forest management has negatively impacted a multitude of deadwood?associated species. This is especially alarming given the important role wood?inhabiting fungi have in the natural decay processes. In t...

Modeling the Hydrologic Processes of a Depressional Forested Wetland in South Carolina, U.S.A.

Science.gov (United States)

Ge Sun; Timothy Callahan; Jennifer E. Pyzoha; Carl C. Trettin; Devendra M. Amatya

2004-01-01

Depressional forested wetlands or geographically isolated wetlands such as cypress swamps and Carolina bays are common land features in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the southeastern US. Those wetlands play important roles in providing wildlife habitats, water quality improvement, and carbon sequestration. Great stresses have been imposed on those important ecosystems...

Scaling Hydrologic Processes in Boreal Forest Stands: New Eco-hydrological Perspectives or Deja vu?

Science.gov (United States)

Silins, U.; Lieffers, V. J.; Landhausser, S. M.; Mendoza, C. A.; Devito, K. J.; Petrone, R. M.; Gan, T. Y.

2006-12-01

The leaf area of forest canopies is both main attribute of stands controlling water balance through transpiration and interception, and "engine" driving stand growth, stand dynamics, and forest succession. While transpiration and interception dynamics are classic themes in forest hydrology, we present results from our eco-hydrological research on boreal trees to highlight how more recent eco-physiological insights into species specific controls over water use and leaf area such as hydraulic architecture, cavitation, sapwood-leaf area relationships, and root system controls over water uptake are providing new insights into integrated atmospheric-autecological controls over these hydrologic processes. These results are discussed in the context of newer eco-hydrological frameworks which may serve to aid in exploring how forest disturbance and subsequent trajectories of hydrologic recovery are likely to affect both forest growth dynamics and hydrology of forested landscapes in response to forest management, severe forest pest epidemics such as the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic in Western Canada, and climate change.

Dominant Tree Species and Soil Type Affect the Fungal Community Structure in a Boreal Peatland Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Terhonen, Eeva; Kovalchuk, Andriy; Tuovila, Hanna; Chen, Hongxin; Oghenekaro, Abbot O.; Heinonsalo, Jussi; Kohler, Annegret; Kasanen, Risto; Vasander, Harri; Asiegbu, Fred O.

2016-01-01

Boreal peatlands play a crucial role in global carbon cycling, acting as an important carbon reservoir. However, little information is available on how peatland microbial communities are influenced by natural variability or human-induced disturbances. In this study, we have investigated the fungal diversity and community structure of both the organic soil layer and buried wood in boreal forest soils using high-throughput sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. We have also compared the fungal communities during the primary colonization of wood with those of the surrounding soils. A permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) confirmed that the community composition significantly differed between soil types (P peatlands; it further provides a baseline for the investigation of the dynamics of the fungal community in the boreal peatlands. PMID:26896139

Soil organic matter composition and quality across fire severity gradients in coniferous and deciduous forests of the southern boreal region

Science.gov (United States)

Jessica R. Miesel; William C. Hockaday; Randy Kolka; Philip A. Townsend

2015-01-01

Recent patterns of prolonged regional drought in southern boreal forests of the Great Lakes region, USA, suggest that the ecological effects of disturbance by wildfire may become increasingly severe. Losses of forest soil organic matter (SOM) during fire can limit soil nutrient availability and forest regeneration. These processes are also influenced by the composition...

Competitive interactions among raptors in boreal forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Hakkarainen, Harri; Mykrä, Sakari; Kurki, Sami; Tornberg, Risto; Jungell, Sven

2004-11-01

We examined inter-specific interactions among goshawks ( Accipiter gentilis), common buzzards (Buteo buteo) and honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus) in western Finland in 1983-1996. Because goshawks are among the largest birds of prey species in boreal forests they may take over the nest of smaller and less-competitive forest-dwelling raptors when searching for suitable places for breeding. Accordingly, more than half of newly established goshawk territories were found on the territories previously occupied by the common buzzard and the honey buzzard. Otherwise, territory sharing between these species was rare. Fledgling production of honey buzzards was not associated with the presence of goshawks, probably owing to the almost 2 months later onset of breeding. This probably decreases competitive interactions between these two species. An intensive interference competition, instead, seemed to be evident between common buzzards and goshawks, because the fledgling production of common buzzards was decreased by 20% as a result of failures during incubation and nestling period in the vicinity (nests. Similarly, territory occupancy of common buzzards till the next breeding season was significantly reduced in the presence of goshawks. Relatively high proportions of occupied buzzard territories (17%) in the study area were shared by breeding goshawks on the same territory. This suggests that although their diets are dissimilar they inhabit similar habitats and might compete for the available prime nesting habitats within forest landscapes. In addition, goshawks benefit from taking over the complete nests of other raptors, imposing upon the original owners of the nest, because building a large stick nest is probably energetically costly. As a large raptor, the goshawk apparently has a competitive advantage over smaller ones, and may have an ever-increasing impact on smaller birds of prey, if there is a lack of sheltered forests inducing competition for the available nest sites.

Traditional Uses of Medicinal Plants from the Canadian Boreal Forest for the Management of Chronic Pain Syndromes.

Science.gov (United States)

Uprety, Yadav; Lacasse, Anaïs; Asselin, Hugo

2016-04-01

Chronic pain is more prevalent in indigenous populations who often prefer traditional remedies over allopathic drugs. Our objective was to investigate the traditional uses of medicinal plants from the Canadian boreal forest for the management of chronic pain syndromes. We reviewed the most extensive database on medicinal plants used by aboriginal people of the Canadian boreal forest to investigate the plants used in the management of 3 of the most common chronic pain syndromes: arthritis/rheumatism; back pain; and headache/migraine. We also reviewed the pharmacology and phytochemistry literature to investigate concordance with indigenous knowledge. A total of 114 medicinal plant species were reported, of which 27 (23.5%) were used to treat more than 1 chronic pain syndrome. Pharmacological or phytochemical evidence to explain plant function as chronic pain remedy was available in the literature for only 38 species (33%), with several species reported to have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties effective in treating chronic pain syndromes. Our study showed the potential of boreal plants as alternative and complementary medicines for the treatment of chronic pain syndromes that could be enhanced by further research on efficacy and safety issues. © 2015 World Institute of Pain.

Effects of climatic changes on carbon dioxide and water vapor fluxes in boreal forest ecosystems of European part of Russia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olchev, A; Kurbatova, J; Novenko, E; Desherevskaya, O; Krasnorutskaya, K

2009-01-01

Effects of possible climatic and vegetation changes on H 2 O and CO 2 fluxes in boreal forest ecosystems of the central part of European Russia were quantified using modeling and experimental data. The future pattern of climatic conditions for the period up to 2100 was derived using the global climatic model ECHAM5 (Roeckner et al 2003 The Atmospheric General Circulation Model ECHAM 5. PART I: Model Description, Report 349 (Hamburg: Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology) p 127) with the A1B emission scenario. The possible trends of future vegetation changes were obtained by reconstructions of vegetation cover and paleoclimatic conditions in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, as provided from pollen and plant macrofossil analysis of profiles in the Central Forest State Natural Biosphere Reserve (CFSNBR). Applying the method of paleoanalogues demonstrates that increasing the mean annual temperature, even by 1-2 deg. C, could result in reducing the proportion of spruce in boreal forest stands by up to 40%. Modeling experiments, carried out using a process-based Mixfor-SVAT model, show that the expected future climatic and vegetation changes lead to a significant increase of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and gross primary productivity (GPP) of the boreal forests. Despite the expected warming and moistening of the climate, the modeling experiments indicate a relatively weak increase of annual evapotranspiration (ET) and even a reduction of transpiration (TR) rates of forest ecosystems compared to present conditions.

Diversity of Bats in Contrasting Habitats of Hulu Terengganu Dipterocarp Forest and Setiu Wetland BRIS Forest with a Note on Preliminary Study of Vertical Stratification of Pteropodid Bats.

Science.gov (United States)

Pounsin, Grace; Wahab, Nur Syahirah; Roslan, Azuan; Zahidin, Muhamad Aidil; Pesiu, Elizabeth; Tamrin, Nur Aida Md; Abdullah, M T

2018-03-01

A study of the bat diversity was conducted in Hulu Terengganu dipterocarp forest and Setiu Wetland Beach Ridges Interspersed with Swales (BRIS) forest in Terengganu, to study the species diversity, composition and stratification of fruit bats from the understorey to the forest canopy. Mist nets were set up at the understorey, sub-canopy and canopy layer while harp traps were set up at the understorey layer. We recorded 170 individuals from six families' compromised 21 species from Hulu Terengganu dipterocarp forests and four species from Setiu Wetland BRIS forests throughout the sampling period. Megaerops ecaudatus and Cynopterus brachyotis were the most dominant species in Hulu Terengganu dipterocarp forest and Setiu Wetland BRIS forests. Our study also recorded two species with new distributional records for the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, namely, Rhinolophus chiewkweeae and Chaerephon johorensis in Hulu Terengganu dipterocarp forests. Potential factors that might influence the results were in terms of the canopy covers, the structural complexity of canopy, food availability and spatial characteristics. This study was able to increase the knowledge on the species diversity and composition of bats in Hulu Terengganu dipterocarp forest and Setiu Wetland BRIS forest, thus, further aid in the effort of bat conservation in both areas.

Nitrous oxide fluxes from forest floor, tree stems and canopies of boreal tree species during spring

Science.gov (United States)

Haikarainen, Iikka; Halmeenmäki, Elisa; Machacova, Katerina; Pihlatie, Mari

2017-04-01

Boreal forests are considered as small sources of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) due to microbial N2O production in the soils. Recent evidence shows that trees may play an important role in N2O exchange of forest ecosystems by offering pathways for soil produced N2O to the atmosphere. To confirm magnitude, variability and the origin of the tree mediated N2O emissions more research is needed, especially in boreal forests which have been in a minority in such investigation. We measured forest floor, tree stem and shoot N2O exchange of three boreal tree species at the beginning of the growing season (13.4.-13.6.2015) at SMEAR II station in Hyytiälä, located in Southern Finland (61˚ 51´N, 24˚ 17´E, 181 a.s.l.). The fluxes were measured in silver birch (Betula pendula), downy birch (B. pubescens) and Norway spruce (Picea abies) on two sites with differing soil type and characteristics (paludified and mineral soil), vegetation cover and forest structure. The aim was to study the vertical profile of N2O fluxes at stem level and to observe temporal changes in N2O fluxes over the beginning of the growing season. The N2O exchange was determined using the static chamber technique and gas chromatographic analyses. Scaffold towers were used for measurements at multiple stem heights and at the canopy level. Overall, the N2O fluxes from the forest floor and trees at both sites were very small and close to the detection limit. The measured trees mainly emitted N2O from their stems and shoots, while the forest floor acted as a sink of N2O at the paludified site and as a small source of N2O at the mineral soil site. Stem emissions from all the trees at both sites were on average below 0.5 μg N2O m-2 of stem area h-1, and the shoot emissions varied between 0.2 and 0.5 ng N2O m-2 g-1 dry biomass. When the N2O fluxes were scaled up to the whole forest ecosystem, based on the tree biomass and stand density, the N2O emissions from birch and spruce trees at the paludified site

[Prediction model of human-caused fire occurrence in the boreal forest of northern China].

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Fu-tao; Su, Zhang-wen; Wang, Guang-yu; Wang, Qiang; Sun, Long; Yang, Ting-ting

2015-07-01

The Chinese boreal forest is an important forest resource in China. However, it has been suffering serious disturbances of forest fires, which were caused equally by natural disasters (e.g., lightning) and human activities. The literature on human-caused fires indicates that climate, topography, vegetation, and human infrastructure are significant factors that impact the occurrence and spread of human-caused fires. But the studies on human-caused fires in the boreal forest of northern China are limited and less comprehensive. This paper applied the spatial analysis tools in ArcGIS 10.0 and Logistic regression model to investigate the driving factors of human-caused fires. Our data included the geographic coordinates of human-caused fires, climate factors during year 1974-2009, topographic information, and forest map. The results indicated that distance to railway (x1) and average relative humidity (x2) significantly impacted the occurrence of human-caused fire in the study area. The logistic model for predicting the fire occurrence probability was formulated as P= 1/[11+e-(3.026-0.00011x1-0.047x2)] with an accuracy rate of 80%. The above model was used to predict the monthly fire occurrence during the fire season of 2015 based on the HADCM2 future weather data. The prediction results showed that the high risk of human-caused fire occurrence concentrated in the months of April, May, June and August, while April and May had higher risk of fire occurrence than other months. According to the spatial distribution of possibility of fire occurrence, the high fire risk zones were mainly in the west and southwest of Tahe, where the major railways were located.

Uncovering the Minor Contribution of Land-Cover Change in Upland Forests to the Net Carbon Footprint of a Boreal Hydroelectric Reservoir.

Science.gov (United States)

Dessureault, Pierre-Luc; Boucher, Jean-François; Tremblay, Pascal; Bouchard, Sylvie; Villeneuve, Claude

2015-07-01

Hydropower in boreal conditions is generally considered the energy source emitting the least greenhouse gas per kilowatt-hour during its life cycle. The purpose of this study was to assess the relative contribution of the land-use change on the modification of the carbon sinks and sources following the flooding of upland forested territories to create the Eastmain-1 hydroelectric reservoir in Quebec's boreal forest using Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector. Results suggest a carbon sink loss after 100 yr of 300,000 ± 100,000 Mg CO equivalents (COe). A wildfire sensitivity analysis revealed that the ecosystem would have acted as a carbon sink as long as carbon flux estimate resulted in emissions of 4 ± 2 g COe kWh as a contribution to the carbon footprint calculation, one-eighth what was obtained in a recent study that used less precise and less sensitive estimates. Consequently, this study significantly reduces the reported net carbon footprint of this reservoir and reveals how negligible the relative contribution of the land-use change in upland forests to the total net carbon footprint of a hydroelectric reservoir in the boreal zone can be. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

What makes segmentation good? A case study in boreal forest habitat mapping

OpenAIRE

Räsänen, Aleksi; Rusanen, Antti; Kuitunen, Markku; Lensu, Anssi

2013-01-01

Segmentation goodness evaluation is a set of approaches meant for deciding which segmentation is good. In this study, we tested different supervised segmentation evaluation measures and visual interpretation in the case of boreal forest habitat mapping in Southern Finland. The data used were WorldView-2 satellite imagery, a lidar digital elevation model (DEM), and a canopy height model (CHM) in 2 m resolution. The segmentation methods tested were the fractal net evolution approach (FNEA) and ...

Neutralization of acidic raindrops on leaves of agricultural crop and boreal forest species

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hutchinson, T.C.; Adams, C.M.; Gaber, B.A.

1986-10-01

The abilities of foliage of selected agricultural crop and native boreal forest species to neutralize acidic raindrops were compared. The species differed widely in their responses. Neutralization was influenced to a large extent by leaf wettability and was poorly related with species' susceptibility to foliar injury from acid rain sprayings. Little neutralization of pH 3.0 droplets occurred on very waxy leaves, e.g. cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.), due to the small contact area between the leaf surface and raindrops. In contrast, on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and radish (Raphanus sativus L.) leaves, which are pubescent and easily wettable, neutralization was considerable. For all agricultural crop species examined, the pH of droplets drying on cotyledons was consistently higher than on the leaves. The pH values of raindrops were also higher when the foliage was injured by the acid rain, probably due to leakage of cellular contents. Among boreal forest species examined, bunchberry (Cornus canadensis L.) was particularly good at neutralizing natural acid rain, increasing the pH from 3.9 to 6.6 after 9 hr of foliar contact, while the response of other boreal species ranged from a final pH of 4.8 to 5.7 under the same conditions. Simulated raindrops on wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis L.) were never neutralized but increased in acidity as they evaporated. Chemical analyses of droplets collected from foliage showed calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) to be the major cations entering the neutralized droplets. Neutralization of acidic raindrops appears to occur through two processes; solubilization of alkaline dusts and exudates on the leaf surface, and ion exchange removal of H/sup +/ by the foliage. 14 references.

Neutralization of acidic raindrops on leaves of agricultural crop and boreal forest species

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hutchinson, T.C.; Adams, C.M.; Gaber, B.A.

1986-11-01

The abilities of foliage of selected agricultural crop and native boreal forest species to neutralize acidic raindrops were compared. The species differed widely in their responses. Neutralization was influenced to a large extent by leaf wettability and was poorly related with species' susceptibility to foliar injury from acid rain sprayings. Little neutralization of pH 3.0 droplets occurred on very waxy leaves, e.g. cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.), due to the small contact area between the leaf surface and raindrops. In contrast, on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and radish (Raphanus sativus L.) leaves, which are pubescent and easily wettable, neutralization was considerable. For all agricultural crop species examined, the pH of droplets drying on cotyledons was consistently higher than on the leaves. The pH values of raindrops were also higher when the foliage was injured by the acid rain, probably due to leakage of cellular contents. Among boreal forest species examined, bunchberry (Cornus canadensis L.) was particularly good at neutralizing natural acid rain, increasing the pH from 3.9 to 6.6 after 9 hr of foliar contact, while the response of other boreal species ranged from a final pH of 4.8 to 5.7 under the same conditions. Simulated raindrops on wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis L.) were never neutralized but increased in acidity as they evaporated. Chemical analyses of droplets collected from foliage showed calcium and potassium to be the major cations entering the neutralized droplets. Neutralization of acidic raindrops appears to occur through two processes: solubilization of alkaline dusts and exudates on the leaf surface, and ion exchange removal of H/sup +/ by the foliage. 14 refs.

Using MOPITT data and a Chemistry and Transport Model to Investigate Injection Height of Plumes from Boreal Forest Fires

Science.gov (United States)

Hyer, E. J.; Allen, D. J.; Kasischke, E. S.; Warner, J. X.

2003-12-01

Trace gas emissions from boreal forest fires are a significant factor in atmospheric composition and its interannual variability. A number of recent observations of emissions plumes above individual fire events (Fromm and Servranckx, 2003; COBRA 2003; Lamarque et al., 2003; Wotawa and Trainer, 2000) suggest that vertical properties of forest fire emission plumes can be very different from fossil fuel emission plumes. Understanding and constraining the vertical properties of forest fire emission plumes and their injection into the atmosphere during fire events is critical for accurate modeling of atmospheric transport and chemistry. While excellent data have been collected in a handful of experiments on individual fire events, a systematic examination of the range of behavior observed in fire events has been hampered by the scarcity of vertical profiles of atmospheric composition. In this study, we used a high-resolution model of boreal forest fire emissions (Kasischke et al, in review) as input to the Goddard/UM CTM driven by the GEOS-3 DAS, operating at 2 by 2.5 degrees with 35 vertical levels. We modeled atmospheric injection and transport of CO emissions during the fire season of 2000 (May-September). We altered the parameters of the model to simulate a range of scenarios of plume injection, and compared the resulting output to the CO profiles from the MOPITT instrument. The results presented here pertain to the boreal forest, but our methods should be useful for atmospheric modelers hoping to more realistically model transport of emission plumes from biomass burning. References: COBRA2003: see http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cobra/smoke_canada_030530.pdf Fromm, M. and R. Servranckx, 2003. "Stratospheric Injection of Forest Fire Emissions on August 4, 1998: A Satellite Image Analysis of the Causal Supercell Convection." Geophysical Research Abstracts 5:13118. Kasischke, E.S.; E.J. Hyer, N.H.F. French, A.I. Sukhinin, J.H. Hewson, B.J. Stocks, in review. "Carbon

Public Opinions and Use of Various Types of Recreational Infrastructure in Boreal Forest Settings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vegard Gundersen

2016-05-01

Full Text Available We have investigated public preferences for use intensity and visual quality of forest recreational infrastructure. Forest infrastructure covers five classes, along a continuum from unmarked paths to paved walkways. Altogether, 39 sites were categorized into the five classes and measured with automatic counters. A sample of 545 respondents living in southeastern and middle Norway were asked to rate 15 forest scenes and 35 preconceptions of recreational settings. The path scenarios were depicted as digitally calibrated photos that systematically displayed physical path feature in boreal, semi-natural settings. Survey participants showed a clearly greater preference for photos and preconceptions of forests settings containing minor elements of forest infrastructure; unmarked paths received the highest score and forest roads/walkways/bikeways the lowest. We identified a clear mismatch between public preferences for forest infrastructure and the intensity of use; the less appreciated infrastructure was the most used. Planning and management has to consider these different needs for recreational infrastructure, and we propose an area zoning system that meets the different segments of forest visitors.

Boreal Forest Fire Cools Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Randerson, J. T.; Liu, H.; Flanner, M.; Chambers, S. D.; Harden, J. W.; Hess, P. G.; Jin, Y.; Mack, M. C.; Pfister, G.; Schuur, E. A.; Treseder, K. K.; Welp, L. R.; Zender, C. S.

2005-12-01

We report measurements, modeling, and analysis of carbon and energy fluxes from a boreal forest fire that occurred in interior Alaska during 1999. In the first year after the fire, ozone production, atmospheric aerosol loading, greenhouse gas emissions, soot deposition, and decreases in summer albedo contributed to a positive annual radiative forcing (RF). These effects were partly offset by an increase in fall, winter, and spring albedo from reduced canopy cover and increased exposure of snow-covered surfaces. The atmospheric lifetime of aerosols and ozone and are relatively short (days to months). The radiative effects of soot on snow are also attenuated rapidly from the deposition of fresh snow. As a result, a year after the fire, only two classes of RF mechanisms remained: greenhouse gas emissions and post-fire changes in surface albedo. Summer albedo increased rapidly in subsequent years and was substantially higher than unburned control areas (by more than 0.03) after 4 years as a result of grass and shrub establishment. Satellite measurements from MODIS of other interior Alaska burn scars provided evidence that elevated levels of spring and summer albedo (relative to unburned control areas) persisted for at least 4 decades after fire. In parallel, our chamber, eddy covariance, and biomass measurements indicated that the post-fire ecosystems switch from a source to a sink within the first decade. Taken together, the extended period of increased spring and summer albedo and carbon uptake of intermediate-aged stands appears to more than offset the initial warming pulse caused by fire emissions, when compared using the RF concept. This result suggests that management of forests in northern countries to suppress fire and preserve carbon sinks may have the opposite effect on climate as that intended.

Restoration of a forested wetland ecosystem in a thermally impacted stream corridor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, E.A.; McKee, W.H. Jr.; Dulohery, C.J.

1995-01-01

The Savannah River Swamp is a 3,020 Ha forested wetland on the floodplain of the Savannah River and is located on the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS). Major impacts to the swamp hydrology occurred with the completion of the production reactors and one coal-fired powerhouse at the SRS in the early 1950's. Water was pumped from the Savannah River, through secondary heat exchangers of the reactors, and discharged into three of the tributary streams that flow into the swamp. This continued from 1954 to 1988 at various levels. The sustained increases in water volume resulted in overflow of the original stream banks and the creation of additional floodplains. Accompanying this was considerable erosion of the original stream corridor and deposition of a deep silt layer on the newly formed delta. Heated water was discharged directly into Pen Branch and water temperature in the stream often exceeded 50 C. The nearly continuous flood of the swamp, the thermal load of the water, and the heavy silting resulted in complete mortality of the original vegetation in large areas of the floodplain. Research has been ongoing to determine methods to reintroduce tree species characteristic of more mature forested wetlands. The goal of the restoration is to create structural and biological diversity in the forest canopy by establishing a mix of species typically present in riparian and wetland forests of the area

Newtonian boreal forest ecology: The Scots pine ecosystem as an example.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pertti Hari

Full Text Available Isaac Newton's approach to developing theories in his book Principia Mathematica proceeds in four steps. First, he defines various concepts, second, he formulates axioms utilising the concepts, third, he mathematically analyses the behaviour of the system defined by the concepts and axioms obtaining predictions and fourth, he tests the predictions with measurements. In this study, we formulated our theory of boreal forest ecosystems, called NewtonForest, following the four steps introduced by Newton. The forest ecosystem is a complicated entity and hence we needed altogether 27 concepts to describe the material and energy flows in the metabolism of trees, ground vegetation and microbes in the soil, and to describe the regularities in tree structure. Thirtyfour axioms described the most important features in the behaviour of the forest ecosystem. We utilised numerical simulations in the analysis of the behaviour of the system resulting in clear predictions that could be tested with field data. We collected retrospective time series of diameters and heights for test material from 6 stands in southern Finland and five stands in Estonia. The numerical simulations succeeded to predict the measured diameters and heights, providing clear corroboration with our theory.

Impacts of elevated carbon dioxide and temperature on a boreal forest ecosystem (CLIMEX project)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breemen, N. van; Jenkins, A.; Wright, R.F.

1998-01-01

To evaluate the effects of climate change on boreal forest ecosystems, both atmospheric CO2 (to 560 ppmv) and air temperature (by 3 degrees-5 degrees C above ambient) were increased at a forested headwater catchment in southern Norway. The entire catchment (860 m(2)) is enclosed within...... and the growing season has been prolonged relative to the control area. This has helped to sustain an increase in plant growth relative to the control and has also promoted increased N export in stream water. Photosynthetic capacity and carbon-nitrogen ratio of new leaves of most plant species did not change...

Effects of fire on regional evapotranspiration in the central Canadian boreal forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bond-Lamberty, Benjamin; Peckham, Scott D.; Gower, Stith T.; Ewers, Brent

2009-04-08

Changes in fire regimes are driving the carbon balance of much of the North American boreal forest, but few studies have examined fire-driven changes in evapotranspiration (ET) at a regional scale. This study used a version of the Biome-BGC process model with dynamic and competing vegetation types, and explicit spatial representation of a large (106 km2) region, to simulate the effects of wildfire on ET and its components from 1948 to 2005 by comparing the fire dynamics of the 1948-1967 period with those of 1968-2005. Simulated ET averaged, over the entire temporal and spatial modeling domain, 323 mm yr-1; simulation results indicated that changes in fire in recent decades decreased regional ET by 1.4% over the entire simulation, and by 3.9% in the last ten years (1996-2005). Conifers dominated the transpiration (EC) flux (120 mm yr-1) but decreased by 18% relative to deciduous broadleaf trees in the last part of the 20th century, when increased fire resulted in increased soil evaporation, lower canopy evaporation, lower EC and a younger and more deciduous forest. Well- and poorly-drained areas had similar rates of evaporation from the canopy and soil, but EC was twice as high in the well-drained areas. Mosses comprised a significant part of the evaporative flux to the atmosphere (22 mm yr-1). Modeled annual ET was correlated with net primary production, but not with temperature or precipitation; ET and its components were consistent with previous field and modeling studies. Wildfire is thus driving significant changes in hydrological processes, changes that may control the future carbon balance of the boreal forest.

Mapping forested wetlands in the Great Zhan River Basin through integrating optical, radar, and topographical data classification techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Na, X D; Zang, S Y; Wu, C S; Li, W L

2015-11-01

Knowledge of the spatial extent of forested wetlands is essential to many studies including wetland functioning assessment, greenhouse gas flux estimation, and wildlife suitable habitat identification. For discriminating forested wetlands from their adjacent land cover types, researchers have resorted to image analysis techniques applied to numerous remotely sensed data. While with some success, there is still no consensus on the optimal approaches for mapping forested wetlands. To address this problem, we examined two machine learning approaches, random forest (RF) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithms, and applied these two approaches to the framework of pixel-based and object-based classifications. The RF and KNN algorithms were constructed using predictors derived from Landsat 8 imagery, Radarsat-2 advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and topographical indices. The results show that the objected-based classifications performed better than per-pixel classifications using the same algorithm (RF) in terms of overall accuracy and the difference of their kappa coefficients are statistically significant (pwetlands based on the per-pixel classifications using the RF algorithm. As for the object-based image analysis, there were also statistically significant differences (pwetlands and omissions for agriculture land. This research proves that the object-based classification with RF using optical, radar, and topographical data improved the mapping accuracy of land covers and provided a feasible approach to discriminate the forested wetlands from the other land cover types in forestry area.

Hydrological states and the resilience of deltaic forested wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

Keim, R.; Allen, S. T.

2017-12-01

The flooding regime constitutes a set of chronic disturbances that are largely responsible for ecosystem structure. However, disturbances do not always constitute stresses to plants that survive because of adaptations to flooded conditions. We examine baldcypress-water tupelo forested wetlands in the delta of the Mississippi River as a case study in mechanisms by which hydrologic change shapes wetland ecosystem change, supported by experimental evidence from remote sensing, tree-ring and other field studies, and meta-analysis across the literature. Decreased hydrologic variability caused by water control structures has reduced the frequency of flood events that increase growth of baldcypress and favor its establishment by reducing competition from other species. Hydrologic modifications that lead to semi-permanent, stagnant flooding constitute semi-permanent disturbance that prevents regeneration of any trees, reduces growth of established trees, and reduces stand density by causing mortality of some trees. However, baldcypress trees in low-density stands appear to be generally adapted for long-term survival in stagnant conditions. Thus, initial decreases in stand density after impoundment do not necessarily portend continued conversion away from forest because reduced inter-tree competition is a negative feedback on mortality. Overall, a natural hydrologic regime with high variability in riverine flooding favors denser stands with greater diversity of tree species, and the present, controlled hydrologic regime that has largely eliminated riverine flooding favors open stands. Sea-level rise will increase salinity that quickly leads to forest conversion to marsh, but will also increase stagnant, freshwater flooding further inland. These drivers of hydrologic change reduce carbon assimilation by forests, both by reduced stand-level productivity and decreased forested area.

Microbial transformations of C and N in a boreal forest floor as affected by temperature

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verburg, P.S.J.; Dam, van D.; Hefting, M.M.; Tietema, A.

1999-01-01

The effects of temperature on N mineralization were studied in two organic surface horizons (LF and H) of soil from a boreal forest. The soil was incubated at 5 °C and 15 °C after adding 15 N and gross N fluxes were calculated using a numerical simulation model. The model was calibrated on microbial

Fringe wetlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lugo, A.E.

