Tundra CO2 fluxes in response to experimental warming across latitudinal and moisture gradients

Ecological Monographs

Volumn 77, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 221-238

  Oberbauer, Steven F ^a   Tweedie, Craig E ^b   Welker, Jeff M ^c   Fahnestock, Jace T ^d   Henry, Greg H R ^e   Webber, Patrick J ^f   Hollister, Robert D ^g   Walker, Marilyn D ^h   Kuchy, Andrea ^a   Elmore, Elizabeth ^a   Starr, Gregory ⁱ  

^a FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE   (United States)

^d Northwind Inc   (United States)

^e UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

^f MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^g GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^h UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS   (United States)

ⁱ UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA   (United States)

Author keywords

Carbon balance; Climate warming; Ecosystem respiration; High Arctic; International Tundra Experiment; ITEX; Low arctic; Net ecosystem exchange; Soil moisture; Tundra; Water table

Indexed keywords

ARCTIC ENVIRONMENT; BIOME; CARBON DIOXIDE; CLIMATE CHANGE; EXPERIMENTAL STUDY; NET ECOSYSTEM EXCHANGE; PHOTOSYNTHESIS; RESORPTION; SOIL MOISTURE; TUNDRA; WATER TABLE;

ALASKA; ALEXANDRA FIORD; ATQASUK; BARROW; CANADA; ELLESMERE ISLAND; NORTH AMERICA; NUNAVUT; QUEEN ELIZABETH ISLANDS; UNITED STATES;

