Prolonged dry periods and increased temperatures that result from anthropogenic climate change ha... more Prolonged dry periods and increased temperatures that result from anthropogenic climate change have been shown to increase the frequency and severity of wildfires in the boreal region. There is growing evidence that such changes in fire regime can reduce forest resilience and drive shifts in post-fire plant successional trajectories. The response of post-fire vegetation communities to climate variability is under-studied, despite being a critical phase determining the ultimate successional conclusion. This study investigated the responses of post-fire recruited species to climate change and inter-annual variability at 16 study sites that experienced high-severity fire events, mostly in early 2000, within the Scots pine forest-steppe zone of southeastern Siberia, Russia. These sites were originally dominated by Scots pine, and by 2018, they were recruited by different successional species. Additionally, three mature Scots pine stands were included for comparison. A Bayesian Additive ...
Plant traits and patterns of herbivory are influenced by environmental conditions and annual vari... more Plant traits and patterns of herbivory are influenced by environmental conditions and annual variability in climatic parameters is thus of great importance for plant-herbivore interactions in arctic ecosystems. Although many environmental manipulations are carried out as long-...
The maintenance of ecosystem services is clearly a major issues relating to most, if not all EU s... more The maintenance of ecosystem services is clearly a major issues relating to most, if not all EU sectors (fisheries, agriculture, energy, industry, transport, tourism, property, public and communications sectors) and EU Regional Ecosystems (Northern, alpine, Mediterranean, west coast, eastern, industrial, agro-ecosystems, forests grasslands and nature reserves), demanding a holistic, general approach which can be widely applied. The TERI transect approach provides a possible framework for addressing this issue in relation to the EU ...
Soil organic matter content was highly variable on a range of scales, which complicates upscaling... more Soil organic matter content was highly variable on a range of scales, which complicates upscaling. Further, soil processes differed between dominant vegetation types. The 14 C content of CO 2 released from the soils of birch woodlands increased substantially in ...
Quantifying landscape-scale methane (CH4 ) fluxes from boreal and arctic regions, and determining... more Quantifying landscape-scale methane (CH4 ) fluxes from boreal and arctic regions, and determining how they are controlled, is critical for predicting the magnitude of any CH4 emission feedback to climate change. Furthermore, there remains uncertainty regarding the relative importance of small areas of strong methanogenic activity, vs. larger areas with net CH4 uptake, in controlling landscape-level fluxes. We measured CH4 fluxes from multiple microtopographical subunits (sedge-dominated lawns, interhummocks and hummocks) within an aapa mire in subarctic Finland, as well as in drier ecosystems present in the wider landscape, lichen heath and mountain birch forest. An intercomparison was carried out between fluxes measured using static chambers, up-scaled using a high-resolution landcover map derived from aerial photography and eddy covariance. Strong agreement was observed between the two methodologies, with emission rates greatest in lawns. CH4 fluxes from lawns were strongly related to seasonal fluctuations in temperature, but their floating nature meant that water-table depth was not a key factor in controlling CH4 release. In contrast, chamber measurements identified net CH4 uptake in birch forest soils. An intercomparison between the aerial photography and satellite remote sensing demonstrated that quantifying the distribution of the key CH4 emitting and consuming plant communities was possible from satellite, allowing fluxes to be scaled up to a 100 km(2) area. For the full growing season (May to October), ~ 1.1-1.4 g CH4 m(-2) was released across the 100 km(2) area. This was based on up-scaled lawn emissions of 1.2-1.5 g CH4 m(-2) , vs. an up-scaled uptake of 0.07-0.15 g CH4 m(-2) by the wider landscape. Given the strong temperature sensitivity of the dominant lawn fluxes, and the fact that lawns are unlikely to dry out, climate warming may substantially increase CH4 emissions in northern Finland, and in aapa mire regions in general.
The intuitive and logical answer to the question of how the tundra-taiga interface will react to ... more The intuitive and logical answer to the question of how the tundra-taiga interface will react to global warming is that it should move north and this is mirrored by many models of potential treeline migration. Northward movement may be the eventual outcome if climatic warming persists over centuries or millennia. However, closer examination of the tundra-taiga interface across its circumpolar extent reveals a more complex situation. The regional climatic history of the tundra-taiga interface is highly varied, and consequently it is to be expected that the forest tundra boundary zone will respond differently to climate change depending on local variations in climate, evolutionary history, soil development, and hydrology. Investigations reveal considerable stability at present in the position of the treeline and while there may be a long-term advance northwards there are oceanic regions where climatic warming may result in a retreat southwards due to increased bog development. Reinfor...
Gradients of increasing environmental harshness are associated with a shift from negative to posi... more Gradients of increasing environmental harshness are associated with a shift from negative to positive interactions between plants. In alpine ecosystems, the severity of the environment generally increases with altitude and positive interactions between neighboring plants ...
... Investigating snow in JULES Steven Hancock1, Robert Baxter1, Richard Evans2, Brian Huntley1 .... more ... Investigating snow in JULES Steven Hancock1, Robert Baxter1, Richard Evans2, Brian Huntley1 ... One derived from a simple empirical relationship with the AMSR-E passive microwave radiometer (Kelly et al. 2004) and the ESA Globsnow product (Solberg et al. ...
... Pam Naden and Carol Watts 34. Conserving landscape ecology: the impact of climate change on s... more ... Pam Naden and Carol Watts 34. Conserving landscape ecology: the impact of climate change on soil moisture 151 Pam Naden, Carol Watts, Peter Broadhurst and Eleanor Blyth 35. The measurement of utilisation by grazing ...