1990-01-01

Fringe wetlands are characterized by the dominance of few species, a clear species zonation, synchrony of ecological processes with episodic events, and simplicity in the structure of vegetation. The structure and ecosystem dynamics of fringe forested wetlands are presented with emphasis on saltwater wetlands because they have been studied more than freshwater ones. The study areas were Caribbean and Florida mangroves. Fringe wetlands are found on the water edge of oceans, inland estuaries, and lakes. Water motion in the fringe is bi-directional and perpendicular to the forest and due mostly to tidal energy in oceanic and estuarine fringes. in lakes, water moves in and out of the fringe under the influence of wind, waves, or seiches. some fringe forests are occasionally flushed by terrestrial runoff or aquifer discharge. In contrast, fringe forests located on small offshore islands or steep coastal shroes are isolated from terrestrial runoff or aquifer discharge, and their hydroperiod is controlled by tides and waves only. Literature reviews suggest that ecosystem parameters such as vegetation structure, tree growth, primary productivity, and organic matter in sediments respond proportionally to hydrologic energy. Human activity that impacts on fringe forested wetlands include harvesting of trees, oil pollution and eutrophication. 72 refs., 12 figs., 9 tabs

The impact of clearcutting in boreal forests of Russia on soils: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Dymov, A. A.

2017-07-01

Data on the impact of tree logging in boreal forests of Russia on soils are systematized. Patterns of soil disturbances and transformation of microclimatic parameters within clearcutting areas are discussed. Changes in the conditions of pedogenesis in secondary forests are analyzed. It is suggested that the changes in forest soils upon reforestation of clearcutting areas might be considered as specific post-logging soil successions. Data characterizing changes in the thickness of litter horizons and in the intensity of elementary pedogenic processes, acidity, and the content of exchangeable bases in soils of clearcutting areas in the course of their natural reforestation are considered. The examples of human-disturbed (turbated) soil horizons and newly formed anthropogenic soils on clearcutting areas are described. It is suggested that the soils on mechanically disturbed parts of clearcutting areas can be separated as a specific group of detritus turbozems.

Functional ecology of advance regeneration in relation to light in boreal forests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Messier, C.; Claveau, Y.; Kelly, C. [Quebec Univ., Montreal, PQ (Canada); Doucet, R. [Quebec Ministere des Ressources Naturelles, Ste. Foy, PQ (Canada); Ruel, J.C. [Laval Univ., Quebec, PQ (Canada); Lechowicz, M.J. [McGill Univ., Montreal, PQ (Canada). Dept. of Biology

1999-06-01

A comparative and functional approach is adopted that stresses the morphological and physiological qualities that may favor greater or lesser capacity to grow in the shaded understory. The current understanding of the functional basis for variation in the shade tolerance of the main boreal trees is reviewed, and a consideration is given to how shade tolerance is linked to the ability to respond effectively to small canopy openings. The most commercially important shade tolerant conifers in the boreal forests of North America are concentrated on including: balsam fir, black spruce, and white spruce. The functional basis of shade tolerance and competition among boreal trees are examined for understanding, by comparing these species to their most important shade intolerant counterparts: jack pine, lodgepole pine, trembling aspen, and paper birch. The functional basis for growth and survival of established seedlings and saplings up to pole size are stressed. The ability of boreal tree genera to grow and survive in shade up to pole size depends on the functional responses of saplings to the changing biotic and abiotic variables in the understory as overstory canopy changes over time. At the leaf level, the only consistent differences among boreal tree genera are in specific leaf mass and maximum photosynthetic capacity. At the shoot and crown levels, clear structural differences exist among conifer tree genera. Shoot and crown structural traits exhibit most plasticity in relation to light availability for firs and least for pines. At the whole-plant level, shade intolerant tree species such as pines tend to be more affected by shading than shade tolerant ones. Considering these main qualities, a framework is advanced for determining advance regeneration in sapling performance that relates interspecific differences in crown structural plasticity, growth strategies, and light requirements as size increases with the size and frequency of canopy gaps. Fir and spruce co

Ectomycorrhizal fungi contribute to soil organic matter cycling in sub-boreal forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Lori A; Ward, Valerie; Jones, Melanie D

2014-03-01

Soils of northern temperate and boreal forests represent a large terrestrial carbon (C) sink. The fate of this C under elevated atmospheric CO2 and climate change is still uncertain. A fundamental knowledge gap is the extent to which ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) and saprotrophic fungi contribute to C cycling in the systems by soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. In this study, we used a novel approach to generate and compare enzymatically active EMF hyphae-dominated and saprotrophic hyphae-enriched communities under field conditions. Fermentation-humus (FH)-filled mesh bags, surrounded by a sand barrier, effectively trapped EMF hyphae with a community structure comparable to that found in the surrounding FH layer, at both trophic and taxonomic levels. In contrast, over half the sequences from mesh bags with no sand barrier were identified as belonging to saprotrophic fungi. The EMF hyphae-dominated systems exhibited levels of hydrolytic and oxidative enzyme activities that were comparable to or higher than saprotroph-enriched systems. The enzymes assayed included those associated with both labile and recalcitrant SOM degradation. Our study shows that EMF hyphae are likely important contributors to current SOM turnover in sub-boreal systems. Our results also suggest that any increased EMF biomass that might result from higher below-ground C allocation by trees would not suppress C fluxes from sub-boreal soils.

The summertime Boreal forest field measurement intensive (HUMPPA-COPEC-2010): an overview of meteorological and chemical influences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Williams, J.; Crowley, J.; Fischer, H.; Harder, H.; Martinez, M.; Ouwersloot, H.G.; Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, J.; Ganzeveld, L.N.; Lelieveld, J.

2011-01-01

This paper describes the background, instrumentation, goals, and the regional influences on the HUMPPACOPEC intensive field measurement campaign, conducted at the Boreal forest research station SMEAR II (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relation) in Hyyti¨al¨a, Finland from 12 July–12

Historical trends in rusty blackbird nonbreeding habitat in forested wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

Paul B. Hamel; Diane De Steven; Ted Leininger; Randy. Wilson

2009-01-01

Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) populations have declined perhaps 95% in the recent past, creating legitimate concern that the species may become endangered. During the nonbreeding period the species occurs predominantly in southern U.S. forested wetland habitats, with concentrations in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley and in the southeastern...

Postfire Succession of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Nesting in Dead Wood of Northern Boreal Forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Boucher, Philippe; Hébert, Christian; Francoeur, André; Sirois, Luc

2015-10-01

Dead wood decomposition begins immediately after tree death and involves a large array of invertebrates. Ecological successions are still poorly known for saproxylic organisms, particularly in boreal forests. We investigated the use of dead wood as nesting sites for ants along a 60-yr postfire chronosequence in northeastern coniferous forests. We sampled a total of 1,625 pieces of dead wood, in which 263 ant nests were found. Overall, ant abundance increased during the first 30 yr after wildfire, and then declined. Leptothorax cf. canadensis Provancher, the most abundant species in our study, was absent during the first 2 yr postfire, but increased steadily until 30 yr after fire, whereas Myrmica alaskensis Wheeler, second in abundance, was found at all stages of succession in the chronosequence. Six other species were less frequently found, among which Camponotus herculeanus (Linné), Formica neorufibarbis Emery, and Formica aserva Forel were locally abundant, but more scarcely distributed. Dead wood lying on the ground and showing numerous woodborer holes had a higher probability of being colonized by ants. The C:N ratio was lower for dead wood colonized by ants than for noncolonized dead wood, showing that the continuous occupation of dead wood by ants influences the carbon and nitrogen dynamics of dead wood after wildfire in northern boreal forests. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Mapping the Dabus Wetlands, Ethiopia, Using Random Forest Classification of Landsat, PALSAR and Topographic Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierre Dubeau

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The Dabus Wetland complex in the highlands of Ethiopia is within the headwaters of the Nile Basin and is home to significant ecological communities and rare or endangered species. Its many interrelated wetland types undergo seasonal and longer-term changes due to weather and climate variations as well as anthropogenic land use such as grazing and burning. Mapping and monitoring of these wetlands has not been previously undertaken due primarily to their relative isolation and lack of resources. This study investigated the potential of remote sensing based classification for mapping the primary vegetation groups in the Dabus Wetlands using a combination of dry and wet season data, including optical (Landsat spectral bands and derived vegetation and wetness indices, radar (ALOS PALSAR L-band backscatter, and elevation (SRTM derived DEM and other terrain metrics as inputs to the non-parametric Random Forest (RF classifier. Eight wetland types and three terrestrial/upland classes were mapped using field samples of observed plant community composition and structure groupings as reference information. Various tests to compare results using different RF input parameters and data types were conducted. A combination of multispectral optical, radar and topographic variables provided the best overall classification accuracy, 94.4% and 92.9% for the dry and wet season, respectively. Spectral and topographic data (radar data excluded performed nearly as well, while accuracies using only radar and topographic data were 82–89%. Relatively homogeneous classes such as Papyrus Swamps, Forested Wetland, and Wet Meadow yielded the highest accuracies while spatially complex classes such as Emergent Marsh were more difficult to accurately classify. The methods and results presented in this paper can serve as a basis for development of long-term mapping and monitoring of these and other non-forested wetlands in Ethiopia and other similar environmental settings.

The upland flooding experiment : assessing the impact of reservoir creation on the biogeochemical cycling of mercury in boreal forest uplands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rolfhus, K.R. [Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (United States). Water Chemistry Program; Bodaly, R.A.; Fudge, R.J.P.; Huebert, D.; Paterson, M.J. [Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Ottawa, ON (Canada) Fresh Water Inst.; Hall, B.D.; St Louis, V.L. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Biological Sciences; Krabbenhoft, D.P. [U.S. Geological Survey (United States); Hurley, J.P. [Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (United States). Water Resources Inst.; Peech, K. [Manitoba Univ., Winnipeg, MB (Canada). Dept. of Entomology

2000-07-01

One of the major environmental problems associated with boreal hydroelectric reservoirs such as those found in Canada and other northern countries is the elevated concentrations of mercury (Hg) in fish. A flooding experiment was conducted in northern Ontario to study methyl mercury (MeHg) production/bioaccumulation and greenhouse gas dynamics in impoundments with flooded upland forests of different soil carbon content, moisture and vegetation. The study, entitled Upland Flooding Experiment (FLUDEX) took place in June 1999 at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) where three impoundments of 0.7 ha were flooded to a depth of 1 m using oligotrophic lake water. The hydraulic residence time was 10-14 days. Responses to flooding were compared among treatment reservoirs and to previously flooded wetlands. The study included researchers from Canada and the United States who characterized mercury species fluxes from soils, the overall reservoir mass balance for total Hg and MeHg, inorganic Hg and MeHg concentration in zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, emerging insects and fish. Carbon decomposition was also examined. Preliminary results, one year after inundation, show significantly high levels of MeHg concentration compared to the feed water and that of surrounding natural lakes. Outflow samples from the dry forest areas showed the highest concentrations of Hg and MeHg, with lower concentrations from the moist forest. The lowest levels were observed from the outflow from the driest forest reservoir. A rapid pulse of inorganic Hg appears to have been released during the first 2 weeks of flooding. Soil leaching was found to be the main mechanism or inorganic Hg supply while MeHg appears to have been supplied by in situ microbial methylation. It was also shown that forage fish introduced into the reservoir had significantly elevated concentrations of MeHg compared to fish in natural lakes.

Boreal coniferous forest density leads to significant variations in soil physical and geochemical properties

Science.gov (United States)

Bastianelli, Carole; Ali, Adam A.; Beguin, Julien; Bergeron, Yves; Grondin, Pierre; Hély, Christelle; Paré, David

2017-07-01

At the northernmost extent of the managed forest in Quebec, Canada, the boreal forest is currently undergoing an ecological transition between two forest ecosystems. Open lichen woodlands (LW) are spreading southward at the expense of more productive closed-canopy black spruce-moss forests (MF). The objective of this study was to investigate whether soil properties could distinguish MF from LW in the transition zone where both ecosystem types coexist. This study brings out clear evidence that differences in vegetation cover can lead to significant variations in soil physical and geochemical properties.Here, we showed that soil carbon, exchangeable cations, and iron and aluminium crystallinity vary between boreal closed-canopy forests and open lichen woodlands, likely attributed to variations in soil microclimatic conditions. All the soils studied were typical podzolic soil profiles evolved from glacial till deposits that shared a similar texture of the C layer. However, soil humus and the B layer varied in thickness and chemistry between the two forest ecosystems at the pedon scale. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to evaluate how soil properties could help distinguish the two types at the site scale. MF humus (FH horizons horizons composing the O layer) showed significantly higher concentrations of organic carbon and nitrogen and of the main exchangeable base cations (Ca, Mg) than LW soils. The B horizon of LW sites held higher concentrations of total Al and Fe oxides and particularly greater concentrations of inorganic amorphous Fe oxides than MF mineral soils, while showing a thinner B layer. Overall, our results show that MF store three times more organic carbon in their soils (B+FH horizons, roots apart) than LW. We suggest that variations in soil properties between MF and LW are linked to a cascade of events involving the impacts of natural disturbances such as wildfires on forest regeneration that determines the vegetation structure (stand density

Boreal coniferous forest density leads to significant variations in soil physical and geochemical properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Bastianelli

2017-07-01

Full Text Available At the northernmost extent of the managed forest in Quebec, Canada, the boreal forest is currently undergoing an ecological transition between two forest ecosystems. Open lichen woodlands (LW are spreading southward at the expense of more productive closed-canopy black spruce–moss forests (MF. The objective of this study was to investigate whether soil properties could distinguish MF from LW in the transition zone where both ecosystem types coexist. This study brings out clear evidence that differences in vegetation cover can lead to significant variations in soil physical and geochemical properties.Here, we showed that soil carbon, exchangeable cations, and iron and aluminium crystallinity vary between boreal closed-canopy forests and open lichen woodlands, likely attributed to variations in soil microclimatic conditions. All the soils studied were typical podzolic soil profiles evolved from glacial till deposits that shared a similar texture of the C layer. However, soil humus and the B layer varied in thickness and chemistry between the two forest ecosystems at the pedon scale. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to evaluate how soil properties could help distinguish the two types at the site scale. MF humus (FH horizons horizons composing the O layer showed significantly higher concentrations of organic carbon and nitrogen and of the main exchangeable base cations (Ca, Mg than LW soils. The B horizon of LW sites held higher concentrations of total Al and Fe oxides and particularly greater concentrations of inorganic amorphous Fe oxides than MF mineral soils, while showing a thinner B layer. Overall, our results show that MF store three times more organic carbon in their soils (B+FH horizons, roots apart than LW. We suggest that variations in soil properties between MF and LW are linked to a cascade of events involving the impacts of natural disturbances such as wildfires on forest regeneration that determines the vegetation

Palaeoecological data as a tool to predict possible future vegetation changes in the boreal forest zone of European Russia: a case study from the Central Forest Biosphere Reserve

Science.gov (United States)

Novenko, E. Yu; Tsyganov, A. N.; Olchev, A. V.

2018-01-01

New multi-proxy records (pollen, testate amoebae, and charcoal) were applied to reconstruct the vegetation dynamics in the boreal forest area of the southern part of Valdai Hills (the Central Forest Biosphere Reserve) during the Holocene. The reconstructions of the mean annual temperature and precipitation, the climate moisture index (CMI), peatland surface moisture, and fire activity have shown that climate change has a significant impact on the boreal forests of European Russia. Temperature growth and decreased moistening during the warmest phases of the Holocene Thermal Maximum in 7.0-6.2 ka BP and 6.0-5.5 ka BP and in the relatively warm phase in 3.4-2.5 ka BP led to structural changes in plant communities, specifically an increase in the abundance of broadleaf tree species in forest stands and the suppression of Picea. The frequency of forest fires was higher in that period, and it resulted in the replacement of spruce forests by secondary stands with Betula and Pinus. Despite significant changes in the climatic parameters projected for the 21st century using even the optimistic RCP2.6 scenario, the time lag between climate changes and vegetation responses makes any catastrophic vegetation disturbances (due to natural reasons) in the area in the 21st century unlikely.

Response of Boreal forest tree canopy cover to chronic gamma irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amiro, B.D.

1994-01-01

A section of the Canadian Boreal forest was irradiated chronically by a point source of 137 Cs from 1973 to 1986. Tree canopy cover was measured at permanently marked locations during the pre-irradiation, irradiation and post-irradiation phases, spanning a period of two decades. The tree canopy was severely affected at dose rates greater than 10 mGy/h delivered chronically. The canopy of sensitive coniferous tree species, such as Abies balsamea and Picea Mariana, decreased at dose rates greater than 2 mGy/h, but in some cases the tree canopy was replaced by more resistant species, such as Populus tremuloides and Salix bebbiana. Effects on canopy cover could not be detected at dose rates less than 0.1 mGy/h. Even at dose rates of 5 mGy/h, the forest canopy is recovering six years after irradiation stopped. (author)

Nesting ecology of boreal forest birds following a massive outbreak of spruce beetles

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuoka, S.M.; Handel, C.M.

2007-01-01

We studied breeding dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), yellow-rumped warblers (Dendroica coronata), and spruce-nesting birds from 1997 to 1998 among forests with different levels of spruce (Picea spp.) mortality following an outbreak of spruce beetles (Dendroctonus rufipennis) in Alaska, USA. We identified species using live and beetle-killed spruce for nest sites and monitored nests to determine how the outbreak influenced avian habitat selection and reproduction. We tested predictions that 1) nesting success of ground-nesting juncos would increase with spruce mortality due to proliferation of understory vegetation available to conceal nests from predators, 2) nesting success of canopy-nesting warblers would decrease with spruce mortality due to fewer live spruce in which to conceal nests, and 3) both species would alter nest-site selection in response to disturbance. Juncos did not benefit from changes in understory vegetation; nesting success in highly disturbed stands (46%) was comparable to that in undisturbed habitats throughout their range. In stands with low spruce mortality, nesting success of juncos was low (5%) and corresponded with high densities of red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Yellow-rumped warblers nested exclusively in spruce, but success did not vary with spruce mortality. As disturbance increased, nesting warblers switched from selecting forest patches with high densities of live white spruce (Picea glauca) to patches with beetle-killed spruce. Warblers also placed nests in large-diameter live or beetle-killed spruce, depending on which was more abundant in the stand, with no differences in nesting success. Five of the 12 other species of spruce-nesting birds also used beetle-killed spruce as nest sites. Because beetle-killed spruce can remain standing for >50 years, even highly disturbed stands provide an important breeding resource for boreal forest birds. We recommend that boreal forest managers preserve uncut blocks of infested

Ghost forest creation and the conversion of uplands to wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

Kirwan, M. L.; Schieder, N. W.; Reay, W.

2017-12-01

Global sea level rise rates began accelerating sharply in the late 19th century, with an approximate tripling in sea level rise rates in many regions of the world. Some portions of the coastal landscape, such as marshes and barrier islands, survive relative sea level rise by natural eco-geomorphic processes that allow them to build elevation vertically and migrate landward. In contrast, adjacent uplands typically occupied by forests and agricultural fields have limited ability to resist the impacts of sea level rise. This portion of the coastal landscape consists of mostly salt intolerant plants, receives little mineral sediment deposition, and rarely builds elevation through the accumulation of soil organic matter. Thus, ghost forests- dead trees surrounded by marshland- are a prominent feature of many low-relief coastal landscapes, and represent a striking visual indicator of upland to wetland conversion. Here, we report preliminary results of several efforts designed to quantify rates and drivers of upland to wetland conversion in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Drone based canopy monitoring and ground-based seedling experiments suggest that ghost forests are created by episodic, storm-driven adult tree mortality paired with continuous seedling mortality. Preliminary comparisons between sediment cores and historical photographs from 5 sites in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina suggest that modern coastal forest retreat is 2-10 times faster than late-Holocene retreat rates, and that rates have accelerated in most decades since the 1930's. Finally, historical T-Sheet maps suggest that approximately 100,000 acres (400 km2) of uplands have converted to wetlands in the Chesapeake region, and that about 1/3 of all present-day marsh was created by upland drowning since the late 19th Century. Together, these observations indicate rapid coastal transgression, where low-relief, terrestrial portions of the coastal landscape are perhaps more sensitive to

Regional assessment of boreal forest productivity using an ecological process model and remote sensing parameter maps.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimball, J. S.; Keyser, A. R.; Running, S. W.; Saatchi, S. S.

2000-06-01

An ecological process model (BIOME-BGC) was used to assess boreal forest regional net primary production (NPP) and response to short-term, year-to-year weather fluctuations based on spatially explicit, land cover and biomass maps derived by radar remote sensing, as well as soil, terrain and daily weather information. Simulations were conducted at a 30-m spatial resolution, over a 1205 km(2) portion of the BOREAS Southern Study Area of central Saskatchewan, Canada, over a 3-year period (1994-1996). Simulations of NPP for the study region were spatially and temporally complex, averaging 2.2 (+/- 0.6), 1.8 (+/- 0.5) and 1.7 (+/- 0.5) Mg C ha(-1) year(-1) for 1994, 1995 and 1996, respectively. Spatial variability of NPP was strongly controlled by the amount of aboveground biomass, particularly photosynthetic leaf area, whereas biophysical differences between broadleaf deciduous and evergreen coniferous vegetation were of secondary importance. Simulations of NPP were strongly sensitive to year-to-year variations in seasonal weather patterns, which influenced the timing of spring thaw and deciduous bud-burst. Reductions in annual NPP of approximately 17 and 22% for 1995 and 1996, respectively, were attributed to 3- and 5-week delays in spring thaw relative to 1994. Boreal forest stands with greater proportions of deciduous vegetation were more sensitive to the timing of spring thaw than evergreen coniferous stands. Similar relationships were found by comparing simulated snow depth records with 10-year records of aboveground NPP measurements obtained from biomass harvest plots within the BOREAS region. These results highlight the importance of sub-grid scale land cover complexity in controlling boreal forest regional productivity, the dynamic response of the biome to short-term interannual climate variations, and the potential implications of climate change and other large-scale disturbances.

Effects of fire severity on plant nutrient uptake reinforce alternate pathways of succession in boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

A. Shenoy; K. Kielland; J.F. Johnstone

2013-01-01

Fire activity in the North American boreal region is projected to increase under a warming climate and trigger changes in vegetation composition. In black spruce forests of interior Alaska, fire severity impacts residual organic layer depth which is strongly linked to the relative dominance of deciduous versus coniferous trees in early succession. These alternate...

Soil fluxes of carbonyl sulfide (COS), carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide in a boreal forest in southern Finland

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Wu; Kooijmans, Linda M. J.; Maseyk, Kadmiel; Chen, Huilin; Mammarella, Ivan; Vesala, Timo; Levula, Janne; Keskinen, Helmi; Seibt, Ulli

2018-02-01

Soil is a major contributor to the biosphere-atmosphere exchange of carbonyl sulfide (COS) and carbon monoxide (CO). COS is a tracer with which to quantify terrestrial photosynthesis based on the coupled leaf uptake of COS and CO2, but such use requires separating soil COS flux, which is unrelated to photosynthesis, from ecosystem COS uptake. For CO, soil is a significant natural sink that influences the tropospheric CO budget. In the boreal forest, magnitudes and variabilities of soil COS and CO fluxes remain poorly understood. We measured hourly soil fluxes of COS, CO, and CO2 over the 2015 late growing season (July to November) in a Scots pine forest in Hyytiälä, Finland. The soil acted as a net sink of COS and CO, with average uptake rates around 3 pmol m-2 s-1 for COS and 1 nmol m-2 s-1 for CO. Soil respiration showed seasonal dynamics controlled by soil temperature, peaking at around 4 µmol m-2 s-1 in late August and September and dropping to 1-2 µmol m-2 s-1 in October. In contrast, seasonal variations of COS and CO fluxes were weak and mainly driven by soil moisture changes through diffusion limitation. COS and CO fluxes did not appear to respond to temperature variation, although they both correlated well with soil respiration in specific temperature bins. However, COS : CO2 and CO : CO2 flux ratios increased with temperature, suggesting possible shifts in active COS- and CO-consuming microbial groups. Our results show that soil COS and CO fluxes do not have strong variations over the late growing season in this boreal forest and can be represented with the fluxes during the photosynthetically most active period. Well-characterized and relatively invariant soil COS fluxes strengthen the case for using COS as a photosynthetic tracer in boreal forests.

Effects of warming on the structure and function of a boreal black spruce forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stith T.Gower

2010-03-03

A strong argument can be made that there is a greater need to study the effect of warming on boreal forests more than on any other terrestrial biome. Boreal forests, the second largest forest biome, are predicted to experience the greatest warming of any forest biome in the world, but a process-based understanding of how warming will affect the structure and function of this economically and ecologically important forest biome is lacking. The effects of warming on species composition, canopy structure and biogeochemical cycles are likely to be complex; elucidating the underlying mechanisms will require long-term whole-ecosystem manipulation to capture all the complex feedbacks (Shaver et al. 2000, Rustad et al. 2001, Stromgren 2001). The DOE Program for Ecosystem Research funded a three year project (2002-2005) to use replicated heated chambers on soil warming plots in northern Manitoba to examine the direct effects of whole-ecosystem warming. We are nearing completion of our first growing season of measurements (fall 2004). In spite of the unforeseen difficulty of installing the heating cable, our heating and irrigation systems worked extremely well, maintaining environmental conditions within 5-10% of the specified design 99% of the time. Preliminary data from these systems, all designed and built by our laboratory at the University of Wisconsin, support our overall hypothesis that warming will increase the carbon sink strength of upland boreal black spruce forests. I request an additional three years of funding to continue addressing the original objectives: (1) Examine the effect of warming on phenology of overstory, understory and bryophyte strata. Sap flux systems and dendrometer bands, monitored by data loggers, will be used to quantify changes in phenology and water use. (2) Quantify the effects of warming on nitrogen and water use by overstory, understory and bryophytes. (3) Compare effects of warming on autotrophic respiration and above- and belowground

Modeling the potential impacts of climate change on the water table level of selected forested wetlands in the southeastern United States

OpenAIRE

Zhu, Jie; Sun, Ge; Li, Wenhong; Zhang, Yu; Miao, Guofang; Noormets, Asko; McNulty, Steve G.; King, John S.; Kumar, Mukesh; Wang, Xuan

2017-01-01

The southeastern United States hosts extensive forested wetlands, providing ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, water quality improvement, groundwater recharge, and wildlife habitat. However, these wetland ecosystems are dependent on local climate and hydrology, and are therefore at risk due to climate and land use change. This study develops site-specific empirical hydrologic models for five forested wetlands with different characteristics by analyzing long-t...

Spatial Variability of Tree Transpiration Along a Soil Drainage Gradient of Boreal Black Spruce Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Angstmann, J. L.; Ewers, B. E.; Kwon, H.; Bond-Lamberty, B.; Amiro, B.; Gower, S. T.

2008-12-01

Boreal forests are an integral component in obtaining a predictive understanding of global climate change because they comprise 33% of the world's forests and store large amounts of carbon. Much of this carbon storage is a result of peat formation in cold, poorly-drained soils. Transpiration plays a crucial role in the interaction between carbon and water cycles due to stomatal control of these fluxes. The primary focus of this study is to quantify the spatial variability and drivers of tree transpiration in boreal forest stands across a well- to poorly-drained soil drainage gradient. Species composition of this region of boreal forest changes during succession in well-drained soils from being primarily dominated by Picea mariana with co-dominant Pinus banksiana and Populus tremuloides in younger stands to being dominated solely by Picea marianain older stands. Poorly-drained soils are dominated by Picea mariana and change little with succession. Previous work in well-drained stands showed that 1) tree transpiration changed substantially with stand age due to sapwood-to-leaf area ratio dynamics and 2) minimum leaf water potential (Ψ) was kept constant to prevent excessive cavitation. We hypothesized that 1) minimum Ψ would be constant, 2) transpiration would be proportional to the sapwood-to-leaf area ratio across a soil drainage gradient, and 3) spatial relationships between trees would vary depending on stomatal responses to vapor pressure deficit (D). We tested these hypotheses by measuring Ψ of 33 trees and sap flux from 204 trees utilizing cyclic sampling constructed to study spatial relationships. Measurements were conducted at a 42-year-old stand representing maximum tree diversity during succession. There were no significant differences between growing season averaged Ψ in well- (-0.35 and -1.37 for pre-dawn and mid-day respectively) and poorly- drained soil conditions (-0.38 and -1.41 for pre-dawn and mid-day respectively) for Picea mariana. Water use

Deciduous trees are a large and overlooked sink for snowmelt water in the boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Jessica; Bolton, W. Robert; Bhatt, Uma; Cristobal, Jordi; Thoman, Richard

2016-01-01

The terrestrial water cycle contains large uncertainties that impact our understanding of water budgets and climate dynamics. Water storage is a key uncertainty in the boreal water budget, with tree water storage often ignored. The goal of this study is to quantify tree water content during the snowmelt and growing season periods for Alaskan and western Canadian boreal forests. Deciduous trees reached saturation between snowmelt and leaf-out, taking up 21–25% of the available snowmelt water, while coniferous trees removed <1%. We found that deciduous trees removed 17.8–20.9 billion m3 of snowmelt water, which is equivalent to 8.7–10.2% of the Yukon River’s annual discharge. Deciduous trees transpired 2–12% (0.4–2.2 billion m3) of the absorbed snowmelt water immediately after leaf-out, increasing favorable conditions for atmospheric convection, and an additional 10–30% (2.0–5.2 billion m3) between leaf-out and mid-summer. By 2100, boreal deciduous tree area is expected to increase by 1–15%, potentially resulting in an additional 0.3–3 billion m3 of snowmelt water removed from the soil per year. This study is the first to show that deciduous tree water uptake of snowmelt water represents a large but overlooked aspect of the water balance in boreal watersheds.

Spectral contribution of understory to forest reflectance in a boreal site: an analysis of EO-1 Hyperion data

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Rautianien, M.; Lukeš, Petr

2015-01-01

Roč. 171, dec (2015), s. 98-104 ISSN 0034-4257 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LO1415 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : forest reflectance model * hyperspectral * boreal * leaf area index * understory Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 5.881, year: 2015

Impact of wildfire on stream nutrient chemistry and ecosystem metabolism in boreal forest catchments of interior Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Emma F. Betts; Jeremy B. Jones

2009-01-01

With climatic warming, wildfire occurrence is increasing in the boreal forest of interior Alaska. Loss of catchment vegetation during fire can impact streams directly through altered solute and debris inputs and changed light and temperature regimes. Over longer time scales, fire can accelerate permafrost degradation, altering catchment hydrology and stream nutrient...

