Multi-Decadal Changes in Tundra Environments and Ecosystems: Synthesis of the International Polar Year-Back to the Future Project (IPY-BTF)
(2011) In Ambio: a Journal of the Human Environment 40(6). p.705-716- Abstract
- Understanding the responses of tundra systems to global change has global implications. Most tundra regions lack sustained environmental monitoring and one of the only ways to document multi-decadal change is to resample historic research sites. The International Polar Year (IPY) provided a unique opportunity for such research through the Back to the Future (BTF) project (IPY project #512). This article synthesizes the results from 13 papers within this Ambio Special Issue. Abiotic changes include glacial recession in the Altai Mountains, Russia; increased snow depth and hardness, permafrost warming, and increased growing season length in sub-arctic Sweden; drying of ponds in Greenland; increased nutrient availability in Alaskan tundra... (More)
- Understanding the responses of tundra systems to global change has global implications. Most tundra regions lack sustained environmental monitoring and one of the only ways to document multi-decadal change is to resample historic research sites. The International Polar Year (IPY) provided a unique opportunity for such research through the Back to the Future (BTF) project (IPY project #512). This article synthesizes the results from 13 papers within this Ambio Special Issue. Abiotic changes include glacial recession in the Altai Mountains, Russia; increased snow depth and hardness, permafrost warming, and increased growing season length in sub-arctic Sweden; drying of ponds in Greenland; increased nutrient availability in Alaskan tundra ponds, and warming at most locations studied. Biotic changes ranged from relatively minor plant community change at two sites in Greenland to moderate change in the Yukon, and to dramatic increases in shrub and tree density on Herschel Island, and in sub-arctic Sweden. The population of geese tripled at one site in northeast Greenland where biomass in non-grazed plots doubled. A model parameterized using results from a BTF study forecasts substantial declines in all snowbeds and increases in shrub tundra on Niwot Ridge, Colorado over the next century. In general, results support and provide improved capacities for validating experimental manipulation, remote sensing, and modeling studies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4811124
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- IPY, Glaciers, Permafrost, Snow stratigraphy, Tundra vegetation, Limnology, Shrubs, Treeline
- in
- Ambio: a Journal of the Human Environment
- volume
- 40
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 705 - 716
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:80052542688
- ISSN
- 0044-7447
- DOI
- 10.1007/s13280-011-0179-8
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a8c47916-7c88-4f64-9299-ebafde2bb92f (old id 4811124)
- alternative location
- http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13280-011-0179-8
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:04:32
- date last changed
- 2024-02-08 11:12:56
@article{a8c47916-7c88-4f64-9299-ebafde2bb92f,
abstract = {{Understanding the responses of tundra systems to global change has global implications. Most tundra regions lack sustained environmental monitoring and one of the only ways to document multi-decadal change is to resample historic research sites. The International Polar Year (IPY) provided a unique opportunity for such research through the Back to the Future (BTF) project (IPY project #512). This article synthesizes the results from 13 papers within this Ambio Special Issue. Abiotic changes include glacial recession in the Altai Mountains, Russia; increased snow depth and hardness, permafrost warming, and increased growing season length in sub-arctic Sweden; drying of ponds in Greenland; increased nutrient availability in Alaskan tundra ponds, and warming at most locations studied. Biotic changes ranged from relatively minor plant community change at two sites in Greenland to moderate change in the Yukon, and to dramatic increases in shrub and tree density on Herschel Island, and in sub-arctic Sweden. The population of geese tripled at one site in northeast Greenland where biomass in non-grazed plots doubled. A model parameterized using results from a BTF study forecasts substantial declines in all snowbeds and increases in shrub tundra on Niwot Ridge, Colorado over the next century. In general, results support and provide improved capacities for validating experimental manipulation, remote sensing, and modeling studies.}},
author = {{Callaghan, Terry V. and Tweedie, Craig E. and Åkerman, Jonas and Andrews, Christopher and Bergstedt, Johan and Butler, Malcolm G. and Christensen, Torben and Cooley, Dorothy and Dahlberg, Ulrika and Danby, Ryan K. and Daniels, Fred J. A. and de Molenaar, Johannes G. and Dick, Jan and Mortensen, Christian Ebbe and Ebert-May, Diane and Emanuelsson, Urban and Eriksson, Hakan and Hedenas, Henrik and Henry, Greg H. R. and Hik, David S. and Hobbie, John E. and Jantze, Elin J. and Jaspers, Cornelia and Johansson, Cecilia and Johansson, Margareta and Johnson, David R. and Johnstone, Jill F. and Jonasson, Christer and Kennedy, Catherine and Kenney, Alice J. and Keuper, Frida and Koh, Saewan and Krebs, Charles J. and Lantuit, Hugues and Lara, Mark J. and Lin, David and Lougheed, Vanessa L. and Madsen, Jesper and Matveyeva, Nadya and McEwen, Daniel C. and Myers-Smith, Isla H. and Narozhniy, Yuriy K. and Olsson, Hakan and Pohjola, Veijo A. and Price, Larry W. and Riget, Frank and Rundqvist, Sara and Sandstroem, Anneli and Tamstorf, Mikkel and Van Bogaert, Rik and Villarreal, Sandra and Webber, Patrick J. and Zemtsov, Valeriy A.}},
issn = {{0044-7447}},
keywords = {{IPY; Glaciers; Permafrost; Snow stratigraphy; Tundra vegetation; Limnology; Shrubs; Treeline}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{705--716}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Ambio: a Journal of the Human Environment}},
title = {{Multi-Decadal Changes in Tundra Environments and Ecosystems: Synthesis of the International Polar Year-Back to the Future Project (IPY-BTF)}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-011-0179-8}},
doi = {{10.1007/s13280-011-0179-8}},
volume = {{40}},
year = {{2011}},
}