Arid
DOI10.1111/1365-2745.12491
Ground ice melt in the high Arctic leads to greater ecological heterogeneity
Becker, Michael S.1,2; Davies, T. Jonathan3,4; Pollard, Wayne H.1
通讯作者Becker, Michael S.
来源期刊JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
ISSN0022-0477
EISSN1365-2745
出版年2016
卷号104期号:1页码:114-124
英文摘要

1. The polar desert biome of the Canadian high Arctic Archipelago is currently experiencing some of the greatest mean annual air temperature increases on the planet, threatening the stability of ecosystems residing above temperature-sensitive permafrost.


2. Ice wedges are the most widespread form of ground ice, occurring in up to 25% of the world’s terrestrial near-surface, and their melting (thermokarst) may catalyse a suite of biotic and ecological changes, facilitating major ecosystem shifts.


3. These unknown ecosystem shifts raise serious questions as to how permafrost stability, vegetation diversity and edaphic conditions will change with a warming high Arctic. Ecosystem and thermokarst processes tend to be examined independently, limiting our understanding of a coupled system whereby the effect of climate change on one will affect the outcome of the other.


4. Using in-depth, comprehensive field observations and a space-for-time approach, we investigate the highly structured landscape that has emerged due to the thermokarst-induced partitioning of microhabitats. We examine differences in vegetation diversity, community composition and soil conditions on the Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. We hypothesize that (i) greater ice wedge subsidence results in increased vegetation cover due to elevated soil moisture, thereby decreasing the seasonal depth of thaw and restricting groundwater outflow; (ii) thermokarst processes result in altered vegetation richness, turnover and dispersion, with greater microhabitat diversity at the landscape scale; and (iii) shifts in hydrology and plant community structure alter soil chemistry.


5. We found that the disturbance caused by melting ice wedges catalysed a suite of environmental and biotic effects: topographical changes, a new hydrological balance, significant species richness and turnover changes, and distinct soil chemistries. Thermokarst areas favour a subset of species unique from the polar desert and are characterized by greater species turnover (beta-diversity) across the landscape.


6. Synthesis. Our findings suggest that projected increases of thermokarst in the polar desert will lead to the increased partitioning of microhabitats, creating a more heterogeneous high arctic landscape through diverging vegetation communities and edaphic conditions, resulting in a wetland-like biome in the high Arctic that could replace much of the ice-rich polar desert.


英文关键词biodiversity climate change determinants of plant community diversity and structure ice wedges permafrost plant-climate interactions polar desert species richness thermokarst
类型Article
语种英语
国家Canada ; Denmark ; South Africa
收录类别SCI-E
WOS记录号WOS:000368298700012
WOS关键词ELLESMERE-ISLAND ; NORTHWEST TERRITORIES ; PLANT-PRODUCTION ; LAST GLACIATION ; WATER RELATIONS ; WEDGE POLYGONS ; TUNDRA ; CLIMATE ; PERMAFROST ; VEGETATION
WOS类目Plant Sciences ; Ecology
WOS研究方向Plant Sciences ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
资源类型期刊论文
条目标识符http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/194338
作者单位1.McGill Univ, Dept Geog, Montreal, PQ H3A 0B9, Canada;
2.Univ Copenhagen, Ctr Macroecol Evolut & Climate, Nat Hist Museum Denmark, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark;
3.McGill Univ, Dept Biol, Montreal, PQ H3A 1B3, Canada;
4.Univ Johannesburg, African Ctr DNA Barcoding, ZA-2006 Johannesburg, South Africa
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GB/T 7714
Becker, Michael S.,Davies, T. Jonathan,Pollard, Wayne H.. Ground ice melt in the high Arctic leads to greater ecological heterogeneity[J],2016,104(1):114-124.
APA Becker, Michael S.,Davies, T. Jonathan,&Pollard, Wayne H..(2016).Ground ice melt in the high Arctic leads to greater ecological heterogeneity.JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY,104(1),114-124.
MLA Becker, Michael S.,et al."Ground ice melt in the high Arctic leads to greater ecological heterogeneity".JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 104.1(2016):114-124.
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