Amines in boreal forest air at SMEAR II station in Finland

Science.gov (United States)

Hemmilä, Marja; Hellén, Heidi; Virkkula, Aki; Makkonen, Ulla; Praplan, Arnaud P.; Kontkanen, Jenni; Ahonen, Lauri; Kulmala, Markku; Hakola, Hannele

2018-05-01

We measured amines in boreal forest air in Finland both in gas and particle phases with 1 h time resolution using an online ion chromatograph (instrument for Measuring AeRosols and Gases in Ambient Air - MARGA) connected to an electrospray ionization quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS). The developed MARGA-MS method was able to separate and detect seven different amines: monomethylamine (MMA), dimethylamine (DMA), trimethylamine (TMA), ethylamine (EA), diethylamine (DEA), propylamine (PA), and butylamine (BA). The detection limits of the method for amines were low (0.2-3.1 ng m-3), the accuracy of IC-MS analysis was 11-37 %, and the precision 10-15 %. The proper measurements in the boreal forest covered about 8 weeks between March and December 2015. The amines were found to be an inhomogeneous group of compounds, showing different seasonal and diurnal variability. Total MMA (MMA(tot)) peaked together with the sum of ammonia and ammonium ions already in March. In March, monthly means for MMA were NH4+ these were 52 ± 16 and 425 ± 371 ng m-3, respectively. Monthly medians in March for MMA(tot), NH3, and NH4+ were 90 %, gas-phase DMA correlated well with 1.1-2 nm particle number concentration (R2 = 0.63) suggesting that it participates in atmospheric clustering. EA concentrations were low all the time. Its July means were < 0.36 and 0.4 ± 0.4 ng m-3 in gas and aerosol phases, respectively, but individual concentration data correlated well with monoterpene concentrations in July. Monthly means of PA and BA were below detection limits at all times.

The behaviour of radioactive caesium in a boreal forest ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergman, R.; Nylen, T.; Lidstroem, K.; Palo, T.

1991-01-01

The distribution of radioactive caesium (Cs-134 and Cs-137) in a boreal forest ecosystem is studied with focus in the dynamics of the turnover in, and loss from, the system. Measurements of the distribution in soil and vegetation, as well as the loss of radioactive caesium by run-off from a catchment, constitute the basis for an analysis of the caesium budget in the system. Comparisons of the distribution of 'old' Cs-137, i.e. originating from fallout due to the atmospheric nuclear weapons test, and that due to deposition after the accident in Chernobyl 1986 are used for extrapolations to future situations concerning transport of Cs-137 via the food chains over berries and moose to man. The exposure in a long term perspective due to the average intake of Cs-137 in the Swedish population by consumption of meat, milk, and milk products (i.e. of an agricultural origin) is compared to that due to ingestion of the forest products: berries (bilberry, lingonberries, and cloudberries) and moose meat. (au) (34 refs.)

Modelling Variable Fire Severity in Boreal Forests: Effects of Fire Intensity and Stand Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Miquelajauregui, Yosune; Cumming, Steven G; Gauthier, Sylvie

2016-01-01

It is becoming clear that fires in boreal forests are not uniformly stand-replacing. On the contrary, marked variation in fire severity, measured as tree mortality, has been found both within and among individual fires. It is important to understand the conditions under which this variation can arise. We integrated forest sample plot data, tree allometries and historical forest fire records within a diameter class-structured model of 1.0 ha patches of mono-specific black spruce and jack pine stands in northern Québec, Canada. The model accounts for crown fire initiation and vertical spread into the canopy. It uses empirical relations between fire intensity, scorch height, the percent of crown scorched and tree mortality to simulate fire severity, specifically the percent reduction in patch basal area due to fire-caused mortality. A random forest and a regression tree analysis of a large random sample of simulated fires were used to test for an effect of fireline intensity, stand structure, species composition and pyrogeographic regions on resultant severity. Severity increased with intensity and was lower for jack pine stands. The proportion of simulated fires that burned at high severity (e.g. >75% reduction in patch basal area) was 0.80 for black spruce and 0.11 for jack pine. We identified thresholds in intensity below which there was a marked sensitivity of simulated fire severity to stand structure, and to interactions between intensity and structure. We found no evidence for a residual effect of pyrogeographic region on simulated severity, after the effects of stand structure and species composition were accounted for. The model presented here was able to produce variation in fire severity under a range of fire intensity conditions. This suggests that variation in stand structure is one of the factors causing the observed variation in boreal fire severity.

Storm Effects on Net Ecosystem Productivity in Boreal Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Vestin, Patrik; Grelle, Achim; Lagergren, Fredrik; Hellström, Margareta; Langvall, Ola; Lindroth, Anders

2010-05-01

Regional carbon budgets are to some extent determined by disturbance in ecosystems. Disturbance is believed to be partly responsible for the large inter-annual variability of the terrestrial carbon balance. When neglecting anthropogenic disturbance, forest fires have been considered the most important kind of disturbance. However, also insect outbreaks and wind-throw may be major factors in regional carbon budgets. The effects of wind-throw on CO2 fluxes in boreal forests are not well known due to lack of data. Principally, the reduced carbon sequestration capacity, increased substrate availability and severe soil perturbation following wind-throw are expected to result in increased CO2 fluxes from the forest to the atmosphere. In January 2005, the storm Gudrun hit Sweden, which resulted in approx. 66 × 106m3storm-felled stem wood distributed over an area of approx. 272 000 ha. Eddy covariance flux measurements started at storm-felled areas in Asa and Toftaholm in central Sweden during summer 2005. Data from the first months suggests increased CO2 fluxes by a factor of 2.5-10, as compared to normal silviculture (clear-cutting). An important question is how long such enhanced CO2 fluxes persist. The BIOME-BGC model will be calibrated against measured CO2 fluxes from both sites for 2005 through 2009. Modeled data will be used to fill gaps in the data sets and annual carbon balances will be calculated. Data from Asa and Toftaholm will be presented at the conference.

Establishment and growth of white spruce on a boreal forest floodplain: interactions between microclimate and mammalian herbivory

Science.gov (United States)

Amy C. Angell; Knut. Kielland

2009-01-01

White spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) is a dominant species in late-successional ecosystems along the Tanana River, interior Alaska, and the most important commercial timber species in these boreal floodplain forests. Whereas white spruce commonly seed in on young terraces in early primary succession, the species does not become a conspicuous...

Landscape patterns of species-level association between ground-beetles and overstory trees in boreal forests of western Canada (Coleoptera, Carabidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin Bergeron

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Spatial associations between species of trees and ground-beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae involve many indirect ecological processes, likely reflecting the function of numerous forest ecosystem components. Describing and quantifying these associations at the landscape scale is basic to the development of a surrogate-based framework for biodiversity monitoring and conservation. In this study, we used a systematic sampling grid covering 84 km2 of boreal mixedwood forest to characterize the ground-beetle assemblage associated with each tree species occurring on this landscape. Projecting the distribution of relative basal area of each tree species on the beetle ordination diagram suggests that the carabid community is structured by the same environmental factors that affects the distribution of trees, or perhaps even by trees per se. Interestingly beetle species are associated with tree species of the same rank order of abundance on this landscape, suggesting that conservation of less abundant trees will concomitantly foster conservation of less abundant beetle species. Landscape patterns of association described here are based on characteristics that can be directly linked to provincial forest inventories, providing a basis that is already available for use of tree species as biodiversity surrogates in boreal forest land management.

Can Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS and Forest Estimates Derived from Satellite Images Be Used to Predict Abundance and Species Richness of Birds and Beetles in Boreal Forest?

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Eva Lindberg

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In managed landscapes, conservation planning requires effective methods to identify high-biodiversity areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of airborne laser scanning (ALS and forest estimates derived from satellite images extracted at two spatial scales for predicting the stand-scale abundance and species richness of birds and beetles in a managed boreal forest landscape. Multiple regression models based on forest data from a 50-m radius (i.e., corresponding to a homogenous forest stand had better explanatory power than those based on a 200-m radius (i.e., including also parts of adjacent stands. Bird abundance and species richness were best explained by the ALS variables “maximum vegetation height” and “vegetation cover between 0.5 and 3 m” (both positive. Flying beetle abundance and species richness, as well as epigaeic (i.e., ground-living beetle richness were best explained by a model including the ALS variable “maximum vegetation height” (positive and the satellite-derived variable “proportion of pine” (negative. Epigaeic beetle abundance was best explained by “maximum vegetation height” at 50 m (positive and “stem volume” at 200 m (positive. Our results show that forest estimates derived from satellite images and ALS data provide complementary information for explaining forest biodiversity patterns. We conclude that these types of remote sensing data may provide an efficient tool for conservation planning in managed boreal landscapes.

Simple proxies for estimating the concentrations of monoterpenes and their oxidation products at a boreal forest site

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J. Kontkanen

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The oxidation products of monoterpenes likely have a crucial role in the formation and growth of aerosol particles in boreal forests. However, the continuous measurements of monoterpene concentrations are usually not available on decadal timescales, and the direct measurements of the concentrations of monoterpene oxidation product have so far been scarce. In this study we developed proxies for the concentrations of monoterpenes and their oxidation products at a boreal forest site in Hyytiälä, southern Finland. For deriving the proxies we used the monoterpene concentration measured with a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS during 2006–2013. Our proxies for the monoterpene concentration take into account the temperature-controlled emissions from the forest ecosystem, the dilution caused by the mixing within the boundary layer and different oxidation processes. All the versions of our proxies captured the seasonal variation of the monoterpene concentration, the typical proxy-to-measurements ratios being between 0.8 and 1.3 in summer and between 0.6 and 2.6 in winter. In addition, the proxies were able to describe the diurnal variation of the monoterpene concentration rather well, especially in summer months. By utilizing one of the proxies, we calculated the concentration of oxidation products of monoterpenes by considering their production in the oxidation and their loss due to condensation on aerosol particles. The concentration of oxidation products was found to have a clear seasonal cycle, with a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter. The concentration of oxidation products was lowest in the morning or around noon and highest in the evening. In the future, our proxies for the monoterpene concentration and their oxidation products can be used, for example, in the analysis of new particle formation and growth in boreal environments.

Seasonal dynamics of soil CO2 emission in the boreal forests in Central Siberia

Science.gov (United States)

Makhnykina, A. V.; Prokishkin, A. S.; Zyryanov, V.; Verkhovets, S. V.

2016-12-01

A large amount of carbon in soil is released to the atmosphere through soil respiration, which is the main pathway of transferring carbon from terrestrial ecosystems (Comstedt et al., 2011). Considering that boreal forests is a large terrestrial sink (Tans et al., 1990) and represent approximately 11 % of the Earth's total land area (Gower et al., 2001), even a small change in soil respiration could significantly intensify - or mitigate - current atmospheric increases of CO2, with potential feedbacks to climate change. The objectives of the present study are: (a) to study the dynamic of CO2emission from the soil surface during summer season (from May to October); (b) to identify the reaction of soil respiration to different amount of precipitation as the main limiting factor in the region. The research was carried out in the pine forests in Central Siberia (60°N, 90°E), Russia. Sample plots were represented by the lichen pine forest, moss pine forest, mixed forest and anthropogenic destroyed area. We used the automated soil CO2 flux system based on the infrared gas analyzer LI-8100 for measuring the soil efflux. Soil temperature was measured with Soil Temperature Probe Type E in three depths 5, 10, 15 cm. Volumetric soil moisture was measured with Theta Probe Model ML2. The presence and type of ground cover substantially affects the value of soil respiration fluxes. The carbon dioxide emission from the soil surface averaged was 5.4 ±2.3 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1. The destroyed area without plant cover demonstrated the lowest soil respiration (0.1-5.6 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1). The lowest soil respiration among forested areas was observed in the feathermoss pine forest. The lichen pine forest soil respiration was characterized by averages values. The maximum soil respiration values and seasonal fluctuations were obtained in the mixed forest (2.3-29.3 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1). The analysis of relation between soil CO2 efflux and amount of precipitation showed that the site without any

Graph SLAM correction for single scanner MLS forest data under boreal forest canopy

Science.gov (United States)

Kukko, Antero; Kaijaluoto, Risto; Kaartinen, Harri; Lehtola, Ville V.; Jaakkola, Anttoni; Hyyppä, Juha

2017-10-01

Mobile laser scanning (MLS) provides kinematic means to collect three dimensional data from surroundings for various mapping and environmental analysis purposes. Vehicle based MLS has been used for road and urban asset surveys for about a decade. The equipment to derive the trajectory information for the point cloud generation from the laser data is almost without exception based on GNSS-IMU (Global Navigation Satellite System - Inertial Measurement Unit) technique. That is because of the GNSS ability to maintain global accuracy, and IMU to produce the attitude information needed to orientate the laser scanning and imaging sensor data. However, there are known challenges in maintaining accurate positioning when GNSS signal is weak or even absent over long periods of time. The duration of the signal loss affects the severity of degradation of the positioning solution depending on the quality/performance level of the IMU in use. The situation could be improved to a certain extent with higher performance IMUs, but increasing system expenses make such approach unsustainable in general. Another way to tackle the problem is to attach additional sensors to the system to overcome the degrading position accuracy: such that observe features from the environment to solve for short term system movements accurately enough to prevent the IMU solution to drift. This results in more complex system integration with need for more calibration and synchronization of multiple sensors into an operational approach. In this paper we study operation of an ATV (All -terrain vehicle) mounted, GNSS-IMU based single scanner MLS system in boreal forest conditions. The data generated by RoamerR2 system is targeted for generating 3D terrain and tree maps for optimizing harvester operations and forest inventory purposes at individual tree level. We investigate a process-flow and propose a graph optimization based method which uses data from a single scanner MLS for correcting the post

Drivers of lignin composition in boreal forest organic soils across a climate gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Myers-Pigg, A.; Kaiser, K.; Benner, R. H.; Ziegler, S. E.

2017-12-01

Lignin diagenesis in soils, including the cumulative effects of degradation and leaching, increases with experimental warming, signifying a potentially important change relevant to soil organic matter accumulation and fate. However, decadal to centennial climatic effects including changes in precipitation, litterfall inputs, and understory sources, on lignin composition are poorly constrained. We examined the lignin content and composition, via cupric oxide oxidation (CuO), within the organic layers of podzolic soils under similar balsam fir forests across a latitudinal climate gradient in Atlantic Canada. By exploring variation in lignin by both soil depth and climate region, this study informs on the climate drivers of lignin stability within boreal forest soil. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant variations in common signatures of CuO by-products with depth and/or site, indicating source and/or diagenetic controllers. Importantly, none of these signatures, with the exception of p-hydroxyphenols, exhibited a site by depth interaction indicating a similar degree of diagenetic alternation with depth across climates. The site by depth interaction for p-hydroxyphenols is a result of greater moss input in the northernmost site. To better elucidate this climate-induced source variation on our interpretation of lignin diagenesis, a principle component (PCA) model was built using signatures varying by site (pforest soils. A lignin diagenesis PCA model was built using (1) all non-moss related signatures identified in the first PCA model, and (2) scores for additional sites within each region, calculated from modeled lignin composition based on 13C-NMR spectra. The combined results indicate that the lignin diagenetic states among soils is similar, despite the large increase in soil C turnover with climate warming across this transect. Thus our results indicate that shifts in moss contribution, and not increased diagenesis, controls CuO by

Ecosystem Carbon Emissions from 2015 Forest Fires in Interior Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Potter, Christopher S.

2018-01-01

In the summer of 2015, hundreds of wildfires burned across the state of Alaska, and consumed more than 1.6 million ha of boreal forest and wetlands in the Yukon-Koyukuk region. Mapping of 113 large wildfires using Landsat satellite images from before and after 2015 indicated that nearly 60% of this area was burned at moderate-to-high severity levels. Field measurements near the town of Tanana on the Yukon River were carried out in July of 2017 in both unburned and 2015 burned forested areas (nearly adjacent to one-another) to visually verify locations of different Landsat burn severity classes (low, moderate, or high). Results: Field measurements indicated that the loss of surface organic layers in boreal ecosystem fires is a major factor determining post-fire soil temperature changes, depth of thawing, and carbon losses from the mineral topsoil layer. Measurements in forest sites showed that soil temperature profiles to 30 cm depth at burned forest sites increased by an average of 8o - 10o C compared to unburned forest sites. Sampling and laboratory analysis indicated a 65% reduction in soil carbon content and a 58% reduction in soil nitrogen content in severely burned sample sites compared to soil mineral samples from nearby unburned spruce forests. Conclusions: Combined with nearly unprecedented forest areas severely burned in the Interior region of Alaska in 2015, total ecosystem fire emission of carbon to the atmosphere exceeded most previous estimates for the state.

Working group report on wetlands and wildlife

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teels, B.

1991-01-01

The results and conclusions of a working group held to discuss the state of knowledge and knowledge gaps concerning climatic change impacts on wetlands and wildlife are presented. Prairie pothole wetlands are extremely productive and produce ca 50% of all ducks in North America. The most productive, and most vulnerable to climate change, are small potholes, often less than one acre in area. Changes in water regimes and land use will have more impact on wildlife than changes in temperature. There are gaps in knowledge relating to: boreal wetlands and their wildlife, and response to climate; wetland inventories that include the smallest wetlands; coordinated schemes for monitoring status and trends of wetlands and wildlife; and understanding of ecological relationships within wetlands and their wildlife communities. Recommendations include: coordinate and enhance existing databases to provide an integrated monitoring system; establish research programs to increase understanding of ecological relationships within wetland ecosystems; evaluate programs and policies that affect wetlands; and promote heightened public awareness of general values of wetlands

Modeling the potential impacts of climate change on the water table level of selected forested wetlands in the southeastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Jie; Sun, Ge; Li, Wenhong; Zhang, Yu; Miao, Guofang; Noormets, Asko; McNulty, Steve G.; King, John S.; Kumar, Mukesh; Wang, Xuan

2017-12-01

The southeastern United States hosts extensive forested wetlands, providing ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, water quality improvement, groundwater recharge, and wildlife habitat. However, these wetland ecosystems are dependent on local climate and hydrology, and are therefore at risk due to climate and land use change. This study develops site-specific empirical hydrologic models for five forested wetlands with different characteristics by analyzing long-term observed meteorological and hydrological data. These wetlands represent typical cypress ponds/swamps, Carolina bays, pine flatwoods, drained pocosins, and natural bottomland hardwood ecosystems. The validated empirical models are then applied at each wetland to predict future water table changes using climate projections from 20 general circulation models (GCMs) participating in Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project 5 (CMIP5) under the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios. We show that combined future changes in precipitation and potential evapotranspiration would significantly alter wetland hydrology including groundwater dynamics by the end of the 21st century. Compared to the historical period, all five wetlands are predicted to become drier over time. The mean water table depth is predicted to drop by 4 to 22 cm in response to the decrease in water availability (i.e., precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration) by the year 2100. Among the five examined wetlands, the depressional wetland in hot and humid Florida appears to be most vulnerable to future climate change. This study provides quantitative information on the potential magnitude of wetland hydrological response to future climate change in typical forested wetlands in the southeastern US.

Modeling the potential impacts of climate change on the water table level of selected forested wetlands in the southeastern United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Zhu

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The southeastern United States hosts extensive forested wetlands, providing ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, water quality improvement, groundwater recharge, and wildlife habitat. However, these wetland ecosystems are dependent on local climate and hydrology, and are therefore at risk due to climate and land use change. This study develops site-specific empirical hydrologic models for five forested wetlands with different characteristics by analyzing long-term observed meteorological and hydrological data. These wetlands represent typical cypress ponds/swamps, Carolina bays, pine flatwoods, drained pocosins, and natural bottomland hardwood ecosystems. The validated empirical models are then applied at each wetland to predict future water table changes using climate projections from 20 general circulation models (GCMs participating in Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project 5 (CMIP5 under the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios. We show that combined future changes in precipitation and potential evapotranspiration would significantly alter wetland hydrology including groundwater dynamics by the end of the 21st century. Compared to the historical period, all five wetlands are predicted to become drier over time. The mean water table depth is predicted to drop by 4 to 22 cm in response to the decrease in water availability (i.e., precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration by the year 2100. Among the five examined wetlands, the depressional wetland in hot and humid Florida appears to be most vulnerable to future climate change. This study provides quantitative information on the potential magnitude of wetland hydrological response to future climate change in typical forested wetlands in the southeastern US.

Harvesting interacts with climate change to affect future habitat quality of a focal species in eastern Canada's boreal forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Tremblay, Junior A; Boulanger, Yan; Cyr, Dominic; Taylor, Anthony R; Price, David T; St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues

2018-01-01

Many studies project future bird ranges by relying on correlative species distribution models. Such models do not usually represent important processes explicitly related to climate change and harvesting, which limits their potential for predicting and understanding the future of boreal bird assemblages at the landscape scale. In this study, we attempted to assess the cumulative and specific impacts of both harvesting and climate-induced changes on wildfires and stand-level processes (e.g., reproduction, growth) in the boreal forest of eastern Canada. The projected changes in these landscape- and stand-scale processes (referred to as "drivers of change") were then assessed for their impacts on future habitats and potential productivity of black-backed woodpecker (BBWO; Picoides arcticus), a focal species representative of deadwood and old-growth biodiversity in eastern Canada. Forest attributes were simulated using a forest landscape model, LANDIS-II, and were used to infer future landscape suitability to BBWO under three anthropogenic climate forcing scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5), compared to the historical baseline. We found climate change is likely to be detrimental for BBWO, with up to 92% decline in potential productivity under the worst-case climate forcing scenario (RCP 8.5). However, large declines were also projected under baseline climate, underlining the importance of harvest in determining future BBWO productivity. Present-day harvesting practices were the single most important cause of declining areas of old-growth coniferous forest, and hence appeared as the single most important driver of future BBWO productivity, regardless of the climate scenario. Climate-induced increases in fire activity would further promote young, deciduous stands at the expense of old-growth coniferous stands. This suggests that the biodiversity associated with deadwood and old-growth boreal forests may be greatly altered by the cumulative impacts of natural and

Harvesting interacts with climate change to affect future habitat quality of a focal species in eastern Canada's boreal forest.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junior A Tremblay

Full Text Available Many studies project future bird ranges by relying on correlative species distribution models. Such models do not usually represent important processes explicitly related to climate change and harvesting, which limits their potential for predicting and understanding the future of boreal bird assemblages at the landscape scale. In this study, we attempted to assess the cumulative and specific impacts of both harvesting and climate-induced changes on wildfires and stand-level processes (e.g., reproduction, growth in the boreal forest of eastern Canada. The projected changes in these landscape- and stand-scale processes (referred to as "drivers of change" were then assessed for their impacts on future habitats and potential productivity of black-backed woodpecker (BBWO; Picoides arcticus, a focal species representative of deadwood and old-growth biodiversity in eastern Canada. Forest attributes were simulated using a forest landscape model, LANDIS-II, and were used to infer future landscape suitability to BBWO under three anthropogenic climate forcing scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, compared to the historical baseline. We found climate change is likely to be detrimental for BBWO, with up to 92% decline in potential productivity under the worst-case climate forcing scenario (RCP 8.5. However, large declines were also projected under baseline climate, underlining the importance of harvest in determining future BBWO productivity. Present-day harvesting practices were the single most important cause of declining areas of old-growth coniferous forest, and hence appeared as the single most important driver of future BBWO productivity, regardless of the climate scenario. Climate-induced increases in fire activity would further promote young, deciduous stands at the expense of old-growth coniferous stands. This suggests that the biodiversity associated with deadwood and old-growth boreal forests may be greatly altered by the cumulative impacts of

Linking sediment-charcoal records and ecological modeling to understand causes of fire-regime change in boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

Linda B. Brubaker; Philip E. Higuera; T. Scott Rupp; Mark A. Olson; Patricia M. Anderson; Feng Sheng. Hu

2009-01-01

Interactions between vegetation and fire have the potential to overshadow direct effects of climate change on fire regimes in boreal forests of North America. We develop methods to compare sediment-charcoal records with fire regimes simulated by an ecological model, ALFRESCO (Alaskan Frame-based Ecosystem Code) and apply these methods to evaluate potential causes of a...

Diversity of gall-inducing insects in the high altitude wetland forests in Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JC Santos

Full Text Available We report on the richness of galling insects in the altitudinal wetland forests of Pernambuco State, Northeastern Brazil. We found 80 distinct types of insect galls on 49 species of host plants belonging to 28 families and 35 genera. Most of the galled plant species belong to Nyctaginaceae, Fabaceae, Meliaceae, Sapindaceae and Myrtaceae. The most common gall were spheroid and globoid; most galls were glabrous, predominantly green and with one chamber, and on the leaves. Most galls were induced by Cecidomyiidae (Diptera. The results of this study contribute to existing knowledge richness of galling insects and host-plant diversity in the altitudinal wetland forests of Northeastern Brazil.

Production and Transport of Ozone From Boreal Forest Fires

Science.gov (United States)

Tarasick, David; Liu, Jane; Osman, Mohammed; Sioris, Christopher; Liu, Xiong; Najafabadi, Omid; Parrington, Mark; Palmer, Paul; Strawbridge, Kevin; Duck, Thomas

2013-04-01

In the summer of 2010, the BORTAS (Quantifying the impact of BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites) mission was planned by several universities and government agencies in the United Kingdom, Canada, and USA. Nearly 100 ozone soundings were made at 13 stations through the BORTAS Intensive Sounding Network, although aircraft measurements were unfortunately cancelled due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland. 2010 was actually an exceptional year for Canadian boreal fires. MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) fire count data shows large fire events in Saskatchewan on several days in July. High amounts of NO2 close to the large fires are observed from OMI satellite data, indicating that not all NO2 is converted to PAN. Also associated with the fires, large amounts of CO, another precursor of ozone, are observed in MOPITT (Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere), AIRS and TES (Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer) satellite data in the middle to upper troposphere. These chemical conditions combined with sunny weather all favour ozone production. Following days with large fire activity, layers of elevated ozone mixing ratio (over 100 ppbv) are observed downwind at several sites. Back-trajectories suggest the elevated ozone in the profile is traceable to the fires in Saskatchewan. Lidar profiles also detect layers of aerosol at the same heights. However, the layers of high ozone are also associated with low humidity, which is not expected from a combustion source, and suggests the possibility of entrainment of stratospheric air.

Invertebrates Associated with Coarse Woody Debris in Streams, Upland Forests, and Wetlands: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

A. Braccia; D.P. Batzer

1999-01-01

We reviewed literature on the inbvertebrate groups associated with coarse woody debris in forests, streams, and wetlands, and contrasted patterns of invertebrate community development and wood decomposition among ecosystems.

Photochemical Reactivity of Dissolved Organic Matter in Boreal Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Y.; Vuorio, K.; Tiirola, M.; Perämäki, S.; Vahatalo, A.

2016-12-01

Boreal lakes are rich in dissolved organic matter (DOM) that terrestrially derived from forest soil and wetland, yet little is known about potential for photochemical transformation of aquatic DOM in boreal lakes. Transformation of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) can decrease water color and enhance microbial mineralization, affecting primary production and respiration, which both affect the CO2 balance of the lakes. We used laboratory solar radiation exposure experiments with lake water samples collected from 54 lakes located in Finland and Sweden, representing different catchment composition and watershed location to assess photochemical reactivity of DOM. The pH of water samples ranged from 5.4 to 8.3, and the concentrations of dissolved iron (Fe) were between samples received simulated solar radiation corresponding to a daily dose of sunlight, and photomineralization of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) was measured for determination of spectral apparent quantum yields (AQY). During irradiation, photobleaching decreased the absorption coefficients of CDOM at 330 nm between 4.9 and 79 m-1 by 0.5 to 11 m-1. Irradiation generated DIC from 2.8 to 79 μmol C L-1. The AQY at 330 nm ranged between 31 and 273 ×10-6 mol C mol photons-1 h-1, which was correlated positively with concentration of dissolved Fe, and negatively with pH. Further statistical analyze indicated that the interaction between pH and Fe may explain much of the photochemical reactivity of DOM in the examined lakes, and land cover concerns main catchment areas also can have impact on the photoreaction process. This study may suggest how environmental conditions regulate DOM photomineralization in boreal lakes.

Simulating effects of fire disturbance and climate change on boreal forest productivity and evapotranspiration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Sinkyu; Kimball, John S.; Running, Steven W.