EID: 40349106035     PISSN: 00129615     EISSN: 15577015     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1890/06-0649     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. ACIA [Arctic Climate Impact Assessment]. 2005. Arctic Climate Impact Assessment Scientific Report. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
2. Arft, A. M., et al. 1999. Responses of tundra plants to experimental warming: meta-analysis of the International Tundra Experiment. Ecological Monographs 69:491-511.
3. Baddeley, J. A., S. J. Woodin, and I. J. Alexander. 1994. Effects of increased nitrogen and phosphorus availability on the photosynthesis and nutrient relations of three arctic dwarf shrubs from Svalbard. Functional Ecology 8:676-685.
4. Bartlett, D. S., G. J. Whiting, and J. M. Hartman. 1989. Use of vegetation indexes to estimate solar radiation and net carbon exchange of a grass canopy. Remote Sensing of Environment 30:115-128.
5. Billings, W. D. 1973. Arctic and alpine vegetation: similarities, differences, and susceptibility to disturbance. BioScience 23:697-704.
6. Billings, W. D. 1987. Carbon balance of Alaskan tundra and taiga ecosystems: past, present and future. Quaternary Science Reviews 6:165-177.
7. Billings, W. D., J. O. Luken, D. A. Mortensen, and K. M. Peterson. 1982. Arctic tundra: A source or sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide in a changing environment? Oecologia 53:7-11.
8. Bliss, L. C. 2000. Arctic tundra and polar desert biome. Pages 1-40 in M. G. Barbour and W. D. Billings, editors. North American terrestrial vegetation. Second edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
9. Brown, J., K. R. Everett, P. J. Webber, S. F. MacLean, Jr., and D. F. Murray. 1980. The coastal tundra at Barrow. Pages 1-29 in J. Brown, P. C. Miller, L. L. Tieszen, and F. L. Bunnell, editors. An arctic ecosystem: the coastal tundra at Barrow, Alaska. Dowden, Hutchinson, and Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
10. Callaghan, T. V., and S. Jonasson. 1995. Arctic terrestrial ecosystems and environmental change. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, A 352:259-276.
11. Callaghan, T. V., et al. 2004. Climate change and UV-B impacts on arctic tundra and polar desert ecosystems: effects on the function of arctic ecosystems in the short- and long-term perspectives. Ambio 33:448-458.
12. Chapin, F. S., III, and G. R. Shaver. 1985. Individualistic response of tundra plant species to environmental manipulations in the field. Ecology 66:564-576.
13. Chapin, F. S., III, and G. R. Shaver. 1996. Physiological and growth responses of arctic plants to a field experiment simulating climatic change. Ecology 77:822-840.
14. Christensen, T. R., A. Michelson, S. Jonasson, and I. K. Schmidt. 1997. Carbon dioxide and methane exchange of a subarctic heath in response to climate change related environmental manipulations. Oikos 79:34-44.
15. Corradi, C., O. Kolle, K. Walter, S. A. Zimov, and E.-D. Schulze. 2005. Carbon dioxide and methane exchange of a north-east Siberian tussock tundra. Global Change Biology 11:1910-1925.
16. Dormann, C. F., and S. J. Woodin. 2002. Climate change in the Arctic: using plant functional types in a meta-analysis of field experiments. Functional Ecology 16:4-17.
17. 2 flux from tundra communities of northern Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research 102:29925-29931.
18. 2 emissions from tundra soils during winter: implications for annual carbon budgets of arctic communities. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 13:775-779.
19. Freedman, B., J. Svoboda, and G. H. R. Henry. 1994. Alexandra Fiord - an ecological oasis in a polar desert. Pages 1-12 in J. Svoboda and B. Freedman, editors. Ecology of a polar oasis, Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Captus University Publications, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
20. Gilmanov, T. G., and W. C. Oechel. 1995. New estimates of organic matter reserves and net primary productivity of North American tundra ecosystems. Journal of Biogeography 22:723-741.
21. Green, T. G. A., and O. L. Lange. 1995. Photosynthesis in poikilohydric plants: a comparison of lichens and bryophytes. Pages 319-341 in E.-D. Schulze and M. M. Caldwell, editors. Ecophysiology of photosynthesis. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
22. Hamilton, T. D. 1986. Late Cenozoic glaciation of the Central Brooks Range. Pages 9-49 in T. D. Hamilton, K. M. Reed, and R. M. Thorson, editors. Glaciation in Alaska: the geologic record. Alaska Geologic Society, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA.
23. Harazono, Y., M. Mano, A. Miyata, R. C. Zulueta, and W. C. Oechel. 2003. Inter-annual carbon dioxide uptake of a wet sedge tundra ecosystem in the arctic. Tellus 55:215-231.
24. Haugen, R. K., and J. Brown. 1980. Coastal-inland distributions of summer air temperature and precipitation in Northern Alaska. Arctic and Alpine Research 12:403-412.
25. Hinzman, L. D., et al. 2005. Evidence and implications of recent climate change in northern Alaska and other arctic regions. Climatic Change 72:251-298.
26. 2 flux to experimental warming. Ecology 79:1526-1544.
27. Hobbie, S. E., K. J. Nadelhoffer, and P. Högberg. 2002. A synthesis: the role of nutrients as constraints on carbon balances in boreal and arctic regions. Plant and Soil 242:163-170.
28. Hollister, R. D., and P. J. Webber. 2000. Biotic validation of small open-top chambers in a tundra ecosystem. Global Change Biology 6:835-842.
29. Hollister, R. D., P. J. Webber, F. E. Nelson, and C. E. Tweedie. 2006. Soil thaw and temperature response to air warming varies by plant community: results from an open-top chamber experiment in northern Alaska. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 38:206-215.
