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Disturbances in North American Boreal Forest and Arctic Tundra: Impacts, Interactions, and ResponsesEcosystems 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.
Document ID
20220019265
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes)
Authors
Adrianna C Foster ORCID
(National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, Colorado, United States)
Jonathan A Wang ORCID
(University of California, Irvine Irvine, California, United States)
Gerald V Frost ORCID
(Alaska Biological Research (United States) Anchorage, Alaska, United States)
Scott J Davidson ORCID
(Plymouth University Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom)
Elizabeth Hoy ORCID
(Global Science & Technology (United States) Greenbelt, Maryland, United States)
Kevin W Turner ORCID
(Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada)
Oliver Sonentag
(University of Montreal Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Howard Epstein ORCID
(University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia, United States)
Logan T Berner ORCID
(Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona, United States)
Amanda H Armstrong ORCID
(University of Maryland, Baltimore County Baltimore, Maryland, United States)
Mary Kang ORCID
(McGill University Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Brendan M Rogers ORCID
(Woodwell Climate Research Center Falmouth, Massachusetts, United States)
Elizabeth Campbell ORCID
(Canadian Forest Service Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
Kimberly R Miner ORCID
(Jet Propulsion Lab La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States)
Kathleen M Orndahl ORCID
(Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona, United States)
Laura L Bourgeau-Chavez ORCID
(Michigan Technological University Houghton, Michigan, United States)
David A Lutz ORCID
(Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire, United States)
Nancy French ORCID
(Michigan Technological University Houghton, Michigan, United States)
Dong Chen ORCID
(University of Maryland, College Park College Park, Maryland, United States)
Jinyang Du
(University of Montana Missoula, Montana, United States)
Tatiana A Shestakova ORCID
(University of Lleida Lleida, Spain)
Jacquelyn K Shuman ORCID
(National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, Colorado, United States)
Kenneth Tape
(University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks, Alaska, United States)
Anna-Maria Virkkala ORCID
(Woodwell Climate Research Center)
Christopher Potter ORCID
(Ames Research Center Mountain View, California, United States)
Scott Goetz ORCID
(Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona, United States)
Date Acquired
December 28, 2022
Publication Date
October 20, 2022
Publication Information
Publication: Environmental Research Letters
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Volume: 17
Issue: 11
Issue Publication Date: November 1, 2022
e-ISSN: 1748-9326
Subject Category
Earth Resources and Remote Sensing
Funding Number(s)
WBS: 281945.02.61.04.21
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80NSSC19M0113
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80GSFC20C0044
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80NSSC21D0002
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80NSSC22M0001
OTHER: 1852977
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80NSSC19M0112
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNH16CP09C
CONTRACT_GRANT: 4286-2016
CONTRACT_GRANT: 477155-2016
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80NSSC19M0111
CONTRACT_GRANT: 2116862
CONTRACT_GRANT: 1938054
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX15AD58G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX15AT83A
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80NSSC19M0107
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80NSSC19M0118
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80NSSC19M0108
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80NSSC19M0107
CONTRACT_GRANT: 8414
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Portions of document may include copyright protected material.
Technical Review
External Peer Committee
Keywords
high-latitude
vegetation
boreal forest
arctic tundra
climate change
disturbance
permafrost
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