2006-01-01

We used a terrestrial ecosystem process model, BIOME-BGC, to investigate historical climate change and fire disturbance effects on regional carbon and water budgets within a 357,500 km 2 portion of the Canadian boreal forest. Historical patterns of increasing atmospheric CO 2 , climate change, and regional fire activity were used as model drivers to evaluate the relative effects of these impacts to spatial patterns and temporal trends in forest net primary production (NPP) and evapotranspiration (ET). Historical trends of increasing atmospheric CO 2 resulted in overall 13% and 5% increases in annual NPP and ET from 1994 to 1996, respectively. NPP was found to be relatively sensitive to changes in air temperature (T a ), while ET was more sensitive to precipitation (P) change within the ranges of observed climate variability (e.g., +/-2 o C for T a and +/-20% for P). In addition, the potential effect of climate change related warming on NPP is exacerbated or offset depending on whether these changes are accompanied by respective decreases or increases in precipitation. Historical fire activity generally resulted in reductions of both NPP and ET, which consumed an average of approximately 6% of annual NPP from 1959 to 1996. Areas currently occupied by dry conifer forests were found to be subject to more frequent fire activity, which consumed approximately 8% of annual NPP. The results of this study show that the North American boreal ecosystem is sensitive to historical patterns of increasing atmospheric CO 2 , climate change and regional fire activity. The relative impacts of these disturbances on NPP and ET interact in complex ways and are spatially variable depending on regional land cover and climate gradients. (author)

Simulating effects of fire disturbance and climate change on boreal forest productivity and evapotranspiration.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Sinkyu; Kimball, John S; Running, Steven W

2006-06-01

We used a terrestrial ecosystem process model, BIOME-BGC, to investigate historical climate change and fire disturbance effects on regional carbon and water budgets within a 357,500 km(2) portion of the Canadian boreal forest. Historical patterns of increasing atmospheric CO2, climate change, and regional fire activity were used as model drivers to evaluate the relative effects of these impacts to spatial patterns and temporal trends in forest net primary production (NPP) and evapotranspiration (ET). Historical trends of increasing atmospheric CO2 resulted in overall 13% and 5% increases in annual NPP and ET from 1994 to 1996, respectively. NPP was found to be relatively sensitive to changes in air temperature (T(a)), while ET was more sensitive to precipitation (P) change within the ranges of observed climate variability (e.g., +/-2 degrees C for T(a) and +/-20% for P). In addition, the potential effect of climate change related warming on NPP is exacerbated or offset depending on whether these changes are accompanied by respective decreases or increases in precipitation. Historical fire activity generally resulted in reductions of both NPP and ET, which consumed an average of approximately 6% of annual NPP from 1959 to 1996. Areas currently occupied by dry conifer forests were found to be subject to more frequent fire activity, which consumed approximately 8% of annual NPP. The results of this study show that the North American boreal ecosystem is sensitive to historical patterns of increasing atmospheric CO2, climate change and regional fire activity. The relative impacts of these disturbances on NPP and ET interact in complex ways and are spatially variable depending on regional land cover and climate gradients.

Implications of floristic and environmental variation for carbon cycle dynamics in boreal forest ecosystems of central Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Zicheng; Apps, M.J.; Bhatti, J.S. [Canadan Forest Service, Edmonton (Canada). Northern Forestry Centre

2002-06-01

Species composition, detritus, and soil data from 97 boreal forest stands along a transect in central Canada were analysed using Correspondence Analysis to determine the dominant environmental/site variables that differentiate these forest stands. Picea mariana stands were densely clustered together on the understorey DCA plot, suggesting a consistent understorey species composition (feather mosses and Ericaceae), whereas Populus tremuloides stands had the most diverse understorey species composition (ca. 30 species, mostly shrubs and herbs). Pinus banksiana stands had several characteristic species of reindeer lichens (Cladina spp.), but saplings and Pinus seedlings were rare. Although climatic variables showed large variation along the transect, the CCA results indicated that site conditions are more important in determining species composition and differentiating the stand types. Forest floor characteristics (litter and humus layer, woody debris, and drainage) appear to be among the most important site variables. Stands of Picea had significantly higher average carbon (C) densities in the combined litter and humus layer (43,530 kg-C/ha) than either Populus (25,500 kg-C/ha) or Pinus (19,400 kg-C/ha). The thick surface organic layer in lowland Picea stands plays an important role in regulating soil temperature and moisture, and organic-matter decomposition, which in turn affect the ecosystem C-dynamics. During forest succession after a stand-replacing disturbance (e.g. fires), tree biomass and surface organic layer thickness increase in all stand types as forests recover; however, woody biomass detritus first decreases and then increases after ca. 80 yr. Soil C densities show slight decrease with ages in Populus stands, but increase in other stand types. These results indicate the complex C-transfer processes among different components (tree biomass, detritus, forest floor, and soil) of boreal ecosystems at various stages of succession.

The importance of micrometeorological variations for photosynthesis and transpiration in a boreal coniferous forest

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schurgers, Guy; Lagergren, F.; Molder, M.

2015-01-01

the importance of vertical variations in light, temperature, CO2 concentration and humidity within the canopy for fluxes of photosynthesis and transpiration of a boreal coniferous forest in central Sweden. A leaf-level photosynthesis-stomatal conductance model was used for aggregating these processes to canopy...... abovecanopy and within-canopy humidity, and despite large gradients in CO2 concentration during early morning hours after nights with stable conditions, neither humidity nor CO2 played an important role for vertical heterogeneity of photosynthesis and transpiration....

The field-irradiator gamma study: Fourteen years of irradiation of the boreal forest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amiro, B.D.; Hawkins, J.L.; Laverock, M.J.; Sheppard, S.C.

1996-01-01

The Field-Irradiator Gamma (FIG) project is a long-term experiment on the response of boreal forest vegetation to chronic ionizing radiation. The forest was irradiated from 1973 to 1986 by a 370 TBq point source of 137 Cs placed at a height of 20 m. The forest is now in the recovery phase. The irradiated forest included several different community types, and each of these was affected differently by the radiation stress. New vegetation zones have now been created because of the selective tolerance to radiation along a gradient from background dose rates to a maximum of 65 mGy h -1 . One of the easiest measured indicators of the radiation stress has been photographic documentation of changes in forest communities over time. Measured changes in species composition and the decrease in tree canopy cover at dose rates >2 Gy h -1 have also helped quantify radiation effects. Indicators such as trends in annual growth rings have been less satisfactory. Our experiment suggests that there are no visible impacts at chronic dose rates less than 0.1 mGy h -1 and the threshold for effects likely is between 0.1 and 1 mGy h -1 . The experimental area has been preserved to allow measurements of long-term recovery of the site

Importance of Small Isolated Wetlands for Herpetofaunal Diversity in Managed, Young Growth Forests in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Russell, K.R.; Guynn, D.C. Jr.; Hanlin, H.G.

2002-01-01

Assessment and comparison of richness, abundance and difference of herpetofauna at five small isolated wetlands located within a commercial forest landscape in the South Carolina Coastal Plain. Data indicates small isolated wetlands are focal points of herpetofaunal richness and abundance in managed coastal plain forest and contribute more to regional biodiversity than is implied by their small size or ephemeral hydrology

Modeling the Impacts of Boreal Deforestation on the Near-Surface Temperature in European Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhihui Li

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Boreal deforestation plays an important role in affecting regional and global climate. In this study, the regional temperature variation induced by future boreal deforestation in European Russia boreal forest region was simulated based on future land cover change and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF model. This study firstly tested and validated the simulation results of the WRF model. Then the land cover datasets in different years (2000 as baseline year, 2010, and 2100 was used in the WRF model to explore the impacts of boreal deforestation on the near-surface temperature. The results indicated that the WRF model has good ability to simulate the temperature change in European Russia. The land cover change in European Russia boreal forest region, which will be characterized by the conversion from boreal forests to croplands (boreal deforestation in the future 100 years, will lead to significant change of the near-surface temperature. The regional annual temperature will decrease by 0.58°C in the future 100 years, resulting in cooling effects to some extent and making the near-surface temperature decrease in most seasons except the spring.

Chapter 16 - conservation and use of coastal wetland forests in Louisiana

Science.gov (United States)

Stephen P. Faulkner; Jim L. Chambers; William H. Conner; Richard F. Keim; John W. Day; Emile S. Gardiner; Melinda S. Hughes; Sammy L. King; Kenneth W. McLeod; Craig A. Miller; J. Andrew Nyman; Gary P. Shaffer

2007-01-01

The natural ecosystems of coastal Louisiana reflect the underlying geomorphic processes responsible for their formation. The majority of Louisiana's wetland forests are found in the lower reaches of the Mississipp Alluvial Valley and the Deltaic Plain. The sediments, water, and energy of the Mississippi River have shaped the Deltaic Plain as natural deltas have...

Wetland influence on mercury fate and transport in a temperate forested watershed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Selvendiran, Pranesh; Driscoll, Charles T.; Bushey, Joseph T.; Montesdeoca, Mario R.

2008-01-01

The transport and fate of mercury (Hg) was studied in two forest wetlands; a riparian peatland and an abandoned beaver meadow. The proportion of total mercury (THg) that was methyl mercury (% MeHg) increased from 2% to 6% from the upland inlets to the outlet of the wetlands. During the growing season, MeHg concentrations were approximately three times higher (0.27 ng/L) than values during the non-growing season (0.10 ng/L). Transport of Hg species was facilitated by DOC production as indicated by significant positive relations with THg and MeHg. Elevated concentrations of MeHg and % MeHg (as high as 70%) were found in pore waters of the riparian and beaver meadow wetlands. Groundwater interaction with the stream was limited at the riparian peatland due to the low hydraulic conductivity of the peat. The annual fluxes of THg and MeHg at the outlet of the watershed were 2.3 and 0.092 μg/m 2 -year respectively. - Wetlands are sources of THg and MeHg; the production of MeHg is seasonally dependent and driven by sulfate reduction in wetlands

Wetland influence on mercury fate and transport in a temperate forested watershed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Selvendiran, Pranesh [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244 (United States)], E-mail: pselvend@syr.edu; Driscoll, Charles T. [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244 (United States)], E-mail: ctdrisco@syr.edu; Bushey, Joseph T. [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244 (United States)], E-mail: jtbushey@syr.edu; Montesdeoca, Mario R. [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244 (United States)], E-mail: mmontesd@syr.edu

2008-07-15

The transport and fate of mercury (Hg) was studied in two forest wetlands; a riparian peatland and an abandoned beaver meadow. The proportion of total mercury (THg) that was methyl mercury (% MeHg) increased from 2% to 6% from the upland inlets to the outlet of the wetlands. During the growing season, MeHg concentrations were approximately three times higher (0.27 ng/L) than values during the non-growing season (0.10 ng/L). Transport of Hg species was facilitated by DOC production as indicated by significant positive relations with THg and MeHg. Elevated concentrations of MeHg and % MeHg (as high as 70%) were found in pore waters of the riparian and beaver meadow wetlands. Groundwater interaction with the stream was limited at the riparian peatland due to the low hydraulic conductivity of the peat. The annual fluxes of THg and MeHg at the outlet of the watershed were 2.3 and 0.092 {mu}g/m{sup 2}-year respectively. - Wetlands are sources of THg and MeHg; the production of MeHg is seasonally dependent and driven by sulfate reduction in wetlands.

Measuring and Modeling the Effects of Alternate Post-Fire Successional Trajectories on Boreal Forest Carbon Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Loranty, M. M.; Goetz, S. J.; Mack, M. C.; Alexander, H. D.; Beck, P. S.

2011-12-01

High latitude ecosystems are experiencing amplified climate warming, and recent evidence suggests concurrent intensification of fire disturbance regimes. In central Alaskan boreal forests, severe burns consume more of the soil organic layer, resulting in increased establishment of deciduous seedlings and altered post-fire stand composition with increased deciduous dominance. Quantifying differences in ecosystem carbon (C) dynamics between forest successional trajectories in response to burn severity is essential for understanding potential changes in regional or global feedbacks between boreal forests and climate. We used the Biome BioGeochemical Cycling model (Biome-BGC) to quantify differences in C stocks and fluxes associated with alternate post-fire successional trajectories related to fire severity. A version of Biome-BGC that allows alternate competing vegetation types was calibrated against a series of aboveground biomass observations from chronosequences of stands with differing post-fire successional trajectories characterized by the proportion of deciduous biomass. The model was able to reproduce observed patterns of biomass accumulation after fire, with stands dominated by deciduous species sequestering more C at a faster rate than stands dominated by conifers. Modeled C fluxes suggest that stands dominated by deciduous species are a stronger sink of atmospheric C soon after disturbance than coniferous stands. These results agree with the few available C flux observations. We use a historic database in conjunction with a map of deciduous canopy cover to explore the consequences of ongoing and potential future changes in the fire regime on central Alaskan C balance.

Disturbance legacies and climate jointly drive tree growth and mortality in an intensively studied boreal forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bond-Lamberty, Benjamin; Rocha, Adrian; Calvin, Katherine V.; Holmes, Bruce; Wang, Chuankuan; Goulden, Michael L.

2014-01-01

How will regional growth and mortality change with even relatively small climate shifts, even independent of catastrophic disturbances? This question is particularly acute for the North American boreal forest, which is carbon-dense and subject The goals of this study were to combine dendrochronological sampling, inventory records, and machine-learning algorithms to understand how tree growth and death have changed at one highly studied site (Northern Old Black Spruce, NOBS) in the central Canadian boreal forest. Over the 1999-2012 inventory period, mean DBH increased even as stand density and basal area declined significantly from 41.3 to 37.5 m2 ha-1. Tree mortality averaged 1.4±0.6% yr-1, with most mortality occurring in medium-sized trees. A combined tree ring chronology constructed from 2001, 2004, and 2012 sampling showed several periods of extreme growth depression, with increased mortality lagging depressed growth by ~5 years. Minimum and maximum air temperatures exerted a negative influence on tree growth, while precipitation and climate moisture index had a positive effect; both current- and previous-year data exerted significant effects. Models based on these variables explained 23-44% of the ring-width variability. There have been at least one, and probably two, significant recruitment episodes since stand initiation, and we infer that past climate extremes led to significant NOBS mortality still visible in the current forest structure. These results imply that a combination of successional and demographic processes, along with mortality driven by abiotic factors, continue to affect the stand, with significant implications for our understanding of previous work at NOBS and the sustainable management of regional forests.

Belowground Competition Directs Spatial Patterns of Seedling Growth in Boreal Pine Forests in Fennoscandia

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E. Petter Axelsson

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Aboveground competition is often argued to be the main process determining patterns of natural forest regeneration. However, the theory of multiple resource limitation suggests that seedling performance also depends on belowground competition and, thus, that their relative influence is of fundamental importance. Two approaches were used to address the relative importance of above- and below-ground competition on regeneration in a nutrient-poor pine (Pinus sylvestris boreal forest. Firstly, seedling establishment beneath trees stem-girdled 12 years ago show that a substantial proportion of the seedlings were established within two years after girdling, which corresponds to a time when nutrient uptake by tree roots was severely reduced without disrupting water transport to the tree canopy, which consequently was maintained. The establishment during these two years also corresponds to abundances high enough for normal stand replacement. Secondly, surveys of regeneration within forest gaps showed that surrounding forests depressed seedlings, so that satisfactory growth occurred only more than 5 m from forest edges and that higher solar radiation in south facing edges was not enough to mediate these effects. We conclude that disruption of belowground competitive interactions mediates regeneration and, thus, that belowground competition has a strong limiting influence on seedling establishment in these forests.

Random Forest Classification of Wetland Landcovers from Multi-Sensor Data in the Arid Region of Xinjiang, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaohong Tian

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The wetland classification from remotely sensed data is usually difficult due to the extensive seasonal vegetation dynamics and hydrological fluctuation. This study presents a random forest classification approach for the retrieval of the wetland landcover in the arid regions by fusing the Pléiade-1B data with multi-date Landsat-8 data. The segmentation of the Pléiade-1B multispectral image data was performed based on an object-oriented approach, and the geometric and spectral features were extracted for the segmented image objects. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI series data were also calculated from the multi-date Landsat-8 data, reflecting vegetation phenological changes in its growth cycle. The feature set extracted from the two sensors data was optimized and employed to create the random forest model for the classification of the wetland landcovers in the Ertix River in northern Xinjiang, China. Comparison with other classification methods such as support vector machine and artificial neural network classifiers indicates that the random forest classifier can achieve accurate classification with an overall accuracy of 93% and the Kappa coefficient of 0.92. The classification accuracy of the farming lands and water bodies that have distinct boundaries with the surrounding land covers was improved 5%–10% by making use of the property of geometric shapes. To remove the difficulty in the classification that was caused by the similar spectral features of the vegetation covers, the phenological difference and the textural information of co-occurrence gray matrix were incorporated into the classification, and the main wetland vegetation covers in the study area were derived from the two sensors data. The inclusion of phenological information in the classification enables the classification errors being reduced down, and the overall accuracy was improved approximately 10%. The results show that the proposed random forest

Five hydrologic studies conducted by or in cooperation with the Center for Forested Wetlands Research

Science.gov (United States)

Devendra M. Amatya; Carl C. Trettin; R. Wayne Skaggs; T.J. Callahan; Ge Sun; J.E. Nettles; J.E. Parsons; M. Miwa

2005-01-01

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Center for Forested Wetlands Research has conducted or cooperated in studies designed to improve understanding of fundamental hydrologic and biogeochemical processes that link aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Five of these studies are discussed here. The first is based on observations made on long-term experimental...

Radioactive caesium in Boreal forest landscapes - Dynamics and transport in food webs. Summary of research 1986-1996

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergman, R.; Nylen, T.; Palo, T.

1998-12-01

The need for - but also the paucity of - radioecological knowledge concerning the boreal forest became particularly apparent after the nuclear power plant accident in Chernobyl in April 1986. As a consequence several new projects were initiated in the Nordic countries with particular focus on the behaviour of radioactive caesium in terrestrial and aquatic systems characteristic for the Fenno-Scandinavian landscapes. Among these new projects a multi-disciplinary co-operation in Umeaa between scientists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and the Defence Research Establishment emerged. Initially this joint work focused mainly on descriptions of the dynamic changes of the content of radioactive caesium in soil-plant and animal communities in the county of Vaesterbotten. Most of the studies have been performed at the Vindeln experimental forest, 60 km NW of Umeaa. Plants of key interest were: bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), birch (Betula spp.), and pine (Pinus sylvestris), and among the animals: the moose (Alces alces) and a small rodent, the forest vole (Clethrionomus glareolus). Gradually over the past ten years the research has entered the stage where the specific causes of the caesium behaviour have been addressed - partly by the help of models developed for simulating forest ecosystems, partly by complementary field experiments. This paper reviews our main findings on this theme concerning the behaviour of radioactive caesium in boreal landscapes and significant pathways to man, as has become apparent from the radioecological co-operation dating from about ten years back. A list of the publications arising from these studies since 1986 is also presented in this report

Radioactive caesium in Boreal forest landscapes - Dynamics and transport in food webs. Summary of research 1986-1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bergman, R.; Nylen, T.; Palo, T

1998-12-01

The need for - but also the paucity of - radioecological knowledge concerning the boreal forest became particularly apparent after the nuclear power plant accident in Chernobyl in April 1986. As a consequence several new projects were initiated in the Nordic countries with particular focus on the behaviour of radioactivecaesium in terrestrial and aquatic systems characteristic for the Fenno-Scandinavian landscapes. Among these new projects a multi-disciplinary co-operation in Umeaa between scientists at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and the Defence Research Establishment emerged. Initially this joint work focused mainly on descriptions of the dynamic changes of the content of radioactive caesium in soil-plant and animal communities in the county of Vaesterbotten. Most of the studies have been performed at the Vindeln experimental forest, 60 km NW of Umeaa. Plants of key interest were: bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), birch (Betula spp.), and pine (Pinus sylvestris), and among the animals: the moose (Alces alces) and a small rodent, the forest vole (Clethrionomus glareolus). Gradually over the past ten years the research has entered the stage where the specific causes of the caesium behaviour have been addressed - partly by the help of models developed for simulating forest ecosystems, partly by complementary field experiments. This paper reviews our main findings on this theme concerning the behaviour of radioactive caesium in boreal landscapes and significant pathways to man, as has become apparent from the radioecological co-operation dating from about ten years back. A list of the publications arising from these studies since 1986 is also presented in this report.

Linking seasonal surface water dynamics with methane emissions and export from small, forested wetlands

Science.gov (United States)

Hondula, K. L.; Palmer, M.

2017-12-01

One of the biggest uncertainties about global methane sources and sinks is attributed to uncertainties regarding wetland area and its dynamics. This is exacerbated by confusion over the role of small, shallow water bodies like Delmarva bay wetlands that could be categorized as both wetlands and ponds. These small inland water bodies are often poorly quantified due to their size, closed forest canopies, and inter- and intra-annual variability in surface water extent. We are studying wetland-rich areas on the Delmarva Peninsula in the U.S. mid-Atlantic to address this uncertainty at the scale of individual wetland ecosystems ( 1m depth). We estimated the size and temporal variability of the methane emissions source area by combining these measurements with daily estimates of the extent of surface water inundation derived from water level monitoring and a high-resolution digital elevation model. This knowledge is critical for informing land use decisions (e.g. restoring wetlands specifically for climate mitigation), the jurisdiction of environmental policies in the US, and for resolving major outstanding discrepancies in our understanding of the global methane budget.

EVALUATION OF WATER RETENTION CAPABILITY IN WETLANDS AT SMALL FOREST CATCHMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Liberacki

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the results of researches carried out in the middle part of Pizza Zielonka forest complex. The aim was the evaluation of retention changes at wetlands and mid-forest ponds. The object of the study was the catchment of the Trojanka watercourse, considering from the origin to the cross-section of Zielonka Lake. The catchment is located in in the central part of the Wielkopolska region, approximatelly 20 km on the North-East of Poznań. The area of this forestall catchment is about 223 ha. In the paper an analysis of the results from three hydrological years was presented. The results of the years 1987 (wet year, 2003 (dry year and 2009 (medium year were analysed against meteorological conditions. Retention capacity in each wetlands, as well as the possibility of water retention in the Trojanka watercourse was calculated. The researches confirmed significant meteorological conditions influence the amount of retentioned water. The calculated capacity of retentioned water was 15 852 m3 considering the total area of wetland and swamp (8,58 ha and precipitation sum of 555 mm. 18% increase of water capacity was observed in wet year (1987 In this year the sum of precipitation was 100 mm higher than multiyear average sum. Meanwhile 62% decrease of water capacity was observed in dry year (2003, when the precipitation sum was 208 mm lower than multiyear average one.

Optimal conservation resource allocation under variable economic and ecological time discounting rates in boreal forest

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mazziotta, Adriano; Montesino Pouzols, Federico; Mönkkönen, Mikko

2016-01-01

Resource allocation to multiple alternative conservation actions is a complex task. A common trade-off occurs between protection of smaller, expensive, high-quality areas versus larger, cheaper, partially degraded areas. We investigate optimal allocation into three actions in boreal forest: current......, and accounting for present revenues from timber harvesting. The present analysis assesses the cost-effective conditions to allocate resources into an inexpensive conservation strategy that nevertheless has potential to produce high ecological values in the future....

Harvesting interacts with climate change to affect future habitat quality of a focal species in eastern Canada’s boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Boulanger, Yan; Cyr, Dominic; Taylor, Anthony R.; Price, David T.; St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues

2018-01-01

Many studies project future bird ranges by relying on correlative species distribution models. Such models do not usually represent important processes explicitly related to climate change and harvesting, which limits their potential for predicting and understanding the future of boreal bird assemblages at the landscape scale. In this study, we attempted to assess the cumulative and specific impacts of both harvesting and climate-induced changes on wildfires and stand-level processes (e.g., reproduction, growth) in the boreal forest of eastern Canada. The projected changes in these landscape- and stand-scale processes (referred to as “drivers of change”) were then assessed for their impacts on future habitats and potential productivity of black-backed woodpecker (BBWO; Picoides arcticus), a focal species representative of deadwood and old-growth biodiversity in eastern Canada. Forest attributes were simulated using a forest landscape model, LANDIS-II, and were used to infer future landscape suitability to BBWO under three anthropogenic climate forcing scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5), compared to the historical baseline. We found climate change is likely to be detrimental for BBWO, with up to 92% decline in potential productivity under the worst-case climate forcing scenario (RCP 8.5). However, large declines were also projected under baseline climate, underlining the importance of harvest in determining future BBWO productivity. Present-day harvesting practices were the single most important cause of declining areas of old-growth coniferous forest, and hence appeared as the single most important driver of future BBWO productivity, regardless of the climate scenario. Climate-induced increases in fire activity would further promote young, deciduous stands at the expense of old-growth coniferous stands. This suggests that the biodiversity associated with deadwood and old-growth boreal forests may be greatly altered by the cumulative impacts of natural and

Priming effects in boreal black spruce forest soils: quantitative evaluation and sensitivity analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhaosheng Fan

Full Text Available Laboratory studies show that introduction of fresh and easily decomposable organic carbon (OC into soil-water systems can stimulate the decomposition of soil OC (SOC via priming effects in temperate forests, shrublands, grasslands, and agro-ecosystems. However, priming effects are still not well understood in the field setting for temperate ecosystems and virtually nothing is known about priming effects (e.g., existence, frequency, and magnitude in boreal ecosystems. In this study, a coupled dissolved OC (DOC transport and microbial biomass dynamics model was developed to simultaneously simulate co-occurring hydrological, physical, and biological processes and their interactions in soil pore-water systems. The developed model was then used to examine the importance of priming effects in two black spruce forest soils, with and without underlying permafrost. Our simulations showed that priming effects were strongly controlled by the frequency and intensity of DOC input, with greater priming effects associated with greater DOC inputs. Sensitivity analyses indicated that priming effects were most sensitive to variations in the quality of SOC, followed by variations in microbial biomass dynamics (i.e., microbial death and maintenance respiration, highlighting the urgent need to better discern these key parameters in future experiments and to consider these dynamics in existing ecosystem models. Water movement carries DOC to deep soil layers that have high SOC stocks in boreal soils. Thus, greater priming effects were predicted for the site with favorable water movement than for the site with limited water flow, suggesting that priming effects might be accelerated for sites where permafrost degradation leads to the formation of dry thermokarst.

Priming effects in boreal black spruce forest soils: quantitative evaluation and sensitivity analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Zhaosheng; Jastrow, Julie D; Liang, Chao; Matamala, Roser; Miller, Raymond Michael

2013-01-01

Laboratory studies show that introduction of fresh and easily decomposable organic carbon (OC) into soil-water systems can stimulate the decomposition of soil OC (SOC) via priming effects in temperate forests, shrublands, grasslands, and agro-ecosystems. However, priming effects are still not well understood in the field setting for temperate ecosystems and virtually nothing is known about priming effects (e.g., existence, frequency, and magnitude) in boreal ecosystems. In this study, a coupled dissolved OC (DOC) transport and microbial biomass dynamics model was developed to simultaneously simulate co-occurring hydrological, physical, and biological processes and their interactions in soil pore-water systems. The developed model was then used to examine the importance of priming effects in two black spruce forest soils, with and without underlying permafrost. Our simulations showed that priming effects were strongly controlled by the frequency and intensity of DOC input, with greater priming effects associated with greater DOC inputs. Sensitivity analyses indicated that priming effects were most sensitive to variations in the quality of SOC, followed by variations in microbial biomass dynamics (i.e., microbial death and maintenance respiration), highlighting the urgent need to better discern these key parameters in future experiments and to consider these dynamics in existing ecosystem models. Water movement carries DOC to deep soil layers that have high SOC stocks in boreal soils. Thus, greater priming effects were predicted for the site with favorable water movement than for the site with limited water flow, suggesting that priming effects might be accelerated for sites where permafrost degradation leads to the formation of dry thermokarst.

Mammalian Herbivores in the Boreal Forests: Their Numerical Fluctuations and Use by Man

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Kjell Danell

1998-12-01

Full Text Available Within the boreal zone, there are about 50 native mammalian herbivore species that belong to the orders Artiodactyla, Rodentia, and Lagomorpha. Of these species, 31 occur in the Nearctic and 24 in the Palaearctic. Only six species occur in both regions. Species of the family Cervidae have probably been, and still are, the most important group for man, as they provide both meat and hides. Pelts from squirrels, muskrats, and hares were commercially harvested at the beginning of the century, but have less value today. The semi-domestic reindeer in the Palaearctic produces meat and hides on a commercial basis. It is also used for milking, to a limited extent, as is the semi-domestic moose in Russia. The Siberian musk deer is used for its musk and is raised in captivity in China. All species heavier than 1 kg are utilized by man, those with a body mass in the range 1 kg - 1 hg are sometimes used, and species lighter than 1 hg are rarely used. Here, we review the numerical fluctuations in terms of periodicity and amplitude, based on an extensive data set found in the literature, especially from the former Soviet Union. Current understanding of the underlying factors behind the population fluctuations is briefly reviewed. Management and conservation aspects of the mammalian herbivores in the boreal zone are also discussed. We conclude that there is a challenge to manage the forests for the mammalian herbivores, but there is also a challenge to manage the populations of mammalian herbivores for the forests.

Assessing boreal forest photosynthetic dynamics through space-borne measurements of greenness, chlorophyll fluorescence and model GPP

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Walther, Sophia; Guanter, Luis; Voigt, Maximilian; Köhler, Philipp; Jung, Martin; Joiner, Joanna

2015-04-01

sophia.walther@gfz-potsdam.de The seasonality of photosynthesis of boreal forests is an essential driver of the terrestrial carbon, water and energy cycles. However, current carbon cycle model results only poorly represent interannual variability and predict very different magnitudes and timings of carbon fluxes between the atmosphere and the land surface (e.g. Jung et al. 2011, Richardson et al. 2012). Reflectance-based satellite measurements, which give an indication of the amount of green biomass on the Earth's surface, have so far been used as input to global carbon cycle simulations, but they have limitations as they are not directly linked to instantaneous photosynthesis. As an alternative, space-borne retrievals of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) boast the potential to provide a direct indication of the seasonality of boreal forest photosynthetic activity and thus to improve carbon model performances. SIF is a small electromagnetic signal that is re-emitted from the photosystems in the chloroplasts, which results in a direct relationship to photosynthetic efficiency. In this contribution we examine the seasonality of the boreal forests with three different vegetation parameters, namely greenness, SIF and model simulations of gross primary production (gross carbon flux into the plants by photosynthesis, GPP). We use the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) to represent green biomass. EVI is calculated from NBAR MODIS reflectance measurements (0.05deg, 16 days temporal resolution) for the time from January 2007-May 2013. SIF data originate from GOME-2 measurements on board the MetOp-A satellite in a spatial resolution of 0.5deg for the time from 2007-2011 (Joiner et al. (2013), Köhler et al. (2014)). As a third data source, data-driven GPP model results are used for the time from 2006-2012 with 0.5deg spatial resolution. The method to quantify phenology developed by Gonsamo et al. (2013) is applied to infer the main phenological phases (greenup/onset of

Bichromatic Scintillometer Measurements of Sensible and Latent Heat Fluxes over a Boreal Forested Valley

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Isabelle, P. E.; Nadeau, D.; Parent, A. C.; Rousseau, A. N.; Jutras, S.; Anctil, F.

