Thermohydrological impact of forest disturbances on ecosystem-protected permafrost
- Boreal forests cover over half of the global permafrost area and protect underlying permafrost. Boreal forest development, therefore, has an impact on permafrost evolution, especially under a warming climate.
Forest disturbances and changing climate conditions cause vegetation shifts and potentially destabilize the carbon stored within the vegetation and permafrost. Disturbed permafrost-forest ecosystems can develop into a dry or swampy bush- or grasslands, shift toward broadleaf- or evergreen needleleaf-dominated forests, or recover to the pre-disturbance state.
An increase in the number and intensity of fires, as well as intensified logging activities, could lead to a partial or complete ecosystem and permafrost degradation. We study the impact of forest disturbances (logging, surface, and canopy fires) on the thermal and hydrological permafrost conditions and ecosystem resilience.
We use a dynamic multilayer canopy-permafrost model to simulate different scenarios at a study site in eastern Siberia. We implement expectedBoreal forests cover over half of the global permafrost area and protect underlying permafrost. Boreal forest development, therefore, has an impact on permafrost evolution, especially under a warming climate.
Forest disturbances and changing climate conditions cause vegetation shifts and potentially destabilize the carbon stored within the vegetation and permafrost. Disturbed permafrost-forest ecosystems can develop into a dry or swampy bush- or grasslands, shift toward broadleaf- or evergreen needleleaf-dominated forests, or recover to the pre-disturbance state.
An increase in the number and intensity of fires, as well as intensified logging activities, could lead to a partial or complete ecosystem and permafrost degradation. We study the impact of forest disturbances (logging, surface, and canopy fires) on the thermal and hydrological permafrost conditions and ecosystem resilience.
We use a dynamic multilayer canopy-permafrost model to simulate different scenarios at a study site in eastern Siberia. We implement expected mortality, defoliation, and ground surface changes and analyze the interplay between forest recovery and permafrost. We find that forest loss induces soil drying of up to 44%, leading to lower active layer thicknesses and abrupt or steady decline of a larch forest, depending on disturbance intensity.
Only after surface fires, the most common disturbances, inducing low mortality rates, forests can recover and overpass pre-disturbance leaf area index values. We find that the trajectory of larch forests after surface fires is dependent on the precipitation conditions in the years after the disturbance. Dryer years can drastically change the direction of the larch forest development within the studied period.…
Author details: | Simone Maria StuenziORCiD, Stefan KruseORCiDGND, Julia BoikeORCiD, Ulrike HerzschuhORCiDGND, Alexander Oehme, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Sebastian Westermann, Moritz Langer |
---|---|
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JG006630 |
ISSN: | 2169-8953 |
ISSN: | 2169-8961 |
Title of parent work (English): | Journal of geophysical research : Biogeosciences |
Publisher: | American Geophysical Union |
Place of publishing: | Washington |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2022/04/27 |
Publication year: | 2022 |
Release date: | 2024/05/31 |
Tag: | Siberia; boreal forest; disturbance; larch forest; periglacial process; permafrost |
Volume: | 127 |
Issue: | 5 |
Article number: | e2021JG006630 |
Number of pages: | 24 |
Funding institution: | POLMAR graduate school; Geo.X Young Academy; WiNS program at the; Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin; ERC consolidator grant Glacial Legacy; [772852]; Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) of Germany; [01LN1709 A]; Helmholtz Association; Permafost4Life (Research Council of; Norway) [301639]; ESA Permafrost_CCI; Projekt DEAL |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Geowissenschaften | |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 55 Geowissenschaften, Geologie / 550 Geowissenschaften |
5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie | |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Hybrid Open-Access |
License (German): | ![]() |