Disturbances in North American boreal forest and Arctic tundra: impacts, interactions, and responses

Authors

Adrianna C. Foster, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Jonathan A. Wang, University of California, Irvine
Gerald V. Frost, ABR Inc. Environmental Research and Services
Scott J. Davidson, University of Plymouth
Elizabeth Hoy, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Kevin W. Turner, Brock University
Oliver Sonnentag, University of Montreal
Howard Epstein, University of Virginia
Logan T. Berner, Northern Arizona University
Amanda H. Armstrong, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Mary Kang, Université McGill
Brendan M. Rogers, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Elizabeth Campbell, Pacific Forestry Centre
Kimberley R. Miner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Kathleen M. Orndahl, Northern Arizona University
Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
David A. Lutz, Dartmouth College
Nancy H. F. French, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Dong Chen, University of Maryland, College Park
Jinyang Du, University of Montana
Tatiana A. Shestakova, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Jacquelyn K. Shuman, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Ken Tape, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Anna Maria Virkkala, Woodwell Climate Research Center
Christopher Potter, NASA Ames Research Center
Scott Goetz, Northern Arizona University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-20-2022

Department

Michigan Tech Research Institute

Abstract

Ecosystems in the North American Arctic-Boreal Zone (ABZ) experience a diverse set of disturbances associated with wildfire, permafrost dynamics, geomorphic processes, insect outbreaks and pathogens, extreme weather events, and human activity. Climate warming in the ABZ is occurring at over twice the rate of the global average, and as a result the extent, frequency, and severity of these disturbances are increasing rapidly. Disturbances in the ABZ span a wide gradient of spatiotemporal scales and have varying impacts on ecosystem properties and function. However, many ABZ disturbances are relatively understudied and have different sensitivities to climate and trajectories of recovery, resulting in considerable uncertainty in the impacts of climate warming and human land use on ABZ vegetation dynamics and in the interactions between disturbance types. Here we review the current knowledge of ABZ disturbances and their precursors, ecosystem impacts, temporal frequencies, spatial extents, and severity. We also summarize current knowledge of interactions and feedbacks among ABZ disturbances and characterize typical trajectories of vegetation loss and recovery in response to ecosystem disturbance using satellite time-series. We conclude with a summary of critical data and knowledge gaps and identify priorities for future study.

Publisher's Statement

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac98d7

Publication Title

Environmental Research Letters

Recommended Citation

Foster, A., Wang, J., Frost, G., Davidson, S., Hoy, E., Turner, K., Sonnentag, O., Epstein, H., Berner, L., Armstrong, A., Kang, M., Rogers, B., Campbell, E., Miner, K., Orndahl, K., Bourgeau-Chavez, L., Lutz, D., French, N. H., Chen, D., Du, J., Shestakova, T., Shuman, J., Tape, K., Virkkala, A., Potter, C., & Goetz, S. (2022). Disturbances in North American boreal forest and Arctic tundra: impacts, interactions, and responses. Environmental Research Letters, 17(11). http://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac98d7
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/16590

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Version

Publisher's PDF