2017-12-01

Boreal forest covers roughly 10% of the earth emerged surface, making it one of the world most common type of landscape. There is a large number of studies on the land-atmosphere exchanges of water and energy for this type of forested surfaces. However, few were located in complex terrain, and, to the best of our knowledge, none have looked at continuous regional scale fluxes. Scintillometry is a powerful tool that allows such measurements, but is usually used over flat homogeneous terrain due to its dependency on Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory. However, some recent studies have applied this method over slopes, measuring fluxes comparable to those using the eddy covariance method. Still, more experiments are needed using scintillometry over sloped surfaces. This study presents bichromatic scintillometer measurements of sensible and latent heat fluxes over a boreal-forested valley. The field site is located in the Montmorency Forest, Québec, Canada (47°17'N; 71°10'W). The instrumented valley is surrounded by ridges at 900 m elevation, with the bottom stream at 785 m, and follows a 300-120° azimuth coinciding with the two main wind direction (up and down-valley, respectively). Vegetation mostly includes balsam firs 6-10 m tall, creating a rough but homogeneous surface. Scintillometer transmitters and receivers are installed on top of the ridges enclosing the valley, making the path 1.35 km long and its effective height 70-m tall. The setup includes a large aperture and a micro-wave scintillometer with crossing paths allowing the use of the bichromatic method. Measurement are taken continuously from August to October 2017. Scintillometer fluxes are compared with those measured by a 15-m eddy covariance tower located 100 m west of the measurement path, on the southern slope of the valley. Net radiation is also measured to assess energy budget closure over the valley. The setup allows us to test the limits of applicability of scintillometer measurements, especially

Effects of timber management on the hydrology of wetland forests in the Southern United States

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Ge Sun; Steven G. McNulty; James P. Shepard; Devendra M. Amatya; Hans Riekerk; Nicholas B. Comerford; Wayne Skaggs; Lloyd Swift

2001-01-01

The objectives of this paper are to review the hydrologic impacts of various common forest management practices that include harvesting, site preparation, and drainage. Field hydrological data collected during the past 5±10 years from ten forested wetland sites across the southern US are synthesized using various methods including hydrologic simulation models and...

Can Runoff Responses be Used to Predict Aquatic Biogeochemical Fluxes from Boreal Forest Ecosystems?

Science.gov (United States)

Prestegaard, K. L.; Ziegler, S. E.; Billings, S. A.; Edwards, K. A.

2017-12-01

Climate change has direct effects on precipitation and temperature, which contribute to indirect changes in ecosystem productivity, runoff, biogeochemical processes, and species composition. In this research, we examine water balances in boreal forest watersheds to determine spatial and inter-annual variations in their responses to changes in precipitation. Our research indicates that Central and Western N. American boreal watersheds with mean annual precipitation (MAP) of less than 1000 mm exhibit positive relationships between annual precipitation and annual evapotranspiration, suggesting an increase in forest productivity during wet years often without increased runoff. In Maritime boreal watersheds in Eastern N. America and N. Europe, runoff is a significantly larger portion of the water balance and runoff increases with precipitation This regionalism in the water balance may have significant consequences for biogeochemical fluxes; for example, where MAP >1000 mm, a future wetter climate may result in increases in the terrestrial-to-aquatic transport of solutes. To test this idea, we examined inter-annual variations in hydrologic and dissolved organic carbon fluxes in watersheds in Newfoundland and Labrador along a longitudinal transect. Mean annual temperature varies from 0-5.2oC along the transect, and MAP varies from 1050 to 1500 mm. Data indicate an increase in evapotranspiration, runoff, and soil DOC fluxes with the increasing mean annual precipitation among watersheds along the transect. During the 2011-2015 period of study there was significant overlap in annual precipitation among the sites. Although wet water years also produced higher amounts of runoff from most watersheds, the annual soil DOC flux within each region was not significantly affected by these inter-annual changes in precipitation. Stream and groundwater monitoring data from the catchments reveal seasonal variations in evapotranspiration and runoff and their role in solute fluxes, and

Carbon dynamics in wetland restoration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kovalenko, K.; Ciborowski, J.; Gardner-Costa, J.; Slama, C. [Windsor Univ., ON (Canada); Daly, C.; Hornung, J. [Suncor Energy, Calgary, AB (Canada); Dixon, G.; Farwell, A. [Waterloo Univ., ON (Canada); Foote, L.; Frederick, K.; Roy, M. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada); Liber, K. [Saskatchewan Univ., Saskatoon, SK (Canada); Smits, J. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada); Wytrykush, C. [Syncrude Canada Ltd., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

This study focused on the reclamation of wetland ecosystems impacted by oil sands development in the boreal wetlands. Although these wetlands play an important role in global carbon balance, their ecosystem function is compromised by direct and regional anthropogenic disturbance and climate change. Large oil sand mining areas that require reclamation generate substantial quantities of extraction process-affected materials. In order to determine if the reclaimed wetlands were restored to equivalent ecosystem function, this study evaluated carbon flows and food web structure in oil sands-affected wetlands. The purpose was to determine whether a prescribed reclamation strategy or topsoil amendment accelerates reclaimed wetland development to produce self-sustaining peatlands. In addition to determining carbon fluxes, this study measured compartment standing stocks for residual hydrocarbons, organic substrate, bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, biofilm, macrophytes, detritus, zoobenthos and aquatic-terrestrial exports. Most biotic 28 compartments differed between oil-sands-affected and reference wetlands, but the difference lessened with age. Macroinvertebrate trophic diversity was lower in oil sands-affected wetlands. Peat amendment seemed to speed convergence for some compartments but not others. These results were discussed in the context of restoration of ecosystem function and optimization of reclamation strategies.

Quantifying Boreal Forest Structure and Composition Using UAV Structure from Motion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Alonzo

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The vast extent and inaccessibility of boreal forest ecosystems are barriers to routine monitoring of forest structure and composition. In this research, we bridge the scale gap between intensive but sparse plot measurements and extensive remote sensing studies by collecting forest inventory variables at the plot scale using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV and a structure from motion (SfM approach. At 20 Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA subplots in interior Alaska, we acquired overlapping imagery and generated dense, 3D, RGB (red, green, blue point clouds. We used these data to model forest type at the individual crown scale as well as subplot-scale tree density (TD, basal area (BA, and aboveground biomass (AGB. We achieved 85% cross-validation accuracy for five species at the crown level. Classification accuracy was maximized using three variables representing crown height, form, and color. Consistent with previous UAV-based studies, SfM point cloud data generated robust models of TD (r2 = 0.91, BA (r2 = 0.79, and AGB (r2 = 0.92, using a mix of plot- and crown-scale information. Precise estimation of TD required either segment counts or species information to differentiate black spruce from mixed white spruce plots. The accuracy of species-specific estimates of TD, BA, and AGB at the plot scale was somewhat variable, ranging from accurate estimates of black spruce TD (+/−1% and aspen BA (−2% to misallocation of aspen AGB (+118% and white spruce AGB (−50%. These results convey the potential utility of SfM data for forest type discrimination in FIA plots and the remaining challenges to develop classification approaches for species-specific estimates at the plot scale that are more robust to segmentation error.

Simulating effects of fire disturbance and climate change on boreal forest productivity and evapotranspiration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Sinkyu [Department of Environmental Science, Kangwon National University, Chunchon, Kangwon-do 200-701 (Korea, Republic of); Kimball, John S.; Running, Steven W. [Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812 (United States)

2006-06-01

We used a terrestrial ecosystem process model, BIOME-BGC, to investigate historical climate change and fire disturbance effects on regional carbon and water budgets within a 357,500 km{sup 2} portion of the Canadian boreal forest. Historical patterns of increasing atmospheric CO{sub 2}, climate change, and regional fire activity were used as model drivers to evaluate the relative effects of these impacts to spatial patterns and temporal trends in forest net primary production (NPP) and evapotranspiration (ET). Historical trends of increasing atmospheric CO{sub 2} resulted in overall 13% and 5% increases in annual NPP and ET from 1994 to 1996, respectively. NPP was found to be relatively sensitive to changes in air temperature (T{sub a}), while ET was more sensitive to precipitation (P) change within the ranges of observed climate variability (e.g., +/-2 {sup o}C for T{sub a} and +/-20% for P). In addition, the potential effect of climate change related warming on NPP is exacerbated or offset depending on whether these changes are accompanied by respective decreases or increases in precipitation. Historical fire activity generally resulted in reductions of both NPP and ET, which consumed an average of approximately 6% of annual NPP from 1959 to 1996. Areas currently occupied by dry conifer forests were found to be subject to more frequent fire activity, which consumed approximately 8% of annual NPP. The results of this study show that the North American boreal ecosystem is sensitive to historical patterns of increasing atmospheric CO{sub 2}, climate change and regional fire activity. The relative impacts of these disturbances on NPP and ET interact in complex ways and are spatially variable depending on regional land cover and climate gradients. (author)

Spatial variations in drainage efficiency in a boreal wetland environment as a function of lidar and radar-derived deviations from the regional hydraulic gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Hopkinson, C.; Brisco, B.; Chasmer, L.; Devito, K.; Montgomery, J. S.; Patterson, S.; Petrone, R. M.

2017-12-01

The dense forest cover of the Western Boreal Plains of northern Alberta is underlain by a mix of glacial moraines, sandy outwash sediments and clay plains possessing spatially variable hydraulic conductivities. The region is also characterised by a large number of post-glacial surface depression wetlands that have seasonally and topographically limited surface connectivity. Consequently, drainage along shallow regional hydraulic gradients may be dominated either by variations in surface geology or local variations in Et. Long-term government lake level monitoring is sparse in this region, but over a decade of hydrometeorological monitoring has taken place around the Utikuma Regional Study Area (URSA), a research site led by the University of Alberta. In situ lake and ground water level data are here combined with time series of airborne lidar and RadarSat II synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to assess the spatial variability of water levels during late summer period characterised by flow recession. Long term Lidar data were collected or obtained by the authors in August of 2002, 2008, 2011 and 2016, while seasonal SAR data were captured approximately every 24 days during the summers of 2015, 2016 and 2017. Water levels for wetlands exceeding 100m2 in area across a north-trending 20km x 5km topographic gradient north of Utikuma Lake were extracted directly from the lidar and indirectly from the SAR. The recent seasonal variability in spatial water levels was extracted from SAR, while the lidar data illustrated more long term trends associated with land use and riparian vegetation succession. All water level data collected in August were combined and averaged at multiple scales using a raster focal statistics function to generate a long term spatial map of the regional hydraulic gradient and scale-dependent variations. Areas of indicated high and low drainage efficiency were overlain onto layers of landcover and surface geology to ascertain causal relationships

Ectomycorrhizal colonization of naturally regenerating Pinus sylvestris L. seedlings growing in different micro-habitats in boreal forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwański, Michał; Rudawska, Maria

2007-07-01

We investigated the species richness and composition of ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi colonizing Pinus sylvestris L. seedlings naturally regenerating in boreal forest, in three different microhabitats: on forest ground, on decaying stumps, and within moss layer on erratic boulders. We tested the hypothesis that habitat differences would affect the composition of the EM community of regenerating pine seedlings. In total, 16 EM species were detected, from which none occurred on seedlings growing in all three microhabitats. Piloderma croceum and Cenococcum geophilum were common for seedlings growing in forest ground and on boulders, while Tricholoma aestuans and Suillus luteus were shared between seedlings growing on forest ground and decaying stumps. EM species richness and composition were strikingly different between seedlings regenerating in different microhabitats. Results are discussed as a function of dispersal and niche differentiation of EM fungi.

Assessing the ability of three land ecosystem models to simulate gross carbon uptake of forests from boreal to Mediterranean climate in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Jung

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Three terrestrial biosphere models (LPJ, Orchidee, Biome-BGC were evaluated with respect to their ability to simulate large-scale climate related trends in gross primary production (GPP across European forests. Simulated GPP and leaf area index (LAI were compared with GPP estimates based on flux separated eddy covariance measurements of net ecosystem exchange and LAI measurements along a temperature gradient ranging from the boreal to the Mediterranean region. The three models capture qualitatively the pattern suggested by the site data: an increase in GPP from boreal to temperate and a subsequent decline from temperate to Mediterranean climates. The models consistently predict higher GPP for boreal and lower GPP for Mediterranean forests. Based on a decomposition of GPP into absorbed photosynthetic active radiation (APAR and radiation use efficiency (RUE, the overestimation of GPP for the boreal coniferous forests appears to be primarily related to too high simulated LAI - and thus light absorption (APAR – rather than too high radiation use efficiency. We cannot attribute the tendency of the models to underestimate GPP in the water limited region to model structural deficiencies with confidence. A likely dry bias of the input meteorological data in southern Europe may create this pattern.

On average, the models compare similarly well to the site GPP data (RMSE of ~30% or 420 gC/m2/yr but differences are apparent for different ecosystem types. In terms of absolute values, we find the agreement between site based GPP estimates and simulations acceptable when we consider uncertainties about the accuracy in model drivers, a potential representation bias of the eddy covariance sites, and uncertainties related to the method of deriving GPP from eddy covariance measurements data. Continental to global data-model comparison studies should be fostered in the future since they are necessary to identify consistent model bias along environmental

Aerosol volatility in a boreal forest environment

Science.gov (United States)

Häkkinen, S. A. K.; ńijälä, M.; Lehtipalo, K.; Junninen, H.; Virkkula, A.; Worsnop, D. R.; Kulmala, M.; Petäjä, T.; Riipinen, I.

2012-04-01

Climate and health effects of atmospheric aerosols are determined by their properties such as their chemical composition. Aerosol chemical composition can be studied indirectly by measuring volatility of aerosol particles. The volatility of submicron aerosol particles (20-500 nm) was studied in a boreal forest site at SMEAR II (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations II) station (Vesala et al., 1998) in Hyytiälä, Finland, during 01/2008-05/2010. The instrument used for the measurements was VDMPS (Volatility Differential Mobility Particle Sizer), which consists of two separate instruments: DMPS (Differential Mobility Particle Sizer, Aalto et al., 2001) and TD (Thermodenuder, Wehner et al., 2002). Aerosol evaporation was examined by heating the aerosol and comparing the total aerosol mass before and after heating. In the VDMPS system ambient aerosol sample was heated up to temperatures ranging from 80 °C to 280 °C. The higher the heating temperature was the more aerosol material was evaporated. There was a non-volatile residual present in aerosol particles when heated up to 280 °C. This residual explained (20±8)% of the total aerosol mass. Aerosol non-volatile mass fraction was highest during winter and smallest during summer months. The role of black carbon in the observed non-volatile residual was determined. Black carbon explained 40 to 90% of the non-volatile mass. Especially during colder seasons noticeable amount of non-volatile material, something else than black carbon, was observed. According to Kalberer et al. (2004) some atmospheric organic species can form polymers that have high evaporation temperatures. Also low-volatile organic salts may contribute to the non-volatile aerosol (Smith et al., 2010). Aerosol mass composition measured directly with AMS (Aerosol Mass Spectrometer, Jayne et al., 2000) was analyzed in order to examine the properties of the non-volatile material (other than black carbon). The AMS measurements were performed

Amine Measurements in Boreal Forest Air

Science.gov (United States)

Hemmilä, Marja; Hellén, Heidi; Makkonen, Ulla; Hakola, Hannele

2015-04-01

Amines are reactive, volatile bases in the air with a general formula of RNH2, R2NH or R3N. Especially small amines can stabilize sulphuric acid clusters and hence affect nucleation. Amines react rapidly with hydroxyl radical (OH˙) thus affecting oxidative capacity of the atmosphere. The amine concentrations are higher in forest air than in urban air (Hellén et al., 2014), but the sources are not known. In order to get more information concerning amine sources, we conducted a measurement campaign in a boreal forest. At SMEAR II station at Hyytiälä, Southern Finland (61°510'N, 24°170'E, 180 m a.s.l.) The measurements cover seven months, from June to December 2014. For sampling and measuring we used MARGA (The instrument for Measuring AeRosols and Gases in Ambient air) which is an on-line ion chromatograph (IC) connected to a sampling system. The IC component of the MARGA system was coupled to an electrospray ionization quadrupole mass spectrometer (MS) to improve sensitivity of amine measurements. This new set-up enabled amine concentration measurements in ambient air both in aerosol and gas phases with a time resolution of only 1 hour. With MARGA-MS we analysed 7 different amines: monomethylamine (MMA), dimethylamine (DMA), trimethylamine (TMA), ethylamine (EA), diethylamine (DEA), propylamine (PA) and butylamine (BA). In preliminary data-analysis we found out, that in June and July most of the measured amines were in gas phase, and particle phase amine concentrations were mostly under detection limits (<1.7 pptv). In June the gaseous amine concentrations were higher than in July. The measured concentrations of gaseous amines followed temperature variation, which could indicate that amines are produced and emitted from the environment or re-emitted from the surfaces as temperature rises after deposition during night-time. All measured amines had similar diurnal variation with maxima during afternoon and minima during night. Results from other months will also

Temporal Data Fusion Approaches to Remote Sensing-Based Wetland Classification

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, Joshua S. M.

This thesis investigates the ecology of wetlands and associated classification in prairie and boreal environments of Alberta, Canada, using remote sensing technology to enhance classification of wetlands in the province. Objectives of the thesis are divided into two case studies, 1) examining how satellite borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), optical (RapidEye & SPOT) can be used to evaluate surface water trends in a prairie pothole environment (Shepard Slough); and 2) investigating a data fusion methodology combining SAR, optical and Lidar data to characterize wetland vegetation and surface water attributes in a boreal environment (Utikuma Regional Study Area (URSA)). Surface water extent and hydroperiod products were derived from SAR data, and validated using optical imagery with high accuracies (76-97% overall) for both case studies. High resolution Lidar Digital Elevation Models (DEM), Digital Surface Models (DSM), and Canopy Height Model (CHM) products provided the means for data fusion to extract riparian vegetation communities and surface water; producing model accuracies of (R2 0.90) for URSA, and RMSE of 0.2m to 0.7m at Shepard Slough when compared to field and optical validation data. Integration of Alberta and Canadian wetland classifications systems used to classify and determine economic value of wetlands into the methodology produced thematic maps relevant for policy and decision makers for potential wetland monitoring and policy development.

Soil microbial community composition is correlated to soil carbon processing along a boreal wetland formation gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Eric; Cadillo-Quiroz, Hinsby; Childers, Daniel L.; Turetsky, Merritt R.; Waldrop, Mark P.

2017-01-01

Climate change is modifying global biogeochemical cycles. Microbial communities play an integral role in soil biogeochemical cycles; knowledge about microbial composition helps provide a mechanistic understanding of these ecosystem-level phenomena. Next generation sequencing approaches were used to investigate changes in microbial functional groups during ecosystem development, in response to climate change, in northern boreal wetlands. A gradient of wetlands that developed following permafrost degradation was used to characterize changes in the soil microbial communities that mediate C cycling: a bog representing an “undisturbed” system with intact permafrost, and a younger bog and an older bog that formed following the disturbance of permafrost thaw. Reference 16S rRNA databases and several diversity indices were used to assess structural differences among these communities, to assess relationships between soil microbial community composition and various environmental variables including redox potential and pH. Rates of potential CO2 and CH4 gas production were quantified to correlate sequence data with gas flux. The abundance of organic C degraders was highest in the youngest bog, suggesting higher rates of microbial processes, including potential CH4 production. In addition, alpha diversity was also highest in the youngest bog, which seemed to be related to a more neutral pH and a lower redox potential. These results could potentially be driven by increased niche differentiation in anaerobic soils. These results suggest that ecosystem structure, which was largely driven by changes in edaphic and plant community characteristics between the “undisturbed” permafrost bog and the two bogs formed following permafrost thaw, strongly influenced microbial function.

Impacts of climate and insect defoliators on productivity and function of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Alaskan boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

Boyd, M. A.; Walker, X. J.; Rogers, B. M.; Goetz, S. J.; Wagner, D.; Mack, M. C.

2017-12-01

Climate change has increased tree mortality and growth decline in forested ecosystems worldwide. In response to warming and drying of the boreal forest, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) has experienced recent large-scale productivity declines. Although declines in productivity are thought to be primarily a result of moistures stress, infestation is another major driver of aspen decline and may interact strongly with climate. Throughout interior Alaska widespread and consistent foliar damage by the aspen epidermal leaf miner Phyllocnistis populiella has been observed concurrent with some of the warmest and driest growing seasons on record. Here we use tree ring measurements and remote sensing indices of vegetation productivity (NDVI) to study the influence of leaf miner and climate on aspen productivity and physiology in the Alaskan boreal forest, and assess if NDVI reflects variations in these ground-based measurements. We assessed ring width and tree ring stable carbon isotope (d13C) response of aspen to infestation and a climate moisture index (CMI) from 2004 - 2014. We found that when growth was negatively correlated to infestation, then it was no longer positively influenced by moisture availability during the growing season. Regardless of the radial growth response to leaf mining, tree ring d13C decreased with increasing infestation. We also found that NDVI was influenced by leaf mining and showed a positive correlation with tree ring d13C, which suggests that NDVI is reflective of changes in tree characteristics under leaf mining that influence tree ring d13C. This finding also reveals the prospect of using satellite data to monitor fluctuations in tree physiology during leaf miner infestation. Our results indicate that aspen productivity will be severely hindered during leaf miner infestation, and that infestation will inhibit the ability of aspen to respond to favorable climate conditions by increasing growth and potentially photosynthesis. This

Response of the boreal forest ecosystem to climatic change and its silvicultural implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kellomaeki, S; Haenninen, H; Karjalainen, T [Joensuu Univ. (Finland). Faculty of Forestry; and others

1997-12-31

During the next 100 years, the mean annual temperature is expected to be 1-6 deg C higher than at present. It is also expected to be accompanied by a lengthening of the thermal growing season and increased precipitation. Consequently, climatic change will increase the uncertainty of the management of forest ecosystems in the future. In this context, this research project aimed to outline the ecological and silvicultural implications of climatic change with regard to (1) how the expected climatic change might modify the functioning and structure of the boreal forest ecosystem, and (2) how the silvicultural management of the forest ecosystem should be modified in order to maintain sustainable forest yield under changing climatic conditions. The experimental component of the project concerned first the effect that elevating temperature and elevating concentration of atmospheric carbon have on the ontogenetic development of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L) and on the subsequent increase in frost damage during winter. The second part of the study looked the effect of elevating temperature and elevating concentration of atmospheric carbon on the growth of Scots pine through photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, nutrient supply, and changes in crown structure. This experiment was utilised in several subprojects of the overall project

Response of the boreal forest ecosystem to climatic change and its silvicultural implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kellomaeki, S.; Haenninen, H.; Karjalainen, T. [Joensuu Univ. (Finland). Faculty of Forestry] [and others

1996-12-31

During the next 100 years, the mean annual temperature is expected to be 1-6 deg C higher than at present. It is also expected to be accompanied by a lengthening of the thermal growing season and increased precipitation. Consequently, climatic change will increase the uncertainty of the management of forest ecosystems in the future. In this context, this research project aimed to outline the ecological and silvicultural implications of climatic change with regard to (1) how the expected climatic change might modify the functioning and structure of the boreal forest ecosystem, and (2) how the silvicultural management of the forest ecosystem should be modified in order to maintain sustainable forest yield under changing climatic conditions. The experimental component of the project concerned first the effect that elevating temperature and elevating concentration of atmospheric carbon have on the ontogenetic development of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L) and on the subsequent increase in frost damage during winter. The second part of the study looked the effect of elevating temperature and elevating concentration of atmospheric carbon on the growth of Scots pine through photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, nutrient supply, and changes in crown structure. This experiment was utilised in several subprojects of the overall project

Carbon stock and carbon turnover in boreal and temperate forests - Integration of remote sensing data and global vegetation models

Science.gov (United States)

Thurner, Martin; Beer, Christian; Carvalhais, Nuno; Forkel, Matthias; Tito Rademacher, Tim; Santoro, Maurizio; Tum, Markus; Schmullius, Christiane

2016-04-01

Long-term vegetation dynamics are one of the key uncertainties of the carbon cycle. There are large differences in simulated vegetation carbon stocks and fluxes including productivity, respiration and carbon turnover between global vegetation models. Especially the implementation of climate-related mortality processes, for instance drought, fire, frost or insect effects, is often lacking or insufficient in current models and their importance at global scale is highly uncertain. These shortcomings have been due to the lack of spatially extensive information on vegetation carbon stocks, which cannot be provided by inventory data alone. Instead, we recently have been able to estimate northern boreal and temperate forest carbon stocks based on radar remote sensing data. Our spatially explicit product (0.01° resolution) shows strong agreement to inventory-based estimates at a regional scale and allows for a spatial evaluation of carbon stocks and dynamics simulated by global vegetation models. By combining this state-of-the-art biomass product and NPP datasets originating from remote sensing, we are able to study the relation between carbon turnover rate and a set of climate indices in northern boreal and temperate forests along spatial gradients. We observe an increasing turnover rate with colder winter temperatures and longer winters in boreal forests, suggesting frost damage and the trade-off between frost adaptation and growth being important mortality processes in this ecosystem. In contrast, turnover rate increases with climatic conditions favouring drought and insect outbreaks in temperate forests. Investigated global vegetation models from the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP), including HYBRID4, JeDi, JULES, LPJml, ORCHIDEE, SDGVM, and VISIT, are able to reproduce observation-based spatial climate - turnover rate relationships only to a limited extent. While most of the models compare relatively well in terms of NPP, simulated

Characterizing Zinc Speciation in Soils from a Smelter-Affected Boreal Forest Ecosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Jordan G; Farrell, Richard E; Chen, Ning; Feng, Renfei; Reid, Joel; Peak, Derek

2016-03-01

HudBay Minerals, Inc., has mined and/or processed Zn and Cu ore in Flin Flon, MB, Canada, since the 1930s. The boreal forest ecosystem and soil surrounding these facilities have been severely impacted by mixed metal contamination and HSO deposition. Zinc is one of the most prevalent smelter-derived contaminants and has been identified as a key factor that may be limiting revegetation. Metal toxicity is related to both total concentrations and speciation; therefore, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence mapping were used to characterize Zn speciation in soils throughout the most heavily contaminated areas of the landscape. Zinc speciation was linked to two distinct soil types. Group I soils consist of exposed soils in weathered positions of bedrock outcrops with Zn present primarily as franklinite, a (ZnFeO) spinel mineral. Group II soils are stabilized by an invasive metal-tolerant grass species, with Zn found as a mixture of octahedral (Fe oxides) and tetrahedral Mn oxides) adsorption complexes with a franklinite component. Soil erosion influences Zn speciation through the redistribution of Zn and soil particulates from Group I landscape positions to Group II soils. Despite Group II soils having the highest concentrations of CaCl-extractable Zn, they support metal-tolerant plant growth. The metal-tolerant plants are probably preferentially colonizing these areas due to better soil and nutrient conditions as a result of soil deposition from upslope Group I areas. Zinc concentration and speciation appears to not influence the colonization by metal-tolerant grasses, but the overall soil properties and erosion effects prevent the revegetation by native boreal forest species. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Response of photosynthetic carbon gain to ecosystem retrogression of vascular plants and mosses in the boreal forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Bansal, Sheel; Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte; Wardle, David A

2012-07-01

In the long-term absence of rejuvenating disturbances, forest succession frequently proceeds from a maximal biomass phase to a retrogressive phase characterized by reduced nutrient availability [notably nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)] and net primary productivity. Few studies have considered how retrogression induces changes in ecophysiological responses associated with photosynthetic carbon (C) gain, and only for trees. We tested the hypothesis that retrogression would negatively impact photosynthetic C gain of four contrasting species, and that this impact would be greater for vascular plants (i.e., trees and shrubs) than for non-vascular plants (i.e., mosses). We used a 5,000-year-old chronosequence of forested islands in Sweden, where retrogression occurs in the long-term absence of lightning-ignited wildfires. Despite fundamental differences in plant form and ecological niche among species, vascular plants and mosses showed similar ecophysiological responses to retrogression. The most common effects of retrogression were reductions in photosynthesis and respiration per unit foliar N, increases in foliar N, δ(13)C and δ(15)N, and decreases in specific leaf areas. In contrast, photosynthesis per unit mass or area generally did not change along the chronosequence, but did vary many-fold between vascular plants and mosses. The consistent increases in foliar N without corresponding increases in mass- or area-based photosynthesis suggest that other factor(s), such as P co-limitation, light conditions or water availability, may co-regulate C gain in retrogressive boreal forests. Against our predictions, traits of mosses associated with C and N were generally highly responsive to retrogression, which has implications for how mosses influence ecosystem processes in boreal forests.

Patterns of NPP, GPP, respiration, and NEP during boreal forest succession

Science.gov (United States)

Goulden, M.L.; Mcmillan, A.M.S.; Winston, G.C.; Rocha, A.V.; Manies, K.L.; Harden, J.W.; Bond-Lamberty, B. P.