Prolonged dry periods and increased temperatures that result from anthropogenic climate change ha... more Prolonged dry periods and increased temperatures that result from anthropogenic climate change have been shown to increase the frequency and severity of wildfires in the boreal region. There is growing evidence that such changes in fire regime can reduce forest resilience and drive shifts in post-fire plant successional trajectories. The response of post-fire vegetation communities to climate variability is under-studied, despite being a critical phase determining the ultimate successional conclusion. This study investigated the responses of post-fire recruited species to climate change and inter-annual variability at 16 study sites that experienced high-severity fire events, mostly in early 2000, within the Scots pine forest-steppe zone of southeastern Siberia, Russia. These sites were originally dominated by Scots pine, and by 2018, they were recruited by different successional species. Additionally, three mature Scots pine stands were included for comparison. A Bayesian Additive ...
Plant traits and patterns of herbivory are influenced by environmental conditions and annual vari... more Plant traits and patterns of herbivory are influenced by environmental conditions and annual variability in climatic parameters is thus of great importance for plant-herbivore interactions in arctic ecosystems. Although many environmental manipulations are carried out as long-...
The maintenance of ecosystem services is clearly a major issues relating to most, if not all EU s... more The maintenance of ecosystem services is clearly a major issues relating to most, if not all EU sectors (fisheries, agriculture, energy, industry, transport, tourism, property, public and communications sectors) and EU Regional Ecosystems (Northern, alpine, Mediterranean, west coast, eastern, industrial, agro-ecosystems, forests grasslands and nature reserves), demanding a holistic, general approach which can be widely applied. The TERI transect approach provides a possible framework for addressing this issue in relation to the EU ...
Soil organic matter content was highly variable on a range of scales, which complicates upscaling... more Soil organic matter content was highly variable on a range of scales, which complicates upscaling. Further, soil processes differed between dominant vegetation types. The 14 C content of CO 2 released from the soils of birch woodlands increased substantially in ...
Quantifying landscape-scale methane (CH4 ) fluxes from boreal and arctic regions, and determining... more Quantifying landscape-scale methane (CH4 ) fluxes from boreal and arctic regions, and determining how they are controlled, is critical for predicting the magnitude of any CH4 emission feedback to climate change. Furthermore, there remains uncertainty regarding the relative importance of small areas of strong methanogenic activity, vs. larger areas with net CH4 uptake, in controlling landscape-level fluxes. We measured CH4 fluxes from multiple microtopographical subunits (sedge-dominated lawns, interhummocks and hummocks) within an aapa mire in subarctic Finland, as well as in drier ecosystems present in the wider landscape, lichen heath and mountain birch forest. An intercomparison was carried out between fluxes measured using static chambers, up-scaled using a high-resolution landcover map derived from aerial photography and eddy covariance. Strong agreement was observed between the two methodologies, with emission rates greatest in lawns. CH4 fluxes from lawns were strongly related to seasonal fluctuations in temperature, but their floating nature meant that water-table depth was not a key factor in controlling CH4 release. In contrast, chamber measurements identified net CH4 uptake in birch forest soils. An intercomparison between the aerial photography and satellite remote sensing demonstrated that quantifying the distribution of the key CH4 emitting and consuming plant communities was possible from satellite, allowing fluxes to be scaled up to a 100 km(2) area. For the full growing season (May to October), ~ 1.1-1.4 g CH4 m(-2) was released across the 100 km(2) area. This was based on up-scaled lawn emissions of 1.2-1.5 g CH4 m(-2) , vs. an up-scaled uptake of 0.07-0.15 g CH4 m(-2) by the wider landscape. Given the strong temperature sensitivity of the dominant lawn fluxes, and the fact that lawns are unlikely to dry out, climate warming may substantially increase CH4 emissions in northern Finland, and in aapa mire regions in general.
The intuitive and logical answer to the question of how the tundra-taiga interface will react to ... more The intuitive and logical answer to the question of how the tundra-taiga interface will react to global warming is that it should move north and this is mirrored by many models of potential treeline migration. Northward movement may be the eventual outcome if climatic warming persists over centuries or millennia. However, closer examination of the tundra-taiga interface across its circumpolar extent reveals a more complex situation. The regional climatic history of the tundra-taiga interface is highly varied, and consequently it is to be expected that the forest tundra boundary zone will respond differently to climate change depending on local variations in climate, evolutionary history, soil development, and hydrology. Investigations reveal considerable stability at present in the position of the treeline and while there may be a long-term advance northwards there are oceanic regions where climatic warming may result in a retreat southwards due to increased bog development. Reinfor...
Gradients of increasing environmental harshness are associated with a shift from negative to posi... more Gradients of increasing environmental harshness are associated with a shift from negative to positive interactions between plants. In alpine ecosystems, the severity of the environment generally increases with altitude and positive interactions between neighboring plants ...
... Investigating snow in JULES Steven Hancock1, Robert Baxter1, Richard Evans2, Brian Huntley1 .... more ... Investigating snow in JULES Steven Hancock1, Robert Baxter1, Richard Evans2, Brian Huntley1 ... One derived from a simple empirical relationship with the AMSR-E passive microwave radiometer (Kelly et al. 2004) and the ESA Globsnow product (Solberg et al. ...
... Pam Naden and Carol Watts 34. Conserving landscape ecology: the impact of climate change on s... more ... Pam Naden and Carol Watts 34. Conserving landscape ecology: the impact of climate change on soil moisture 151 Pam Naden, Carol Watts, Peter Broadhurst and Eleanor Blyth 35. The measurement of utilisation by grazing ...
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