2011-01-01

We combined year-round eddy covariance with biometry and biomass harvests along a chronosequence of boreal forest stands that were 1, 6, 15, 23, 40, 74, and 154 years old to understand how ecosystem production and carbon stocks change during recovery from stand-replacing crown fire. Live biomass (Clive) was low in the 1 and 6 year old stands, and increased following a logistic pattern to high levels in the 74 and 154year old stands. Carbon stocks in the forest floor (Cforest floor) and coarse woody debris (CCWD) were comparatively high in the 1year old stand, reduced in the 6 through 40year old stands, and highest in the 74 and 154year old stands. Total net primary production (TNPP) was reduced in the 1 and 6year old stands, highest in the 23 through 74year old stands and somewhat reduced in the 154year old stand. The NPP decline at the 154year old stand was related to increased autotrophic respiration rather than decreased gross primary production (GPP). Net ecosystem production (NEP), calculated by integrated eddy covariance, indicated the 1 and 6 year old stands were losing carbon, the 15year old stand was gaining a small amount of carbon, the 23 and 74year old stands were gaining considerable carbon, and the 40 and 154year old stands were gaining modest amounts of carbon. The recovery from fire was rapid; a linear fit through the NEP observations at the 6 and 15year old stands indicated the transition from carbon source to sink occurred within 11-12 years. The NEP decline at the 154year old stand appears related to increased losses from Clive by tree mortality and possibly from Cforest floor by decomposition. Our findings support the idea that NPP, carbon production efficiency (NPP/GPP), NEP, and carbon storage efficiency (NEP/TNPP) all decrease in old boreal stands. ?? 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Capability of C-Band SAR for Operational Wetland Monitoring at High Latitudes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Reschke

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Wetlands store large amounts of carbon, and depending on their status and type, they release specific amounts of methane gas to the atmosphere. The connection between wetland type and methane emission has been investigated in various studies and utilized in climate change monitoring and modelling. For improved estimation of methane emissions, land surface models require information such as the wetland fraction and its dynamics over large areas. Existing datasets of wetland dynamics present the total amount of wetland (fraction for each model grid cell, but do not discriminate the different wetland types like permanent lakes, periodically inundated areas or peatlands. Wetland types differently influence methane fluxes and thus their contribution to the total wetland fraction should be quantified. Especially wetlands of permafrost regions are expected to have a strong impact on future climate due to soil thawing. In this study ENIVSAT ASAR Wide Swath data was tested for operational monitoring of the distribution of areas with a long-term SW near 1 (hSW in northern Russia (SW = degree of saturation with water, 1 = saturated, which is a specific characteristic of peatlands. For the whole northern Russia, areas with hSW were delineated and discriminated from dynamic and open water bodies for the years 2007 and 2008. The area identified with this method amounts to approximately 300,000 km2 in northern Siberia in 2007. It overlaps with zones of high carbon storage. Comparison with a range of related datasets (static and dynamic showed that hSW represents not only peatlands but also temporary wetlands associated with post-forest fire conditions in permafrost regions. Annual long-term monitoring of change in boreal and tundra environments is possible with the presented approach. Sentinel-1, the successor of ENVISAT ASAR, will provide data that may allow continuous monitoring of these wetland dynamics in the future complementing global observations of

Effects of Lightning and Other Meteorological Factors on Fire Activity in the North American Boreal Forest: Implications for Fire Weather Forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, D.; Wang, J.; Ichoku, C.; Remer, L. A.

2010-01-01

The effects of lightning and other meteorological factors on wildfire activity in the North American boreal forest are statistically analyzed during the fire seasons of 2000-2006 through an integration of the following data sets: the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) level 2 fire products, the 3-hourly 32-kin gridded meteorological data from North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and the lightning data collected by the Canadian Lightning Detection Network (CLDN) and the Alaska Lightning Detection Network (ALDN). Positive anomalies of the 500 hPa geopotential height field, convective available potential energy (CAPE), number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, and the number of consecutive dry days are found to be statistically important to the seasonal variation of MODIS fire counts in a large portion of Canada and the entirety of Alaska. Analysis of fire occurrence patterns in the eastern and western boreal forest regions shows that dry (in the absence of precipitation) lightning strikes account for only 20% of the total lightning strikes, but are associated with (and likely cause) 40% of the MODIS observed fire counts in these regions. The chance for ignition increases when a threshold of at least 10 dry strikes per NARR grid box and at least 10 consecutive dry days is reached. Due to the orientation of the large-scale pattern, complex differences in fire and lightning occurrence and variability were also found between the eastern and western sub-regions. Locations with a high percentage of dry strikes commonly experience an increased number of fire counts, but the mean number of fire counts per dry strike is more than 50% higher in western boreal forest sub-region, suggesting a geographic and possible topographic influence. While wet lightning events are found to occur with a large range of CAPE values, a high probability for dry lightning occurs only when 500 hPa geopotential heights are above 5700m and CAPE values are near the maximum

Lateral extension in Sphagnum mires along the southern margin of the boreal region, Western Siberia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peregon, A; Uchida, M; Yamagata, Y, E-mail: anna.peregon@nies.go.j [Center for Global Environmental Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506 (Japan)

2009-10-15

Although recent studies have recognized Northern Eurasian ecosystems as an important carbon reservoir, little is known about the forest-peatland interactions in a boreal environment induced by ongoing climatic changes. This study focuses on the evaluation of both the long-term and contemporary trends of land-cover changes and rates of lateral extension of peat-accumulating wetlands toward the adjacent forests, estimated at the southern climatic range of the Sphagnum-dominated mires in Western Siberia. We used the radiocarbon dates and stratigraphy of peat sediments from seven peat cores, analyzed at two types of forest-peatland ecotones, which are located close to each other but differ by topography and composition of their plant communities. The rate of lateral extension was found in a wide range varying from 2.3 to 791.7 cm yr{sup -1}. It was observed to be rapid during the initial stage of mire development, but to have slowed down over the last 2000-3000 yr. Our results, therefore, strongly contradict the concept of progressive peat accumulation throughout the late Holocene and contribute to our knowledge about ongoing land-cover change in the natural ecosystems of the Northern hemisphere.

Lateral extension in Sphagnum mires along the southern margin of the boreal region, Western Siberia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peregon, A; Uchida, M; Yamagata, Y

2009-01-01

Although recent studies have recognized Northern Eurasian ecosystems as an important carbon reservoir, little is known about the forest-peatland interactions in a boreal environment induced by ongoing climatic changes. This study focuses on the evaluation of both the long-term and contemporary trends of land-cover changes and rates of lateral extension of peat-accumulating wetlands toward the adjacent forests, estimated at the southern climatic range of the Sphagnum-dominated mires in Western Siberia. We used the radiocarbon dates and stratigraphy of peat sediments from seven peat cores, analyzed at two types of forest-peatland ecotones, which are located close to each other but differ by topography and composition of their plant communities. The rate of lateral extension was found in a wide range varying from 2.3 to 791.7 cm yr -1 . It was observed to be rapid during the initial stage of mire development, but to have slowed down over the last 2000-3000 yr. Our results, therefore, strongly contradict the concept of progressive peat accumulation throughout the late Holocene and contribute to our knowledge about ongoing land-cover change in the natural ecosystems of the Northern hemisphere.

An initial analysis of LANDSAT 4 Thematic Mapper data for the classification of agricultural, forested wetland, and urban land covers

Science.gov (United States)

Quattrochi, D. A.; Anderson, J. E.; Brannon, D. P.; Hill, C. L.

1982-01-01

An initial analysis of LANDSAT 4 thematic mapper (TM) data for the delineation and classification of agricultural, forested wetland, and urban land covers was conducted. A study area in Poinsett County, Arkansas was used to evaluate a classification of agricultural lands derived from multitemporal LANDSAT multispectral scanner (MSS) data in comparison with a classification of TM data for the same area. Data over Reelfoot Lake in northwestern Tennessee were utilized to evaluate the TM for delineating forested wetland species. A classification of the study area was assessed for accuracy in discriminating five forested wetland categories. Finally, the TM data were used to identify urban features within a small city. A computer generated classification of Union City, Tennessee was analyzed for accuracy in delineating urban land covers. An evaluation of digitally enhanced TM data using principal components analysis to facilitate photointerpretation of urban features was also performed.

Measurement and modeling of bryophyte evaporation in a boreal forest chronosequence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bond-Lamberty, Benjamin; Gower, Stith T.; Amiro, Brian; Ewers, Brent

2011-01-19

The effects of changing climate and disturbance on forest water cycling are not well understood. In particular bryophytes contribute significantly to forest evapotranspiration (ET) in poorly-drained boreal forests, but few studies have directly measured this flux and how it changes with stand age and soil drainage. We used large chambers to measure bryophyte evaporation (E) in Canadian Picea mariana forests of varying ages and soil drainages, as well under controlled laboratory conditions, and modeled daily E using site-specific meteorological data to drive a Penman-Monteith-based model. Field measurements of E averaged 0.37 mm day-1, and ranged from 0.03 (Pleurozium schreberii in a 77-year-old dry stand) to 1.43 mm day-1 (Sphagnum riparium in a 43-year-old bog). canopy resistance ranged from ~0 (at 25 °C, some values were <0) to ~1500 s m-1 for dry, cold (5 °C) mosses. In the laboratory, moss canopy resistance was constant until a moss water content of ~6 g g-1 and then climbed sharply with further drying; no difference was observed between the three moss groups (feather mosses, hollow mosses, and hummock mosses) tested. Modeled annual E fluxes from bryophytes ranged from 0.4 mm day-1, in the well-drained stands, to ~1 mm day-1 in the 43-year-old bog, during the growing season. Eddy covariance data imply that bryophytes contributed 18-31% and 49-69% to the total ET flux, at the well- and poorly-drained stands respectively. Bryophyte E was greater in bogs than in upland stands, was driven by low-lying mosses, and did not vary with stand age; this suggests that shifts in forest age due to increasing fire will have little effect on the bryophyte contribution to ET.

The Pen Branch Project: Restoration of a Forested Wetland in South Carolina

Science.gov (United States)

Randall K. Kolka; Eric A. Nelson; Ronald E. Bonar; Neil C. Dulohery; David Gartner

1998-01-01

The Pen Branch Project is a program to restore a forested riparian wetland that has been subject to thermal disturbance caused by nuclear reactor operations at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS), an 80,200-hectare nuclear facility located in South Carolina. Various levels of thermal discharges to streams located across the US. have occurred...

Multi-Cohort Stand Structural Classification: Ground- and LiDAR-based Approaches for Boreal Mixedwood and Black Spruce Forest Types of Northeastern Ontario

Science.gov (United States)

Kuttner, Benjamin George

Natural fire return intervals are relatively long in eastern Canadian boreal forests and often allow for the development of stands with multiple, successive cohorts of trees. Multi-cohort forest management (MCM) provides a strategy to maintain such multi-cohort stands that focuses on three broad phases of increasingly complex, post-fire stand development, termed "cohorts", and recommends different silvicultural approaches be applied to emulate different cohort types. Previous research on structural cohort typing has relied upon primarily subjective classification methods; in this thesis, I develop more comprehensive and objective methods for three common boreal mixedwood and black spruce forest types in northeastern Ontario. Additionally, I examine relationships between cohort types and stand age, productivity, and disturbance history and the utility of airborne LiDAR to retrieve ground-based classifications and to extend structural cohort typing from plot- to stand-levels. In both mixedwood and black spruce forest types, stand age and age-related deadwood features varied systematically with cohort classes in support of an age-based interpretation of increasing cohort complexity. However, correlations of stand age with cohort classes were surprisingly weak. Differences in site productivity had a significant effect on the accrual of increasingly complex multi-cohort stand structure in both forest types, especially in black spruce stands. The effects of past harvesting in predictive models of class membership were only significant when considered in isolation of age. As an age-emulation strategy, the three cohort model appeared to be poorly suited to black spruce forests where the accrual of structural complexity appeared to be more a function of site productivity than age. Airborne LiDAR data appear to be particularly useful in recovering plot-based cohort types and extending them to the stand-level. The main gradients of structural variability detected using Li

Climate Warming Can Increase Soil Carbon Fluxes Without Decreasing Soil Carbon Stocks in Boreal Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Ziegler, S. E.; Benner, R. H.; Billings, S. A.; Edwards, K. A.; Philben, M. J.; Zhu, X.; Laganiere, J.

2016-12-01

Ecosystem C fluxes respond positively to climate warming, however, the net impact of changing C fluxes on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks over decadal scales remains unclear. Manipulative studies and global-scale observations have informed much of the existing knowledge of SOC responses to climate, providing insights on relatively short (e.g. days to years) and long (centuries to millennia) time scales, respectively. Natural climate gradient studies capture integrated ecosystem responses to climate on decadal time scales. Here we report the soil C reservoirs, fluxes into and out of those reservoirs, and the chemical composition of inputs and soil organic matter pools along a mesic boreal forest climate transect. The sites studied consist of similar forest composition, successional stage, and soil moisture but differ by 5.2°C mean annual temperature. Carbon fluxes through these boreal forest soils were greatest in the lowest latitude regions and indicate that enhanced C inputs can offset soil C losses with warming in these forests. Respiration rates increased by 55% and the flux of dissolved organic carbon from the organic to mineral soil horizons tripled across this climate gradient. The 2-fold increase in litterfall inputs to these soils coincided with a significant increase in the organic horizon C stock with warming, however, no significant difference in the surface mineral soil C stocks was observed. The younger mean age of the mineral soil C ( 70 versus 330 YBP) provided further evidence for the greater turnover of SOC in the warmer climate soils. In spite of these differences in mean radiocarbon age, mineral SOC exhibited chemical characteristics of highly decomposed material across all regions. In contrast with depth trends in soil OM diagenetic indices, diagenetic shifts with latitude were limited to increases in C:N and alkyl to O-alkyl ratios in the overlying organic horizons in the warmer relative to the colder regions. These data indicate that the

Using the ratio of optical channels in satellite image decoding in monitoring biodiversity of boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

Rozhkov, Yurj P.; Kondakova, Maria Y.

2013-10-01

The study contains the results of forest monitoring at three levels: the forests condition assessment at the time of recording or mapping for this indicator, the seasonal changes assessment in the forests condition, mainly during the vegetation period and the evaluation of long-term changes in the values of the studied parameters on the example of the forests recovery after a fire. The use of two indices - NDVI and Image Difference in the boreal forests monitoring is treated. NDVI assesses the state of plant biomass and its productivity. The rate of Image Difference characterizes the optical density and allows estimate the density of the forest stand. In addition, by identifying Image Difference on summer and autumn pictures it can makes a distinction of different wood species, to divide forest areas, which consist of deciduous and coniferous species and larch which shedded needles at the end of the vegetation period. Therefore, it is possible to differentiate the pine, cedar, spruce forests on the one side and birch, larch, alder on the other side. The optical density of the forest decreases after the needles- and the leaf sheddings. Using the index Image Difference in estimates of long-term changes of the forest stand shows the trend of changes of the forest density and the tree species composition. The results of the analysis of the recovery process of the forest after a fire in the period from 1995 to 2009 showed how shoots of birch, larch and pine recover wastelands.

The origin of soil organic matter controls its composition and bioreactivity across a mesic boreal forest latitudinal gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Kohl, L.; Philben, M. J.; Edwards, K. A.; Podrebarac, F. A.; Jamie, W.; Ziegler, S. E.

2017-12-01

Warmer climates have been associated with reduced soil organic matter (SOM) bioreactivity, lower respiration rates at a given temperature, which is typically attributed to the presence of more decomposed SOM. Cross site studies, however, indicate that ecosystem regime shifts associated with long-term climate warming can affect SOM properties through changes in vegetation and plant litter inputs to soils. The relative importance of these two controls, diagenesis and inputs, on SOM properties as ecosystems experience climate warming remains poorly understood. To address this, we characterized the elemental, chemical (nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and total hydrolysable amino acids), and isotopic composition of plant litter and SOM across a well-constrained mesic boreal forest latitudinal transect in Atlantic Canada. Results across forest sites within each of three climate regions indicated that (1) climate history and diagenesis affect distinct parameters of SOM chemistry, (2) increases in SOM bioreactivity with latitude were associated with elevated proportions of carbohydrates relative to plant waxes and lignin, and (3) despite the common forest type across regions, differences in SOM chemistry by climate region were associated with chemically distinct litter inputs and not different degrees of diagenesis. Climate effects on vascular plant litter chemistry explained only part of the regional differences in SOM chemistry, most notably the higher protein content of SOM from warmer regions. Greater proportions of lignin and aliphatic compounds and smaller proportions of carbohydrates in warmer sites' soils were explained by the higher proportion of vascular plant relative to moss litter in the warmer forests. These results indicate that a climate induced decrease in the proportion of moss inputs will not only impact SOM chemistry but also increase the resistance of SOM to decomposition, thus significantly altering SOM cycling in these boreal forest soils.

[Responses of boreal forest landscape in northern Great Xing'an Mountains of Northeast China to climate change].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiao-Na; He, Hong-Shi; Wu, Zhi-Wei; Liang, Yu

2012-12-01

With the combination of forest landscape model (LANDIS) and forest gap model (LINKAGES), this paper simulated the effects of climate change on the boreal forest landscape in the Great Xing'an Mountains, and compared the direct effects of climate change and the effects of climate warming-induced fires on the forest landscape. The results showed that under the current climate conditions and fire disturbances, the forest landscape in the study area could maintain its dynamic balance, and Larix gmelinii was still the dominant tree species. Under the future climate and fire disturbances scenario, the distribution area of L. gmelinii and Pinus pumila would be decreased, while that of Betula platyphylla, Populus davidiana, Populus suaveolens, Chosenia arbutifolia, and Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica would be increased, and the forest fragmentation and forest diversity would have an increase. The changes of the forest landscape lagged behind climate change. Climate warming would increase the growth of most tree species except L. gmelinii, while the increased fires would increase the distribution area of P. davidiana, P. suaveolens, and C. arbutifolia and decrease the distribution area of L. gmelinii, P. sylvestris var. mongolica, and P. pumila. The effects of climate warming-induced fires on the forest landscape were almost equal to the direct effects of climate change, and aggravated the direct effects of climate change on forest composition, forest landscape fragmentation, and forest landscape diversity.

Adapting fire management to future fire regimes: impacts on boreal forest composition and carbon balance in Canadian National Parks

Science.gov (United States)

de Groot, W. J.; Flannigan, M. D.; Cantin, A.

2009-04-01

The effects of future fire regimes altered by climate change, and fire management in adaptation to climate change were studied in the boreal forest region of western Canada. Present (1975-90) and future (2080-2100) fire regimes were simulated for several National Parks using data from the Canadian (CGCM1) and Hadley (HadCM3) Global Climate Models (GCM) in separate simulation scenarios. The long-term effects of the different fire regimes on forests were simulated using a stand-level, boreal fire effects model (BORFIRE). Changes in forest composition and biomass storage due to future altered fire regimes were determined by comparing current and future simulation results. This was used to assess the ecological impact of altered fire regimes on boreal forests, and the future role of these forests as carbon sinks or sources. Additional future simulations were run using adapted fire management strategies, including increased fire suppression and the use of prescribed fire to meet fire cycle objectives. Future forest composition, carbon storage and emissions under current and adapted fire management strategies were also compared to determine the impact of various future fire management options. Both of the GCM's showed more severe burning conditions under future fire regimes. This includes fires with higher intensity, greater depth of burn, greater total fuel consumption and shorter fire cycles (or higher rates of annual area burned). The Canadian GCM indicated burning conditions more severe than the Hadley GCM. Shorter fire cycles of future fire regimes generally favoured aspen, birch, and jack pine because it provided more frequent regeneration opportunity for these pioneer species. Black spruce was only minimally influenced by future fire regimes, although white spruce declined sharply. Maintaining representation of pure and mixed white spruce ecosystems in natural areas will be a concern under future fire regimes. Active fire suppression is required in these areas. In

Boreal forest fire emissions in fresh Canadian smoke plumes: C1-C10 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CO2, CO, NO2, NO, HCN and CH3CN

Science.gov (United States)

I. J. Simpson; S. K. Akagi; B. Barletta; N. J. Blake; Y. Choi; G. S. Diskin; A. Fried; H. E. Fuelberg; S. Meinardi; F. S. Rowland; S. A. Vay; A. J. Weinheimer; P. O. Wennberg; P. Wiebring; A. Wisthaler; M. Yang; R. J. Yokelson; D. R. Blake

2011-01-01

Boreal regions comprise about 17% of the global land area, and they both affect and are influenced by climate change. To better understand boreal forest fire emissions and plume evolution, 947 whole air samples were collected aboard the NASA DC-8 research aircraft in summer 2008 as part of the ARCTAS-B field mission, and analyzed for 79 non-methane volatile organic...

Balancing the risks of habitat alteration and environmental contamination in a contaminated forested wetland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bleiler, J.A.; Daukas, G.; Richardson, N.

1994-01-01

The North Lawrence Oil Dump Site (NLODS) is an inactive hazardous waste site located adjacent to an extensive palustrine forested wetland in upstate New York. Waste oil and oil sludge were disposed of in a lagoon adjacent to the wetland during the 1960s. During periods of high water, oils escaped from the lagoon and were transported into the wetlands. High concentrations of lead and PCBs were detected in NLODS wetland sediments, and contaminants from the site were present in wetland's plant and animal tissues. However, contaminated portions of the wetlands appear to be physically undisturbed and provide high quality wildlife habitat. The results of an ecological risk assessment indicated that lead and PCB contamination in NLODS sediment may be impacting some components of the wetlands community. The risk management process considered both the toxicological risks associated with lead and PCB contamination, as well as the significant habitat destruction risks associated with remediation. Six potential PCB target cleanup levels were evaluated. Following removal of sediments with PCB contamination greater than 0.5 mg/kg, 3.5 acres of sediment with lead contamination in excess of 250 mg/kg (the New York State ''Severe Effect Level'') would remain. More than 1.5 of these acres would contain lead concentrations in excess of 1,000 mg/kg. Reducing lead levels to background concentrations would require more than 50 acres of wetlands alteration. The Record of Decision at the NLODS recognized the high quality habitat provided by the site's wetlands, and attempted to balance the risks from habitat alteration with the risks of environmental contamination

Compromised development and survival in amphibians in reclaimed wetlands' water containing oil sands process-affected material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smits, J.; Schock, D.

2010-01-01

When closing a mine, operators must comply with government regulations to ensure that the sites are ecologically sustainable to support endemic flora and fauna. Creating wetlands in order to age and detoxify oil sands process-affected materials (OSPM) is a common reclamation strategy. In this study, amphibians indigenous to the boreal forest ecosystem were examined to determine if they can complete their lifecycle in water from reclaimed wetlands. Wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) eggs were collected from a natural pond 60 km south of an oil sand mining site. Tadpoles were raised in 1 of 6 water treatments refreshed every two days. The 2 reference water treatments included aged tap water and water from natural wetlands. The remaining 4 water treatments were from research wetlands on Syncrude and Suncor lease sites. Of the 120 tadpoles raised per water treatment, there was no significant difference in growth, development, or survival rates between the aged tap water and reference wetland water, but the fastest growth, development, and highest survival rates occurred in the two reference groups. There was a pronounced difference among the 4 treatment groups from Suncor and Syncrude reclamation sites. Survival was high in 3 of the water treatments from Syncrude and Suncor sites, but development rates were considerably reduced. Tadpoles that do not metamorphose before winter do not survive. It was therefore concluded that delayed development in tadpoles poses a serious risk to population stability in OSPM-containing wetlands.

Influence of Time since Fire and Micro-Habitat Availability on Terricolous Lichen Communities in Black Spruce (Picea mariana Boreal Forests

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Saliha Zouaoui

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Terricolous lichens are an important component of boreal forest ecosystems, both in terms of function and diversity. In this study, we examined the relative contribution of microhabitat characteristics and time elapsed since the last fire in shaping terricolous lichen assemblages in boreal forests that are frequently affected by severe stand-replacing fires. We sampled 12 stands distributed across five age classes (from 43 to >200 years. In each stand, species cover (% of all terricolous lichen species and species richness were evaluated within 30 microplots of 1 m2. Our results show that time elapsed since the last fire was the factor that contributed the most to explaining terricolous lichen abundance and species composition, and that lichen cover showed a quadratic relationship with stand age. Habitat variables such as soil characteristics were also important in explaining lichen richness. These results suggest that the presence of suitable substrates is not sufficient for the conservation of late-successional terricolous lichen communities in this ecosystem, and that they also need relatively long periods of times for species dispersal and establishment.

Detecting Local Drivers of Fire Cycle Heterogeneity in Boreal Forests: A Scale Issue

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Annie Claude Bélisle

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Severe crown fires are determining disturbances for the composition and structure of boreal forests in North America. Fire cycle (FC associations with continental climate gradients are well known, but smaller scale controls remain poorly documented. Using a time since fire map (time scale of 300 years, the study aims to assess the relative contributions of local and regional controls on FC and to describe the relationship between FC heterogeneity and vegetation patterns. The study area, located in boreal eastern North America, was partitioned into watersheds according to five scales going from local (3 km2 to landscape (2800 km2 scales. Using survival analysis, we observed that dry surficial deposits and hydrography density better predict FC when measured at the local scale, while terrain complexity and slope position perform better when measured at the middle and landscape scales. The most parsimonious model was selected according to the Akaike information criterion to predict FC throughout the study area. We detected two FC zones, one short (159 years and one long (303 years, with specific age structures and tree compositions. We argue that the local heterogeneity of the fire regime contributes to ecosystem diversity and must be considered in ecosystem management.

Mechanisms for success after long-term nutrient enrichment in a boreal forest understory.

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Tess Nahanni Grainger

Full Text Available Global levels of reactive nitrogen are predicted to rise in the coming decades as a result of increased deposition from the burning of fossil fuels and the large-scale conversion of nitrogen into a useable form for agriculture. Many plant communities respond strongly to increases in soil nitrogen, particularly in northern ecosystems where nitrogen levels are naturally very low. An experiment in northern Canada that was initiated in 1990 has been investigating the effects of long-term nutrient enrichment (fertilizer added annually on a boreal forest understory community. We used this experiment to investigate why some species increase in abundance under nutrient enrichment whereas others decline. We focused on four species that differed in their responses to fertilization: Mertensia paniculata and Epilobium angustifolium increased in abundance, Achillea millefolium remained relatively constant and Festuca altaica declined. We hypothesized that the two species that were successful in the new high-nutrient, light-limited environment would be taller, have higher specific leaf area, change phenology by growing earlier in the season and be more morphologically plastic than their less successful counterparts. We compared plant height, specific leaf area, growth spurt date and allocation to leaves in plants grown in control and fertilized plots. We demonstrated that each of the two species that came to dominate fertilized plots has a different combination of traits and responses that likely gave them a competitive advantage; M. paniculata has the highest specific leaf area of the four species whereas E. angustifolium is tallest and exhibits morphological plasticity when fertilized by increasing biomass allocation to leaves. These results indicate that rather than one strategy determining success when nutrients become available, a variety of traits and responses may contribute to a species' ability to persist in a nutrient-enriched boreal forest

Vulnerability of carbon storage in North American boreal forests to wildfires during the 21st century

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Balshi, M. S.; McGuire, Anthony David; Duffy, P.; Flannigan, M.; Kicklighter, David W.; Melillo, J.

2009-01-01

The boreal forest contains large reserves of carbon. Across this region, wildfires influence the temporal and spatial dynamics of carbon storage. In this study, we estimate fire emissions and changes in carbon storage for boreal North America over the 21st century. We use a gridded data set developed with a multivariate adaptive regression spline approach to determine how area burned varies each year with changing climatic and fuel moisture conditions. We apply the process-based Terrestrial Ecosystem Model to evaluate the role of future fire on the carbon dynamics of boreal North America in the context of changing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and climate in the A2 and B2 emissions scenarios of the CGCM2 global climate model. Relative to the last decade of the 20th century, decadal total carbon emissions from fire increase by 2.5–4.4 times by 2091–2100, depending on the climate scenario and assumptions about CO2fertilization. Larger fire emissions occur with warmer climates or if CO2 fertilization is assumed to occur. Despite the increases in fire emissions, our simulations indicate that boreal North America will be a carbon sink over the 21st century if CO2 fertilization is assumed to occur in the future. In contrast, simulations excluding CO2 fertilization over the same period indicate that the region will change to a carbon source to the atmosphere, with the source being 2.1 times greater under the warmer A2 scenario than the B2 scenario. To improve estimates of wildfire on terrestrial carbon dynamics in boreal North America, future studies should incorporate the role of dynamic vegetation to represent more accurately post-fire successional processes, incorporate fire severity parameters that change in time and space, account for human influences through increased fire suppression, and integrate the role of other disturbances and their interactions with future fire regime.

Historical range of variation assessment for wetland and riparian ecosystems, U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region

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Edward Gage; David J. Cooper

2013-01-01

This document provides an overview of historical range of variation concepts and explores their application to wetland and riparian ecosystems in the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region (Region 2), which includes National Forests and National Grasslands occurring in the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota. For each of five ecosystem...

Does the amount of trees retained at clearfelling of temperate and boreal forests influence biodiversity response?

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Fedrowitz Katja

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Clear-felling is one of the main methods used in many parts of the world for the production of pulp, timber and bioenergy, leading to a simplified forest structure and species composition. One of the measures to mitigate the impact of logging on biodiversity is the retention of trees at final harvest. Tree retention approaches in forestry are still rather new, although widely distributed across different continents. Several studies have been performed on the effects of retention trees on biodiversity but to date there is no evidence on the relation between the amounts of trees, i.e. the number, volume or area per ha retained, and the response of biodiversity. The overall aim of our review will be to provide forest practitioners and conservationists in temperate and boreal forests with more detailed recommendations regarding the amount of trees that should be retained in order to achieve positive effects for biodiversity compared to traditional clear-cutting.

Tree rings provide early warning signals of jack pine mortality across a moisture gradient in the southern boreal forest

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Mamet, S. D.; Chun, K. P.; Metsaranta, J. M.; Barr, A. G.; Johnstone, J. F.

2015-08-01

Recent declines in productivity and tree survival have been widely observed in boreal forests. We used early warning signals (EWS) in tree ring data to anticipate premature mortality in jack pine (Pinus banksiana)—an extensive and dominant species occurring across the moisture-limited southern boreal forest in North America. We sampled tree rings from 113 living and 84 dead trees in three soil moisture regimes (subxeric, submesic, subhygric) in central Saskatchewan, Canada. We reconstructed annual increments of tree basal area to investigate (1) whether we could detect EWS related to mortality of individual trees, and (2) how water availability and tree growth history may explain the mortality warning signs. EWS were evident as punctuated changes in growth patterns prior to transition to an alternative state of reduced growth before dying. This transition was likely triggered by a combination of severe drought and insect outbreak. Higher moisture availability associated with a soil moisture gradient did not appear to reduce tree sensitivity to stress-induced mortality. Our results suggest tree rings offer considerable potential for detecting critical transitions in tree growth, which are linked to premature mortality.

Modelling the fate of hydrophobic organic contaminants in a boreal forest catchment: A cross disciplinary approach to assessing diffuse pollution to surface waters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergknut, Magnus; Meijer, Sandra; Halsall, Crispin; Agren, Anneli; Laudon, Hjalmar; Koehler, Stephan; Jones, Kevin C.; Tysklind, Mats; Wiberg, Karin

2010-01-01

The fate of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in soils and waters in a northern boreal catchment was explored through the development of a chemical fate model in a well-characterised catchment system dominated by two land types: forest and mire. Input was based solely on atmospheric deposition, dominated by accumulation in the winter snowpack. Release from soils was governed by the HOC concentration in soil, the soil organic carbon fraction and soil-water DOC content. The modelled export of selected HOCs in surface waters ranged between 11 and 250 ng day -1 during the snow covered period, compared to 200 and 9600 ng/d during snow-melt; highlighting the importance of the snow pack as a source of these chemicals. The predicted levels of HOCs in surface water were in reasonable agreement to a limited set of measured values, although the model tended to over predict concentrations of HOCs for the forested sub-catchment, by over an order of magnitude in the case of hexachlorobenzene and PCB 180. This possibly reflects both the heterogeneity of the forest soils and the complicated and changing hydrology experienced between the different seasons. - The fate of hydrophobic organic contaminants in a boreal forest catchment is connected to the flux of dissolved organic carbon and seasonal deposition.

Modeling the impacts of climate variability and hurricane on carbon sequestration in a coastal forested wetland in South Carolina

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Zhaohua Dai; Carl C. Trettin; Changsheng Li; Ge Sun; Devendra M. Amatya; Harbin Li

2013-01-01

The impacts of hurricane disturbance and climate variability on carbon dynamics in a coastal forested wetland in South Carolina of USA were simulated using the Forest-DNDC model with a spatially explicit approach. The model was validated using the measured biomass before and after Hurricane Hugo and the biomass inventories in 2006 and 2007, showed that the Forest-DNDC...

Impacts of water development on aquatic macroinvertebrates, amphibians, and plants in wetlands of a semi-arid landscape

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Euliss, Ned H.; Mushet, David M.

2004-01-01

We compared the macroinvertebrate and amphibian communities of 12 excavated and 12 natural wetlands in western North Dakota, USA, to assess the effects of artificially lengthened hydroperiods on the biotic communities of wetlands in this semi-arid region. Excavated wetlands were much deeper and captured greater volumes of water than natural wetlands. Most excavated wetlands maintained water throughout the study period (May to October 1999), whereas most of the natural wetlands were dry by June. Excavated wetlands were largely unvegetated or contained submergent and deep-marsh plant species. The natural wetlands had two well-defined vegetative zones populated by plant species typical of wet meadows and shallow marshes. Excavated wetlands had a richer aquatic macroinvertebrate community that included several predatory taxa not found in natural wetlands. Taxa adapted to the short hydroperiods of seasonal wetlands were largely absent from excavated wetlands. The amphibian community of natural and excavated wetlands included the boreal chorus frog (Pseudacris maculata), northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens), plains spadefoot (Scaphiopus bombifrons), Woodhouse's toad (Bufo woodhousii woodhousii), and tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum). The plains spadefoot occurred only in natural wetlands while tiger salamanders occurred in all 12 excavated wetlands and only one natural wetland. Boreal chorus frogs and northern leopard frogs were present in both wetland types; however, they successfully reproduced only in wetlands lacking tiger salamanders. Artificially extending the hydroperiod of wetlands by excavation has greatly influenced the composition of native biotic communities adapted to the naturally short hydroperiods of wetlands in this semi-arid region. The compositional change of the biotic communities can be related to hydrological changes and biotic interactions, especially predation related to excavation.

Spatiotemporal variability and modeling of the solar irradiance transmissivity through a boreal forest

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Nadeau, D.; Isabelle, P. E.; Asselin, M. H.; Parent, A. C.; Jutras, S.; Anctil, F.

2017-12-01

Solar irradiance is the largest driver of land-surface exchanges of energy, water and trace gases. Its absorption by a forest canopy generates considerable sensible and latent heat fluxes as well as tree temperature changes. A fraction of the irradiance gets transmitted through the canopy and powers another layer of energy fluxes, which can reach substantial values. Transmitted radiation is also of particular relevance to understory vegetation photosynthesis, snowpack energetics and soil temperature dynamics. Boreal forest canopy transmissivity needs to be quantified to properly reproduce land-atmosphere interactions in the circumpolar boreal biome, but its high spatiotemporal variability makes it a challenging task. The objective of this study is to characterize the spatiotemporal variability in under-canopy radiation and to evaluate the performance of various models in representing plot-scale observations. The study site is located in Montmorency Forest (47°N, 71°W), in southern Quebec, Canada. The vegetation includes mostly juvenile balsam firs, up to 6 to 8 m tall. Since January 2016, a 15-m flux tower measures the four components of radiation, as well as other relevant fluxes and meteorological variables, on a ≈10° northeast-facing slope. In summer 2016, 20 portable weather stations were mounted in a 150 m x 200 m grid around the flux tower. These stations were equipped with silicon-cell pyranometers and provided measurements of downwelling irradiance at a height of 2 m. This setup allowed us to compute irradiance transmissivity and to assess its spatiotemporal variability at the site. First, we show that the average of daily incoming energy varies tremendously across the sites, from 1 MJ/m2 to nearly 9 MJ/m2, due to large variations in canopy structure over short distances. Using a regression tree analysis, we show that transmissivity mostly depends on sun elevation, diffuse fraction of radiation, sky and sun view fraction and wind speed above canopy. We

The effect to the water stress to soil CO2 efflux in the Siberian boreal forest

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Makhnykina, A. V.; Prokishkin, A. S.; Verkhovets, S. V.; Koshurnikova, N. N.

2017-12-01

The boreal forests in Siberia covered more than 70% area of this region. Due to the climate change this ecosystems represent a very sensitive and significant source of carbon. In forests, total ecosystem respiration tends to be dominated by soil respiration, which accounts for approximately 69% of this large flux (Janssens et al., 2001). Dynamic global vegetation models predict that soil respiration will increase more than total net primary productivity in response to warmer temperatures and increase in precipitation, the terrestrial carbon sink is expected to decline significantly (Bonan et al., 2003). The aim of the present study was to identify the response of the soil CO2 efflux to the different amount of water input for two highly differentiated years by the precipitation conditions in the middle taiga forests in Central Siberia. The study was conducted in the pine forests in Central Siberia (60°N, 90°E), Russia. We used the automated soil CO2 flux system LI-8100 for measuring the soil efflux. Soil temperature was measured with Soil Temperature Probe Type E in three depths 5, 10, 15 cm. Volumetric soil moisture was measured with Theta Probe Model ML2. We constructed the field experiment based on the addition of different amount of water (0%, 25%, 50% and 100% sites) after each rain event during the growing season. We found that the amount of precipitation have a huge impact to the value of soil CO2 efflux. For the more precipitated year (2015) the fluxes were almost twice higher compared to less precipitated year (2016). The max fluxes during the season in 2015 observed at the site without any water input there and the min one - for the 100% precipitation site (natural rain conditions). In 2016 we identified the opposite response: the max soil efflux demonstrated the site with 100% precipitation conditions (Fig. 1). We also detected the high dependence between the soil temperature and soil CO2 efflux for the site with 0% additional water input in more

Nematode community shifts in response to experimental warming and canopy conditions are associated with plant community changes in the temperate-boreal forest ecotone.

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Thakur, Madhav Prakash; Reich, Peter B; Fisichelli, Nicholas A; Stefanski, Artur; Cesarz, Simone; Dobies, Tomasz; Rich, Roy L; Hobbie, Sarah E; Eisenhauer, Nico

2014-06-01

Global climate warming is one of the key forces driving plant community shifts, such as range shifts of temperate species into boreal forests. As plant community shifts are slow to observe, ecotones, boundaries between two ecosystems, are target areas for providing early evidence of ecological responses to warming. The role of soil fauna is poorly explored in ecotones, although their positive and negative effects on plant species can influence plant community structure. We studied nematode communities in response to experimental warming (ambient, +1.7, +3.4 °C) in soils of closed and open canopy forest in the temperate-boreal ecotone of Minnesota, USA and calculated various established nematode indices. We estimated species-specific coverage of understory herbaceous and shrub plant species from the same experimental plots and tested if changes in the nematode community are associated with plant cover and composition. Individual nematode trophic groups did not differ among warming treatments, but the ratio between microbial-feeding and plant-feeding nematodes increased significantly and consistently with warming in both closed and open canopy areas and at both experimental field sites. The increase in this ratio was positively correlated with total cover of understory plant species, perhaps due to increased predation pressure on soil microorganisms causing higher nutrient availability for plants. Multivariate analyses revealed that temperature treatment, canopy conditions and nematode density consistently shaped understory plant communities across experimental sites. Our findings suggest that warming-induced changes in nematode community structure are associated with shifts in plant community composition and productivity in the temperate-boreal forest ecotones.

Source tracing of natural organic matter bound mercury in boreal forest runoff with mercury stable isotopes.

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Jiskra, Martin; Wiederhold, Jan G; Skyllberg, Ulf; Kronberg, Rose-Marie; Kretzschmar, Ruben

2017-10-18

Terrestrial runoff represents a major source of mercury (Hg) to aquatic ecosystems. In boreal forest catchments, such as the one in northern Sweden studied here, mercury bound to natural organic matter (NOM) represents a large fraction of mercury in the runoff. We present a method to measure Hg stable isotope signatures of colloidal Hg, mainly complexed by high molecular weight or colloidal natural organic matter (NOM) in natural waters based on pre-enrichment by ultrafiltration, followed by freeze-drying and combustion. We report that Hg associated with high molecular weight NOM in the boreal forest runoff has very similar Hg isotope signatures as compared to the organic soil horizons of the catchment area. The mass-independent fractionation (MIF) signatures (Δ 199 Hg and Δ 200 Hg) measured in soils and runoff were in agreement with typical values reported for atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (Hg 0 ) and distinctly different from reported Hg isotope signatures in precipitation. We therefore suggest that most Hg in the boreal terrestrial ecosystem originated from the deposition of Hg 0 through foliar uptake rather than precipitation. Using a mixing model we calculated the contribution of soil horizons to the Hg in the runoff. At moderate to high flow runoff conditions, that prevailed during sampling, the uppermost part of the organic horizon (Oe/He) contributed 50-70% of the Hg in the runoff, while the underlying more humified organic Oa/Ha and the mineral soil horizons displayed a lower mobility of Hg. The good agreement of the Hg isotope results with other source tracing approaches using radiocarbon signatures and Hg : C ratios provides additional support for the strong coupling between Hg and NOM. The exploratory results from this study illustrate the potential of Hg stable isotopes to trace the source of Hg from atmospheric deposition through the terrestrial ecosystem to soil runoff, and provide a basis for more in-depth studies investigating the

Response of water use efficiency to summer drought in a boreal Scots pine forest in Finland

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Gao, Yao; Markkanen, Tiina; Aurela, Mika; Mammarella, Ivan; Thum, Tea; Tsuruta, Aki; Yang, Huiyi; Aalto, Tuula

2017-09-01

The influence of drought on plant functioning has received considerable attention in recent years, however our understanding of the response of carbon and water coupling to drought in terrestrial ecosystems still needs to be improved. A severe soil moisture drought occurred in southern Finland in the late summer of 2006. In this study, we investigated the response of water use efficiency to summer drought in a boreal Scots pine forest (Pinus sylvestris) on the daily time scale mainly using eddy covariance flux data from the Hyytiälä (southern Finland) flux site. In addition, simulation results from the JSBACH land surface model were evaluated against the observed results. Based on observed data, the ecosystem level water use efficiency (EWUE; the ratio of gross primary production, GPP, to evapotranspiration, ET) showed a decrease during the severe soil moisture drought, while the inherent water use efficiency (IWUE; a quantity defined as EWUE multiplied with mean daytime vapour pressure deficit, VPD) increased and the underlying water use efficiency (uWUE, a metric based on IWUE and a simple stomatal model, is the ratio of GPP multiplied with a square root of VPD to ET) was unchanged during the drought. The decrease in EWUE was due to the stronger decline in GPP than in ET. The increase in IWUE was because of the decreased stomatal conductance under increased VPD. The unchanged uWUE indicates that the trade-off between carbon assimilation and transpiration of the boreal Scots pine forest was not disturbed by this drought event at the site. The JSBACH simulation showed declines of both GPP and ET under the severe soil moisture drought, but to a smaller extent compared to the observed GPP and ET. Simulated GPP and ET led to a smaller decrease in EWUE but a larger increase in IWUE because of the severe soil moisture drought in comparison to observations. As in the observations, the simulated uWUE showed no changes in the drought event. The model deficiencies exist

Evaporation components of a boreal forest: variations during the growing season

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Grelle, A.; Lundberg, A.; Lindroth, A.; Morén, A.-S.; Cienciala, E.

1997-10-01

To improve the understanding of interactions between the boreal forest and the climate system as a key issue for global climate change, the water budget of a mixed pine and spruce forest in central Sweden was estimated by measurements of the water flux components and the total evaporation flux during the period 16 May-31 October 1995. Total evaporation was measured using eddy correlation and the components were obtained using measurements of precipitation, throughfall, tree transpiration, and forest floor evaporation. On a daily basis, tree transpiration was the dominant evaporation component during the vegetation period. However, it could be efficiently blocked by a wet canopy associated with large interception evaporation. The accumulated total evaporation was 399 mm, transpiration was 243 mm, forest floor evaporation was 56 mm and interception evaporation was 74 mm. The accumulated sum of interception, transpiration, and floor evaporation was 51 mm larger than the actual measured total evaporation. This difference was mainly attributed to the fact that transpiration was measured in a rather dense 50-year-old stand while total evaporation represented the average conditions of older, roughly 100-year-old stands. To compare eddy-correlation measurements with small-scale measurements of evaporation components, a source area analysis was made to select the flux data that give the best representation of the investigated stand. Especially under stable atmospheric conditions the requirements for surface homogeneity were very high and extreme care had to be taken to be aware of the flux source areas. Canopy water storage was determined by two methods: by the water balance of the canopy, which gave a result of 3.3 mm; and by the so-called minimum method based on plots of throughfall versus precipitation, which gave a much lower value of 1.5 mm. Seasonal interception evaporation constituted 30% of the precipitation.

No diurnal variation in rate or carbon isotope composition of soil respiration in a boreal forest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Betson, N.R.; Gottlicher, S.G.; Hogberg, P.; Hall, M.; Wallin, G.; Richter, A.

2007-01-01

This study evaluated the diurnal variability in the rate and stable carbon isotope ratio ((delta) 13 C) of soil respiration in a northern boreal forest, measured with opaque chambers after the removal of understory vegetation. The experiment was conducted in June and August 2004 at the Picea abies L. Karst-dominated Flakaliden Research Forest in northern Sweden, using unfertilized girdled-tree plots and unfertilized non-girdled tree plots. Soil respiration and (delta) 13 C of soil-respired carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) were measured every 4 hours on 6 plots, with a total of 11 sampling times over each 48 hour period. The purpose was to clarify an earlier study regarding the origin of diurnal patterns of soil CO 2 flux. This study explored whether the diurnal patterns were the result of photosynthetic CO 2 uptake during the day by the understory or whether there were underlying trends in soil respiration driven by plant root allocation. The sampling campaigns undertaken in this study investigated whether diurnal variations in soil respiration rate and (delta) 13 C exist in this ecosystem when no understory vegetation is present. Shoot photosynthesis and environmental parameters were measured simultaneously. Despite significant variations in climatic conditions and shoot photosynthetic rates in non-girdled trees, no diurnal patterns in soil respiration rates and (delta) 13 C were noted in either treatment. The lack of detectable diurnal changes in both treatments indicates that modeling of daily boreal forest carbon balances based on single instantaneous measurements are unlikely to be misconstrued by substantial diurnal trends. However, it was suggested that spatial variable should be accounted for, given the large standard errors. The impact of tree girdling on soil respiration rates also emphasized the significance of canopy photosynthesis in driving soil processes. 37 refs., 2 figs

Hydrological effects on carbon cycles of Canada's forests and wetlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ju, Weimin; Chen, Jing M.; Black, T. Andrew; Barr, Alan G.; Mccaughey, Harry; Roulet, Nigel T.

2006-01-01

The hydrological cycle has significant effects on the terrestrial carbon (C) balance through its controls on photosynthesis and C decomposition. A detailed representation of the water cycle in terrestrial C cycle models is essential for reliable estimates of C budgets. However, it is challenging to accurately describe the spatial and temporal variations of soil water, especially for regional and global applications. Vertical and horizontal movements of soil water should be included. To constrain the hydrology-related uncertainty in modelling the regional C balance, a three-dimensional hydrological module was incorporated into the Integrated Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon-budget model (InTEC V3.0). We also added an explicit parameterization of wetlands. The inclusion of the hydrological module considerably improved the model's ability to simulate C content and balances in different ecosystems. Compared with measurements at five flux-tower sites, the model captured 85% and 82% of the variations in volumetric soil moisture content in the 0-10 cm and 10-30 cm depths during the growing season and 84% of the interannual variability in the measured C balance. The simulations showed that lateral subsurface water redistribution is a necessary mechanism for simulating water table depth for both poorly drained forest and peatland sites. Nationally, soil C content and their spatial variability are significantly related to drainage class. Poorly drained areas are important C sinks at the regional scale, however, their soil C content and balances are difficult to model and may have been inadequately represented in previous C cycle models. The InTEC V3.0 model predicted an annual net C uptake by Canada's forests and wetlands for the period 1901-1998 of 111.9 Tg C/yr, which is 41.4 Tg C/yr larger than our previous estimate (InTEC V2.0). The increase in the net C uptake occurred mainly in poorly drained regions and resulted from the inclusion of a separate wetland parameterization

The role of entrainment in surface-atmosphere interactions over the boreal forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davis, K.J. [Minnesota Univ., St. Paul, MN (United States). Dept. of Soil Science; Lenschow, D.H.; Oncley, S.P. [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado (United States); Kiemle, C.; Ehret, G.; Giez, A. [Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Wessling (Germany). Inst. fuer Physik der Atmosphaere; Mann, J. [Risoe National Lab., Roskilde (Denmark)

1997-07-01

We present a description of the evolution of the convective boundary layer (CBL) over the boreal forests of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as observed by the national center for atmospheric research (NCAR) Electra research aircraft during the 1994 boreal ecosystem-atmosphere study (BOREAS). All observations were made between 1530 and 2230 UT (0930-1630 local solar time, LST). We show that the CBL flux divergence often led to drying of the CBL over the course of the day, with the greatest drying (approaching 0.5 gkg{sup -1}hr{sup -1}) observed in the morning, 1000-1200 LST, and decreasing over time to nearly no drying (0 to 0.1 gkg{sup -1}hr{sup -1}) by midafternoon (1500-1600 LST). The maximum warming (0.45 Khr{sup -1}) also occurred in the morning and decreased slightly to about 0.4 Khr{sup -1} by midafternoon. The CBL vapor pressure deficit (VPD) increases over the course of the day. A significant portion of this increase can be explained by the vertical flux divergence, though horizontal advection also appears to be important. We suggest a linkage between boundary layer growth, the vertical flux divergences, and boundary layer cloud formation, with cloud activity peaking at midday in response to rapid CBL growth, then decreasing somewhat later in the day in response to CBL warming and decreased growth. We also see evidence of feedback between increasing VPD and stomatal control. (orig.) 39 refs.

Hydro-climatic forcing of dissolved organic carbon in two boreal lakes of Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Diodato, Nazzareno; Higgins, Scott; Bellocchi, Gianni; Fiorillo, Francesco; Romano, Nunzio; Guadagno, Francesco M

2016-11-15

The boreal forest of the northern hemisphere represents one of the world's largest ecozones and contains nearly one third of the world's intact forests and terrestrially stored carbon. Long-term variations in temperature and precipitation have been implied in altering carbon cycling in forest soils, including increased fluxes to receiving waters. In this study, we use a simple hydrologic model and a 40-year dataset (1971-2010) of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from two pristine boreal lakes (ELA, Canada) to examine the interactions between precipitation and landscape-scale controls of DOC production and export from forest catchments to surface waters. Our results indicate that a simplified hydrologically-based conceptual model can enable the long-term temporal patterns of DOC fluxes to be captured within boreal landscapes. Reconstructed DOC exports from forested catchments in the period 1901-2012 follow largely a sinusoidal pattern, with a period of about 37years and are tightly linked to multi-decadal patterns of precipitation. By combining our model with long-term precipitation estimates, we found no evidence of increasing DOC transport or in-lake concentrations through the 20th century. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding the Effect of Land Cover Classification on Model Estimates of Regional Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest Biome

Science.gov (United States)

Kimball, John; Kang, Sinkyu

2003-01-01

The original objectives of this proposed 3-year project were to: 1) quantify the respective contributions of land cover and disturbance (i.e., wild fire) to uncertainty associated with regional carbon source/sink estimates produced by a variety of boreal ecosystem models; 2) identify the model processes responsible for differences in simulated carbon source/sink patterns for the boreal forest; 3) validate model outputs using tower and field- based estimates of NEP and NPP; and 4) recommend/prioritize improvements to boreal ecosystem carbon models, which will better constrain regional source/sink estimates for atmospheric C02. These original objectives were subsequently distilled to fit within the constraints of a 1 -year study. This revised study involved a regional model intercomparison over the BOREAS study region involving Biome-BGC, and TEM (A.D. McGuire, UAF) ecosystem models. The major focus of these revised activities involved quantifying the sensitivity of regional model predictions associated with land cover classification uncertainties. We also evaluated the individual and combined effects of historical fire activity, historical atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and climate change on carbon and water flux simulations within the BOREAS study region.

Evaluation of a new battery of toxicity tests for boreal forest soils: assessment of the impact of hydrocarbons and salts.

Science.gov (United States)

Princz, Juliska I; Moody, Mary; Fraser, Christopher; Van der Vliet, Leana; Lemieux, Heather; Scroggins, Rick; Siciliano, Steven D

2012-04-01

The ability to assess the toxic potential of soil contamination within boreal regions is currently limited to test species representative of arable lands. This study evaluated the use of six boreal plant species (Pinus banksiana, Picea glauca, Picea mariana, Populus tremuloides, Calamagrostis Canadensis, and Solidago canadensis) and four invertebrate species (Dendrodrilus rubidus, Folsomia nivalis, Proisotoma minuta, and Oppia nitens) and compared their performance to a suite of standard agronomic soil test species using site soils impacted by petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) and salt contamination. To maintain horizon-specific differences, individual soil horizons were collected from impacted sites and relayered within the test vessels. Use of the boreal species was directly applicable to the assessment of the contaminated forest soils and, in the case of the hydrocarbon-impacted soil, demonstrated greater overall sensitivity (25th percentile of estimated species sensitivity distribution [ESSD25] = 5.6% contamination: 10,600 mg/kg fraction 3 [F3; equivalent hydrocarbon range of >C16 to C34] Of/Oh horizon, and 270 mg/kg F3 Ahg horizon) relative to the standard test species (ESSD25 = 23% contamination: 44,000 mg/kg F3 Of/Oh horizon, and 1,100 mg/kg F3 Ahg horizon). For salinity, there was no difference between boreal and standard species with a combined ESSD25 = 2.3%, equating to 0.24 and 0.25 dS/m for the Ah and Ck horizons. The unequal distribution of soil invertebrates within the layered test vessels can confound test results and the interpretation of the toxic potential of a site. The use of test species relevant to boreal eco-zones strengthens the applicability of the data in support of realistic ecological risk assessments applicable to the boreal regions. Copyright © 2012 SETAC.

Improved simulation of poorly drained forests using Biome-BGC.

Science.gov (United States)

Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Gower, Stith T; Ahl, Douglas E

2007-05-01

Forested wetlands and peatlands are important in boreal and terrestrial biogeochemical cycling, but most general-purpose forest process models are designed and parameterized for upland systems. We describe changes made to Biome-BGC, an ecophysiological process model, that improve its ability to simulate poorly drained forests. Model changes allowed for: (1) lateral water inflow from a surrounding watershed, and variable surface and subsurface drainage; (2) adverse effects of anoxic soil on decomposition and nutrient mineralization; (3) closure of leaf stomata in flooded soils; and (4) growth of nonvascular plants (i.e., bryophytes). Bryophytes were treated as ectohydric broadleaf evergreen plants with zero stomatal conductance, whose cuticular conductance to CO(2) was dependent on plant water content. Individual model changes were parameterized with published data, and ecosystem-level model performance was assessed by comparing simulated output to field data from the northern BOREAS site in Manitoba, Canada. The simulation of the poorly drained forest model exhibited reduced decomposition and vascular plant growth (-90%) compared with that of the well-drained forest model; the integrated bryophyte photosynthetic response accorded well with published data. Simulated net primary production, biomass and soil carbon accumulation broadly agreed with field measurements, although simulated net primary production was higher than observed data in well-drained stands. Simulated net primary production in the poorly drained forest was most sensitive to oxygen restriction on soil processes, and secondarily to stomatal closure in flooded conditions. The modified Biome-BGC remains unable to simulate true wetlands that are subject to prolonged flooding, because it does not track organic soil formation, water table changes, soil redox potential or anaerobic processes.

Mapping boreal forest biomass with imagery from polarimetric and semi-polarimetric SAR sensors / Mapeamento da biomassa fl orestal boreal com imagens dos sensores SAR polarimétricos e semi-polarimétricos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yrjo Rauste

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Data from ALOS/Palsar and TerraSAR-X were used to estimate forest biomass in Boreal forest zone in Finland. In the study site in Heinavesi (forest biomass between 0 and 255 tons/ha, the HH-polarised componentof dual-polarised ALOS/Palsar produced biomass estimation accuracies (RMSE between 35 and 42 tons/ha. In the Kuortane site (biomass0…188 tons/ha the RMSE varied between 25 and 28 tons/ha. Since onlytwo winter-time scenes from TerraSAR-X were available, TerraSAR-X results were very preliminary. The phase of the HH-VV cross-coherenceproduced the highest biomass-correlations among the TerraSAR-X derived features. This produced a biomass estimation accuracy (RMSE of 49 tons/ha in the Heinavesi study site.

Fire risk and adaptation strategies in Northern Eurasian forests

Science.gov (United States)

Shvidenko, Anatoly; Schepaschenko, Dmitry

2013-04-01

On-going climatic changes substantially accelerate current fire regimes in Northern Eurasian ecosystems, particularly in forests. During 1998-2012, wildfires enveloped on average ~10.5 M ha year-1 in Russia with a large annual variation (between 3 and 30 M ha) and average direct carbon emissions at ~150 Tg C year-1. Catastrophic fires, which envelope large areas, spread in usually incombustible wetlands, escape from control and provide extraordinary negative impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity, economics, infrastructure, environment, and health of population, become a typical feature of the current fire regimes. There are new evidences of correlation between catastrophic fires and large-scale climatic anomalies at a continental scale. While current climatic predictions suggest the dramatic warming (at the average at 6-7 °C for the country and up to 10-12°C in some northern continental regions), any substantial increase of summer precipitation does not expected. Increase of dryness and instability of climate will impact fire risk and severity of consequences. Current models suggest a 2-3 fold increase of the number of fires by the end of this century in the boreal zone. They predict increases of the number of catastrophic fires; a significant increase in the intensity of fire and amount of consumed fuel; synergies between different types of disturbances (outbreaks of insects, unregulated anthropogenic impacts); acceleration of composition of the gas emissions due to enhanced soil burning. If boreal forests would become a typing element, the mass mortality of trees would increase fire risk and severity. Permafrost melting and subsequent change of hydrological regimes very likely will lead to the degradation and destruction of boreal forests, as well as to the widespread irreversible replacement of forests by other underproductive vegetation types. A significant feedback between warming and escalating fire regimes is very probable in Russia and particularly in the

Why are wetlands important?

Science.gov (United States)

Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to rain forests and coral reefs. An immense variety of species of microbes, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, and mammals can be part of a wetland ecosystem.

Negative effects of excessive soil phosphorus on floristic quality in Ohio wetlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Stapanian, Martin A; Schumacher, William; Gara, Brian; Monteith, Steven E

2016-05-01

Excessive soil nutrients, often from agricultural runoff, have been shown to negatively impact some aspects of wetland plant communities. We measured plant-available phosphorus (Mehlich-3: MeP) in soil samples, and assessed the vascular plant community and habitat degradation at 27 emergent and 13 forested wetlands in Ohio, USA. We tested two hypotheses: (1) that an index of vegetation biological integrity based on floristic quality was lower in wetlands with higher concentrations of MeP in the soil, and (2) that higher concentrations of MeP occurred in wetlands with more habitat degradation (i.e., lower quality), as estimated by a rapid assessment method. Hypothesis (1) was supported for emergent, but not for forested wetlands. Hypothesis (2) was marginally supported (P=0.09) for emergent, but not supported for forested wetlands. The results indicate that the effect of concentration of phosphorus in wetland soils and the quality of plant species assemblages in wetlands is more complex than shown in site-specific studies and may depend in part on degree of disturbance in the surrounding watershed and dominant wetland vegetation type. Woody plants in forested wetlands are typically longer lived than herbaceous species in the understory and emergent wetlands, and may persist despite high inputs of phosphorus. Further, the forested wetlands were typically surrounded by a wide band of forest vegetation, which may provide a barrier against sedimentation and the associated phosphorus inputs to the wetland interior. Our results indicate that inferences about soil nutrient conditions made from rapid assessment methods for assessing wetland habitat condition may not be reliable. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The role of fire in the boreal carbon budget

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Harden, J.W.; Trumbore, S.E.; Stocks, B.J.; Hirsch, A.; Gower, S.T.; O'Neill, K. P.; Kasischke, E.S.

2000-01-01

To reconcile observations of decomposition rates, carbon inventories, and net primary production (NPP), we estimated long-term averages for C exchange in boreal forests near Thompson, Manitoba. Soil drainage as defined by water table, moss cover, and permafrost dynamics, is the dominant control on direct fire emissions. In upland forests, an average of about 10-30% of annual NPP was likely consumed by fire over the past 6500 years since these landforms and ecosystems were established. This long-term, average fire emission is much larger than has been accounted for in global C cycle models and may forecast an increase in fire activity for this region. While over decadal to century times these boreal forests may be acting as slight net sinks for C from the atmosphere to land, periods of drought and severe fire activity may result in net sources of C from these systems.

Evidence for Diverse Biogeochemical Drivers of Boreal Forest New Particle Formation

Science.gov (United States)

Lawler, Michael J.; Rissanen, Matti P.; Ehn, Mikael; Mauldin, R. Lee; Sarnela, Nina; Sipilä, Mikko; Smith, James N.

2018-02-01

New particle formation (NPF) is an important contributor to particle number in many locations, but the chemical drivers for this process are not well understood. Daytime NPF events occur regularly in the springtime Finnish boreal forest and strongly impact aerosol abundance. In April 2014 size-resolved chemical measurements of ambient nanoparticles were made using the Time-of-Flight Thermal Desorption Chemical ionization Mass Spectrometer and we report results from two NPF events. While growth overall was dominated by terpene oxidation products, newly formed 20-70 nm particles showed enhancement in apparent alkanoic acids. The events occurred on days with rapid transport of marine air, which correlated with low background aerosol loading and higher gas phase methanesulfonic acid levels. These results are broadly consistent with previous studies on Nordic NPF but indicate that further attention should be given to the sources and role of non-terpenoid organics and the possible contribution of transported marine compounds in this process.

NPP Boreal Forest: Schefferville, Canada, 1974, R1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This data set contains two files (.txt format). One file provides above- and below-ground biomass, soil, and nutrient data for a mature boreal ecosystem (subarctic...

NPP Boreal Forest: Schefferville, Canada, 1974, R1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: This data set contains two files (.txt format). One file provides above- and below-ground biomass, soil, and nutrient data for a mature boreal ecosystem...

Humus layer is the main locus of secondary SO4 production in boreal forests

Science.gov (United States)

Houle, Daniel; Marty, Charles; Duchesne, Louis; Gagnon, Christian

2014-02-01

Identifying the sources of S exported from catchments and the reactivity of the large soil organic S pool is crucial to understand the mid- or long-term response of forested catchments to decreasing atmospheric S deposition and global warming. Sulfur fluxes as well as S and O isotopes of SO4 were measured in precipitation, throughfall, soil solutions and streams at two boreal forest catchments respectively dominated by black spruce (BS) and balsam fir (BF) in Quebec, Canada. Overall, δ34S-SO4 signature showed relatively small variations among various solution types. However, at both sites, δ18O-SO4 in precipitation (averages of 10.5-11.1‰) was decreased by 3.5-3.6‰ in throughfall because of the production of secondary SO4 through oxidation of SO2 deposited on the canopy. Throughfall δ18O-SO4 was decreased by a further 5.4-6.6‰ in the solution leaving the humus layer which was attributed to the production of secondary SO4 under the action of soil microorganisms through the oxidation of organic S during which the S atom acquired O from water and gaseous O2 present in the soil. A mixing equation based on known isotopic signature of each source suggested that ˜67-81% of the S-SO4 leaving the catchments had interacted with the canopy and the humus layer. The stability of δ18O-SO4 in the mineral soil solution and in the stream of both sites, suggests that SO4 does not undergo reduction-oxidation cycles after its passage through the humus layer. Despite its huge size, the organic S reservoir within the mineral soil would be largely inert. Given the chemical nature of SO4 transformation in the canopy, the humus layer would be responsible for nearly 100% of the biological production of secondary SO4 in the whole watershed at both sites. Taking into account the substantial production of dissolved organic S in the humus layer further emphasizes the crucial importance of the latter in the S cycling of boreal forests.

Application of stable isotope measurements and microbiological analysis for detecting methanogenic activity in a temperate forest wetland

Science.gov (United States)

Itoh, M.; Katsuyama, C.; Kondo, N.; Ohte, N.; Kato, K.

2009-12-01

Generally, forest soils act as a sink for methane (CH4). However, wetlands in riparian zones are recently reported to be “hot spots” of CH4 emissions, especially in forests under a humid climate. To understand how environmental conditions (i.e. hydrological and/or geomorphic condition) control on CH4 production, we investigated both methanogenic pathways (CO2/H2 reduction and acetate fermentation) and metahanogenic microbial communities in a wetland in a temperate forest catchment, central Japan. We used stable carbon isotopic analysis for detecting change in methanogenic pathways, and applied microbiological analysis for understanding the structure of methanogenic community. CH4 emission rates in wetland were strongly dependent on soil temperatures, and were highest in summer and lowest in winter. δ13CO2 increased with CH4 production in every summer, suggesting preferential use of 12CO2 as substrate for CO2/H2 reduction methanogenesis during high CH4 production period. δ13CH4 also increased in summer with δ13CO2. δ13CH4 changed more wildly than δ13CO2 did in summer with normal precipitation when CH4 production was strongly activated under high temperature and high groundwater table condition. This indicates increase in acetoclastic methanogenesis under hot and wet condition, considering that acetclastic methnogens produce heavier CH4 than that from CO2/H2 reducing pathway. Methanogen community composition estimated by cloning and sequence analyses implied that both acetoclastic and CO2/H2 reducing methanogens prevailed in wetland soil sampled in summer. This was consistent with the results of isotope measuremaents. Our results contribute to understand fully how the CH4 production changes with environmental conditions, with considering the activities of both main methanogenic pathway (from CO2 and acetate).

Seawater and Freshwater Circulations through Coastal Forested Wetlands on a Caribbean Island

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Luc Lambs

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Structure and composition of coastal forested wetlands are mainly controlled by local topography and soil salinity. Hydrology plays a major role in relation with tides, seaward, and freshwater inputs, landward. We report here the results of a two-year study undertaken in a coastal plain of the Guadeloupe archipelago (FWI. As elsewhere in the Caribbean islands, the study area is characterized by a micro-tidal regime and a highly seasonal climate. This work aimed at understanding groundwater dynamics and origin (seawater/freshwater both at ecosystems and stand levels. These hydrological processes were assessed through 18O/16O and 2H/1H isotopic analyses, and from monthly monitoring of water level and soil salinity at five study sites located in mangrove (3 and swamp forest (2. Our results highlight the importance of freshwater budget imbalance during low rainfall periods. Sustained and/or delayed dry seasons cause soil salinity to rise at the mangrove/swamp forest ecotone. As current models on climate change project decreasing rainfall amounts over the inner Caribbean region, one may expect for this area an inland progression of the mangrove forest to the expense of the nearby swamp forest.

Fire impacts on European Boreal soils: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Paulo; Oliva, Marc; Cerda, Artemi

2016-04-01

Fire is an important natural disturbance in boreal ecosystems, fundamental to understand plant distribution (Ryan, 2002; Wallenius et al., 2004; Granstrom, 2001). Nevertheless, nowadays the intense and successful, fire suppression measures are changing their ecological role (Pereira et al., 2013a,b). This is consequence of the lack of understanding of stakeholders and decision makers about the role of the fire in the ecosystems (Mierasukas and Pereira, 2013; Pereira et al., 2016). This fire suppression measures are increasing the amount of fuel accumulation and the risk of severe wildfires, which can increase of frequency and severity in a context of climate change. Fire is a good tool for landscape management and restoration of degraded ecosystems (Toivanen and Kotiaho, 2007). Fire is considered a soil forming factor (Certini, 2014) and in boreal environments it has been observed that low fire severities, do not change importantly soil properties, mean fire severities induce positive impacts on soil, since add an important amounts of nutrients into soil profile and high severity fires had negative impacts due to the high consumption of organic matter (Vanha-Majamaa et al., 2007; Pereira et al., 2014). References Certini, G., 2014. Fire as a soil-forming factor. Ambio, 43, 191-195 Granstrom A. 2001. Fire management for biodiversity in the European Boreal forest. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 3: 62-69. Mierauskas, P., Pereira, P. (2013) Stakeholders perception about prescribed fire use in Lithuania. First results, Flamma, 4(3), 157-161. Pereira, P., Cerdà, A., Jordán, A., Bolutiene, V., Úbeda, X., Pranskevicius, M., Mataix-Solera, J. (2013) Spatio-temporal vegetation recuperation after a grassland fire in Lithuania, Procedia Environmental Sciences, 19:856-864 Pereira, P., Mierauskas, P., Ubeda, X., Mataix-Solera, J.,Cerda, A. (2012) Fire in protected areas - the effect of the protection and importance of fire management, Environmental Research

Performance measures for a Mississippi River reintroduction into the forested wetlands of Maurepas Swamp

Science.gov (United States)

Krauss, Ken W.; Shaffer, Gary P.; Keim, Richard F.; Chambers, Jim L.; Wood, William B.; Hartley, Stephen B.

2017-06-09

The use of freshwater diversions (river reintroductions) from the Mississippi River as a restoration tool to rehabilitate Louisiana coastal wetlands has been promoted widely since the first such diversion at Caernarvon became operational in the early 1990s. To date, aside from the Bonnet Carré Spillway (which is designed and operated for flood control), there are only four operational Mississippi River freshwater diversions (two gated structures and two siphons) in coastal Louisiana, and they all target salinity intrusion, shellfish management, and (or) the enhancement of the integrity of marsh habitat. River reintroductions carry small sediment loads for various design reasons, but they can be effective in delivering fresh­water to combat saltwater intrusion and increase the delivery of nutrients and suspended fine-grained sediments to receiving wetlands. River reintroductions may be an ideal restoration tool for targeting coastal swamp forest habitat; much of the area of swamp forest habitat in coastal Louisiana is undergo­ing saltwater intrusion, high rates of submergence, and lack of riverine flow leading to reduced concentrations of important nutrients and suspended sediments, which sustain growth and regeneration, help to aerate swamp soils, and remove toxic compounds from the rhizosphere.The State of Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restora­tion Authority (CPRA) has made it a priority to establish a small freshwater river diversion into a coastal swamp forest located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, to reintroduce Mississippi River water to Maurepas Swamp. While a full understanding of how a coastal swamp forest will respond to new freshwater loading through a Mississippi River reintroduction is unknown, this report provides guidance based on the available literature for establishing performance measures that can be used for evaluating the effectiveness of a Mississippi River reintroduction into the forested wetlands of Maurepas Swamp

Forested wetland mitigation resulting from discharges of cooling water into streams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, E.A.

1993-01-01

The Savannah River Swamp is a 3020-ha forested wetland on the floodplain of the Savannah River and is located on the US Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, South Carolina. Historically, the swamp consisted of ∼50% bald cypress-water tupelo stands, 40% mixed bottomland hardwood stands, and 10% shrub, marsh, and open water. The hydrology was controlled by flooding the Savannah River and by flow from four creeks that drain into the swamp prior to flow into the Savannah River. Upstream dams have caused some alteration of the water levels and timing of flooding within the floodplain. Major impacts to the swamp hydrology occurred with the completion of the production reactors and one coal-fired powerhouse at the SRS in the early 1950s. Water, often in excess of 40 to 50 degrees C was discharged into one of the small streams from 1954 to 1988, at various levels, ranging from 20 to 40 times the prior flow rate of the stream. This had a major impact on the adjacent swamp land, with erosion, silting, and vegetation destruction. The Final Environmental Impact Statement, Continued Operation of K, L, and P Reactors, Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina, and the subsequent record of decision directed that these areas be restored to functional forested wetland status to the extent possible. This paper describes work begun to reach that objective

REAL AND SIMULATED WAVEFORM RECORDING LIDAR DATA IN BOREAL JUVENILE FOREST VEGETATION

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A. Hovi

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Airborne small-footprint LiDAR is replacing field measurements in regional-level forest inventories, but auxiliary field work is still required for the optimal management of young stands. Waveform (WF recording sensors can provide a more detailed description of the vegetation compared to discrete return (DR systems. Furthermore, knowing the shape of the signal facilitates comparisons between real data and those obtained with simulation tools. We performed a quantitative validation of a Monte Carlo ray tracing (MCRT -based LiDAR simulator against real data and used simulations and empirical data to study the WF recording LiDAR for the classification of boreal juvenile forest vegetation. Geometric-optical models of three common species were used as input for the MCRT model. Simulated radiometric and geometric WF features were in good agreement with the real data, and interspecies differences were preserved. We used the simulator to study the effects of sensor parameters on species classification performance. An increase in footprint size improved the classification accuracy up to a certain footprint size, while the emitted pulse width and the WF sampling rate had minor effects. Analyses on empirical data showed small improvement in performance compared to existing studies, when classifying seedling stand vegetation to four operational classes. The results on simulator validation serve as a basis for the future use of simulation models e.g. in LiDAR survey planning or in the simulation of synthetic training data, while the empirical findings clarify the potential of WF LiDAR data in the inventory chain for the operational forest management planning in Finland.

Dominant Tree Species and Soil Type Affect the Fungal Community Structure in a Boreal Peatland Forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Hui; Terhonen, Eeva; Kovalchuk, Andriy; Tuovila, Hanna; Chen, Hongxin; Oghenekaro, Abbot O; Heinonsalo, Jussi; Kohler, Annegret; Kasanen, Risto; Vasander, Harri; Asiegbu, Fred O

2016-05-01

Boreal peatlands play a crucial role in global carbon cycling, acting as an important carbon reservoir. However, little information is available on how peatland microbial communities are influenced by natural variability or human-induced disturbances. In this study, we have investigated the fungal diversity and community structure of both the organic soil layer and buried wood in boreal forest soils using high-throughput sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. We have also compared the fungal communities during the primary colonization of wood with those of the surrounding soils. A permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) confirmed that the community composition significantly differed between soil types (P< 0.001) and tree species (P< 0.001). The distance-based linear models analysis showed that environmental variables were significantly correlated with community structure (P< 0.04). The availability of soil nutrients (Ca [P= 0.002], Fe [P= 0.003], and P [P= 0.003]) within the site was an important factor in the fungal community composition. The species richness in wood was significantly lower than in the corresponding soil (P< 0.004). The results of the molecular identification were supplemented by fruiting body surveys. Seven of the genera of Agaricomycotina identified in our surveys were among the top 20 genera observed in pyrosequencing data. Our study is the first, to our knowledge, fungal high-throughput next-generation sequencing study performed on peatlands; it further provides a baseline for the investigation of the dynamics of the fungal community in the boreal peatlands. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Changes in standing stocks and fluxes of carbon due to salinization: tidal freshwater wetland forest retreat to marsh

Science.gov (United States)

Krauss, K.; Noe, G. B.; Duberstein, J. A.; Conner, W. H.; Stagg, C. L.; Jones, M.; Bernhardt, C. E.; Cormier, N.

2017-12-01

Assessments of organic carbon (C) standing stocks and fluxes as wetland ecosystems transition from tidally influenced freshwater forested wetlands to low-salinity marshes are not typically included in "blue carbon" accounting. However, these ecosystems have the potential to store and convey large quantities of C. Here, we report on data collected from eight riverine sites along salinity and hydro-edaphic gradients in South Carolina and Georgia to provide the first complete estimates of C storage, flux, and burial, including estimation of C export to aquatic environments, in tidal freshwater forested wetlands undergoing transition to oligohaline marsh. Total standing stocks of C ranged from 280 to 891 Mg C/ha along both rivers but with no consistent trend in standing stock shifts along salinity gradients between the two rivers. Soil C standing stocks were most variable among sites. Furthermore, we assessed input (litterfall, woody growth, herbaceous growth, root growth and surface sediment C accretion) in comparison with output (surface litter decomposition, root decomposition and gaseous C) fluxes over periods ranging from 2 to 11 years. C sequestration from mass balance calculations ranged from 103 to 728 g C/m2/year among sites, with generally greater C sequestration on sites with prominent salinity-mediated conversion to oligohaline marsh. Dissolved C export was estimated as the difference between C sequestration and soil C burial using 14C dating of cores, and ranged from 144 to 404 g C/m2/year, representing a large amount of C export to feed aquatic biogeochemical transformations and secondary productivity. Along with C accounting, these sites also differed in how N and P were mineralized in soils, with considerable N mineralization on salinity-stressed (2.4-4.3 parts per thousand) forested sites with newly encroached marsh plants and considerable P mineralization on slightly higher salinity marshes. In all, C storage from tidal freshwater forested wetlands

Effects of Lakes on Wildfire Activity in the Boreal Forests of Saskatchewan, Canada

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Scott E. Nielsen

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Large lakes can act as firebreaks resulting in distinct patterns in the forest mosaic. Although this is well acknowledged, much less is known about how wildfire is affected by different landscape measures of water and their interactions. Here we examine how these factors relate to historic patterns of wildfire over a 35-year period (1980–2014 for the boreal forest of Saskatchewan, Canada. This includes the amount of water in different-sized neighborhoods, the presence of islands, and the direction, distance, and shape of nearest lake of different sizes. All individual factors affected wildfire presence, with lake sizes ≥5000 ha and amount of water within a 1000-ha surrounding area the most supported spatial scales. Overall, wildfires were two-times less likely on islands, more likely further from lakes that were circular in shape, and in areas with less surrounding water. Interactive effects were common, including the effect of direction to lake as a function of distance from lakeshore and amount of surrounding water. Our results point to a strong, but complex, bottom-up control of local wildfire activity based on the configuration of natural firebreaks. In fact, fire rotation periods predicted for one area varied more than 15-fold (<47 to >700 years depending on local patterns in lakes. Old-growth forests within this fire-prone ecosystem are therefore likely to depend on the surrounding configuration of larger lakes.

Mercury methylation in Sphagnum moss mats and its association with sulfate-reducing bacteria in an acidic Adirondack forest lake wetland.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Ri-Qing; Adatto, Isaac; Montesdeoca, Mario R; Driscoll, Charles T; Hines, Mark E; Barkay, Tamar

2010-12-01

Processes leading to the bioaccumulation of methylmercury (MeHg) in northern wetlands are largely unknown. We have studied various ecological niches within a remote, acidic forested lake ecosystem in the southwestern Adirondacks, NY, to discover that mats comprised of Sphagnum moss were a hot spot for mercury (Hg) and MeHg accumulation (190.5 and 18.6 ng g⁻¹ dw, respectively). Furthermore, significantly higher potential methylation rates were measured in Sphagnum mats as compared with other sites within Sunday Lake's ecosystem. Although MPN estimates showed a low biomass of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), 2.8 × 10⁴ cells mL⁻¹ in mat samples, evidence consisting of (1) a twofold stimulation of potential methylation by the addition of sulfate, (2) a significant decrease in Hg methylation in the presence of the sulfate reduction inhibitor molybdate, and (3) presence of dsrAB-like genes in mat DNA extracts, suggested that SRB were involved in Hg methylation. Sequencing of dsrB genes indicated that novel SRB, incomplete oxidizers including Desulfobulbus spp. and Desulfovibrio spp., and syntrophs dominated the sulfate-reducing guild in the Sphagnum moss mat. Sphagnum, a bryophyte dominating boreal peatlands, and its associated microbial communities appear to play an important role in the production and accumulation of MeHg in high-latitude ecosystems. © 2010 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

BOREAS TE-04 Gas Exchange Data from Boreal Tree Species

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Contains TE-04 data on gas exchange studies of photosynthesis, respiration and stomatal conductance of boreal forest species using the MPH-1000 system.

Habitat Requirements of Breeding Black-Backed Woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus in Managed, Unburned Boreal Forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junior A. Tremblay

2009-06-01

Full Text Available We investigated home-range characteristics and habitat selection by Black-backed Woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus in an unburned, boreal forest landscape managed by mosaic harvesting in Quebec, Canada. Habitat selection by this species was specifically examined to determine home-range establishment and foraging activities. We hypothesized that Black-backed Woodpeckers would respond to harvesting by adjusting their home-range size as a function of the amount of dead wood available. Twenty-two birds were tracked using radiotelemetry, and reliable estimates of home-range size were obtained for seven breeding individuals (six males and one female. The average home-range size was 151.5 ± 18.8 ha (range: 100.4-256.4 ha. Our results indicate that this species establishes home ranges in areas where both open and forested habitats are available. However, during foraging activities, individuals preferentially selected areas dominated by old coniferous stands. The study also showed that the spatial distribution of preferred foraging habitat patches influenced space use, with home-range area increasing with the median distance between old coniferous habitat patches available within the landscape. Finally, these data show that Black-backed Woodpeckers may successfully breed in an unburned forest with at least 35 m3 • ha-1 of dead wood, of which 42% (15 m3 • ha-1 is represented by dead wood at the early decay stage.

Application of boreal forest toxicity data in the decision-making process for contaminated soil clean-up remediation at oil and gas fields in Western Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scroggins, R.; Princz, J.; Moody, M.; Olsgard-Dumanski, M.; Haderlein, L.; Moore, B.

2010-01-01

This presentation reported on a multi-year research project in which a broad range of boreal forest test methods for assessing petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) toxicity in contaminated soil were used to show that clean-up decisions can be made on a field-wide basis through focused biological testing of typical drill sump and flare pit locations within an oil and gas field. Remediation at most sites will likely be limited to the Alberta soil eco-contact guidelines for PHC F2 and F3 fractions. Since Tier 1 eco-contact guidelines are derived using toxicity data from fresh crude and using agricultural plant species, it was more logical to follow a Tier 2 eco-contact pathway approach because most contamination was related to drilling sumps and flare pits containing highly weathered PHCs and species native to the boreal eco-zone of Canada. The site-specific remedial objective (SSRO) option within the Tier 2 guideline was used because of the large number of sites requiring remediation, and the similarity of sites within pre-determined Risk Assessment Zones. For representative contaminated soils, a SSRO was derived from the twenty-fifth percentile of the estimated species sensitivity distribution of all acceptable boreal plant, earthworm, springtail and mite test endpoints. The purpose of the project was to reduce soil volumes sent to landfill during site remediation by showing that residual impacts from weathered PHC in soil do not have damaging effects on boreal forest receptors following remediation. Data was included to show the value of this approach and the variability between sites and their effect on regionalizing a Tier 2 eco-contact guideline.

Application of boreal forest toxicity data in the decision-making process for contaminated soil clean-up remediation at oil and gas fields in Western Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scroggins, R.; Princz, J. [Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada); Moody, M. [Saskatchewan Research Council, Regina, SK (Canada); Olsgard-Dumanski, M.; Haderlein, L. [WorleyParsons Canada, Calgary, AB (Canada); Moore, B. [Devon Canada Corp., Calgary, AB (Canada)

2010-07-01

This presentation reported on a multi-year research project in which a broad range of boreal forest test methods for assessing petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) toxicity in contaminated soil were used to show that clean-up decisions can be made on a field-wide basis through focused biological testing of typical drill sump and flare pit locations within an oil and gas field. Remediation at most sites will likely be limited to the Alberta soil eco-contact guidelines for PHC F2 and F3 fractions. Since Tier 1 eco-contact guidelines are derived using toxicity data from fresh crude and using agricultural plant species, it was more logical to follow a Tier 2 eco-contact pathway approach because most contamination was related to drilling sumps and flare pits containing highly weathered PHCs and species native to the boreal eco-zone of Canada. The site-specific remedial objective (SSRO) option within the Tier 2 guideline was used because of the large number of sites requiring remediation, and the similarity of sites within pre-determined Risk Assessment Zones. For representative contaminated soils, a SSRO was derived from the twenty-fifth percentile of the estimated species sensitivity distribution of all acceptable boreal plant, earthworm, springtail and mite test endpoints. The purpose of the project was to reduce soil volumes sent to landfill during site remediation by showing that residual impacts from weathered PHC in soil do not have damaging effects on boreal forest receptors following remediation. Data was included to show the value of this approach and the variability between sites and their effect on regionalizing a Tier 2 eco-contact guideline.

Responses of small mammals to clear-cutting in temperate and boreal forests of Europe: a meta-analysis and review

OpenAIRE

Bogdziewicz, Michał; Zwolak, Rafał

2013-01-01

We analyzed the responses of small mammals to clear-cutting in temperate and boreal forests in Europe. We conducted a meta-analysis of published research on most often studied small mammal species (the striped field mouse, the yellow-necked mouse, the wood mouse, the field vole, the common vole, the bank vole, the Eurasian harvest mouse, the common shrew and the Eurasian pygmy shrew), comparing their abundance on clear-cuts and in unharvested stands. For four other species (the gray-sided vol...

Ecological effects of pipeline construction through deciduous forested wetlands, Midland County, Michigan. Topical report, October 1990--August 1992

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rastorfer, J.R. [Chicago State Univ., IL (United States). Dept. of Biological Sciences; Van Dyke, G.D.; Zellmer, S.D.; Wilkey, P.L. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)

1995-04-01

This study is designed to record vegetational changes induced by the construction of a large-diameter gas pipeline through deciduous forested wetlands. Two second-growth wetland sites mapped Lenawee soils were selected in Midland County, Michigan: Site 1, a younger stand subjected to recent selective logging, and Site 2, a more mature stand. The collection of ecological data to analyze plant succession on the right-of-way (ROW) and the effects of the developing ROW plant communities on adjacent forest communities was initiated in 1989. Cover class estimates were made for understory and ROW plant species on the basis of 1 {times} 1{minus}m quadrats. Individual stem diameters and species counts were recorded for overstory plants in 10{minus}m quadrats. Although long-term studies have not been completed, firm baseline data were established for comparative analyses with future sampling. Current data indicate that vegetation became well-established on the ROW within one year and subsequently increased in coverage. About 65% of the species were wetland indicators, and the dominants included seeded and natural invading species; nevertheless, some elements of the original flora regenerated and persist. The plants of the ecotone understories of both sites changed from their original composition as a result of the installation of the gas pipeline. Although some forest species persist at both sites, the ecotone of Site I was influenced more by the seeded species, whereas the natural invaders were more important at Site 2.

Effect of inundation, oxygen and temperature on carbon mineralization in boreal ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Youngil; Ullah, Sami; Roulet, Nigel T; Moore, Tim R

2015-04-01

The inundation of boreal forests and peatlands through the construction of hydroelectric reservoirs can increase carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emission. To establish controls on emission rates, we incubated samples of forest and peat soils, spruce litter, forest litter and peatland litter collected from boreal ecosystems in northern Quebec for 16 weeks and measured CO2 and CH4 production rates under flooded or non-flooded conditions and varying oxygen concentration and temperature. CO2 production under flooded conditions was less than under non-flooded conditions (5-71 vs. 5-85 mg Cg(-1) C), but CH4 production under flooded conditions was larger than under non-flooded conditions (1-8158 vs. 0-86 μg Cg(-1) C). The average CO2 and CH4 production rate factor for flooded:non-flooded conditions was 0.76 and 1.32, respectively. Under flooded conditions, high oxygen concentrations increased CO2 production in peat soils but decreased CH4 production in forest and peat soils and spruce litter. Warmer temperatures (from 4 to 22°C) raised both CO2 production in peat soils and peatland litter, and CH4 production in peat soils and spruce litter. This study shows that the direction and/or strength of CO2 and CH4 fluxes change once boreal forests and peatlands are inundated. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Response of water use efficiency to summer drought in a boreal Scots pine forest in Finland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Gao

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The influence of drought on plant functioning has received considerable attention in recent years, however our understanding of the response of carbon and water coupling to drought in terrestrial ecosystems still needs to be improved. A severe soil moisture drought occurred in southern Finland in the late summer of 2006. In this study, we investigated the response of water use efficiency to summer drought in a boreal Scots pine forest (Pinus sylvestris on the daily time scale mainly using eddy covariance flux data from the Hyytiälä (southern Finland flux site. In addition, simulation results from the JSBACH land surface model were evaluated against the observed results. Based on observed data, the ecosystem level water use efficiency (EWUE; the ratio of gross primary production, GPP, to evapotranspiration, ET showed a decrease during the severe soil moisture drought, while the inherent water use efficiency (IWUE; a quantity defined as EWUE multiplied with mean daytime vapour pressure deficit, VPD increased and the underlying water use efficiency (uWUE, a metric based on IWUE and a simple stomatal model, is the ratio of GPP multiplied with a square root of VPD to ET was unchanged during the drought. The decrease in EWUE was due to the stronger decline in GPP than in ET. The increase in IWUE was because of the decreased stomatal conductance under increased VPD. The unchanged uWUE indicates that the trade-off between carbon assimilation and transpiration of the boreal Scots pine forest was not disturbed by this drought event at the site. The JSBACH simulation showed declines of both GPP and ET under the severe soil moisture drought, but to a smaller extent compared to the observed GPP and ET. Simulated GPP and ET led to a smaller decrease in EWUE but a larger increase in IWUE because of the severe soil moisture drought in comparison to observations. As in the observations, the simulated uWUE showed no changes in the drought event. The

BOREAS TE-04 Branch Bag Data from Boreal Tree Species

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: Contains 1996 TE-04 data of branch bag studies of photosynthesis, respiration and stomatal conductance of boreal forest species using the open MPH-1000...

NPP Boreal Forest: Kuusamo, Finland, 1967-1971, R1

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — ABSTRACT: This data set contains three files (.txt format). One file provides stand characteristics, biomass, and production allocation data for an old-growth boreal...

Effects of ionizing radiation on the boreal forest: Canada's FIG experiment, with implications for radionuclides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amiro, B.D.; Sheppard, S.C.

1994-01-01

The Field-Irradiator Gamma (FIG) experiment chronically irradiated a section of the Canadian boreal forest over a period of 14 years. Forest trees were affected at dose rates >0.1 mGy·h -1 , but a berbaceous plant community thrived at dose rates up to 65 mGy·h -1 . Irradiation resulted in the establishment of four zones of vegetation: a herbaceous community, a shrub community, a narrow zone of dying trees, and a zone with no apparent impacts. Concentrations of 14 C, 99 Tc, 129 I, 137 Cs and 226 Ra that could cause a dose rate of 0.1 mGy·h -1 within vegetation were calculated. Chemical toxic effects on plants would be caused by 99 Tc and 129 I before radiological effects are predicted to occur. The calculated 226 Ra concentration is about a factor of 10 greater than that measured at some natural sites. Sufficiently high concentrations of 14 C and 137 Cs to cause an impact are unlikely unless a site is severely contaminated. (author)

Carbon Cycling in Wetland Forest Soils

Science.gov (United States)

Carl C. Trettin; Martin F. Jurgensen