30. Hollister, R. D., P. J. Webber, and C. E. Tweedie. 2005. The response of Alaskan arctic tundra to experimental warming: differences between short and long term responses. Global Change Biology 11:525-536.
31. 2 exchange in a subarctic heath ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 70:315-330.
32. Illeris, L., S. M. König, P. Grogan, S. Jonasson, A. Michelsen, and H. Ro-Poulsen. 2004b. Growing-season carbon dioxide flux in a dry subarctic heath: responses to long-term manipulations. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 36:456-463.
33. 2 exchange in Alaskan wet sedge tundra ecosystems. Ecology 81:453-469.
34. Johnson, L. C., G. R. Shaver, A. E. Giblin, K. J. Nadelhoffer, E. R. Rastetter, J. A. Laundré, and G. L. Murray. 1996. Effects of drainage and temperature on carbon balance of tussock tundra microcosms. Oecologia 108:737-748.
35. Jones, M. H., C. Bay, and U. Nordenhäll. 1997. Effects of experimental warming on arctic willows (Salix spp.): a comparison of responses from the Canadian High Arctic, Alaskan Arctic and Swedish Subarctic. Global Change Biology 3 (Supplement 1):55-60.
36. Jones, M. H., J. T. Fahnestock, D. A. Walker, M. D. Walker, and J. M. Welker. 1998. Carbon dioxide fluxes in moist and dry arctic tundra during the snow-free season: responses to increases in summer temperature and winter snow accumulation. Arctic and Alpine Research 30:373-380.
37. Komárková, V., and P. J. Webber. 1980. Two low arctic vegetation maps along Meade River at Atkasook, Alaska. Arctic and Alpine Research 4:447-472.
38. Labine, C. 1994. Meteorology and climatology of the Alexandra Fiord Lowland. Pages 23-39 in J. Svoboda and B. Freedman, editors. Ecology of a polar oasis, Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Captus University Publications, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
39. 2 exchange at the Arctic treeline. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 33:149-157.
40. Lloyd, C. R. 2001. The measurement and modelling of the carbon dioxide exchange at a high Arctic site in Svalbard. Global Change Biology 7:405-426.
41. Mack, M. C., E. A. G. Schuur, M. S. Bret-Harte, G. R. Shaver, and F. S. Chapin, III. 2004. Carbon storage in arctic tundra reduced by long-term nutrient fertilization. Nature 431:440-443.
42. Marchand, F. L., I. Nijs, H. J. de Boeck, F. Kockelbergh, S. Mertens, and L. Beyens. 2004. Increased turnover but little change in the carbon balance of high-arctic tundra exposed to whole growing season warming. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 36:298-307.
43. Marion, G. M., G. H. R. Henry, P. Mølgaard, W. C. Oechel, M. H. Jones, and G. L. Vourlitis. 1993. Open-top devices for manipulating field temperatures in tundra ecosystems. Pages 205-210 in V. J. Lunardini and S. L. Bowen, editors. Fourth International Symposium on Thermal Engineering and Science for Cold Regions. Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
44. Marion, G. M., et al. 1997. Open-top designs for manipulating field temperature in high-latitude ecosystems. Global Change Biology 3 (Supplement 1):20-32.
45. 2 exchange in Arctic tundra. Ecology 84:2762-2776.
46. McGuire, A. D., J. S. Clein, J. M. Melillo, D. W. Kicklighter, R. A. Meier, C. J. Vorosmarty, and M. C. Serreze. 2000. Modelling carbon responses of tundra ecosystems to historical and projected climate: sensitivity of pan-Arctic carbon storage to temporal and spatial variation in climate. Global Change Biology 6:141-159.
47. Molau, U., and P. Mølgaard. 1996. International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) manual. Second edition. Danish Polar Center, Copenhagen, Denmark.
48. Muc, M., B. Freedman, and J. Svoboda. 1994a. Vascular plant communities of a polar oasis at Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island. Pages 53-63 in J. Svoboda and B. Freedman, editors. Ecology of a polar oasis, Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Captus University Publications, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
49. Muc, M., J. Svoboda, and B. Freedman. 1994b. Soils of an extensively vegetated polar desert oasis, Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island. Pages 41-50 in J. Svoboda and B. Freedman, editors. Ecology of a polar oasis, Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Captus University Publications, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
50. Muc, M., J. Svoboda, and B. Freedman. 1994c. Aboveground standing crop in plant communities of a polar desert oasis, Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island. Pages 65-74 in J. Svoboda and B. Freedman, editors. Ecology of a polar oasis, Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Captus University Publications, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
51. Murray, D. F., and D. F. Murray. 1978. Appendix: checklists of vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens for the Alaskan U.S. IBP Tundra Biome study areas: Barrow, Prudhoe Bay, Eagle Summit. Pages 647-677 in L. L. Tieszen, editor. Vegetation and production ecology of an Alaskan arctic tundra. Springer-Verlag. New York, New York, USA.
52. Oberbauer, S. F., W. Cheng, B. Ostendorf, A. Sala, R. Gebauer, C. T. Gillespie, R. A. Virginia, and J. D. Tenhunen. 1996a. Landscape patterns of carbon gas exchange in tundra ecosystems. Pages 223-257 in J. F. Reynolds and J. D. Tenhunen, editors. Landscape function and disturbance in the Arctic. Ecological Studies Series. Volume 120. Springer-Verlag, New York, New York, USA.
53. Oberbauer, S. F., and T. E. Dawson. 1992. Water relations of vascular plants. Pages 259-280 in F. S. Chapin, III, R. L. Jeffries, J. F. Reynolds, G. R. Shaver, and J. Svoboda, editors. Arctic ecosystems in a changing climate. Academic Press, San Diego, California, USA.
54. 2 efflux from riparian tundra in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range, Alaska USA. Oecologia 92:568-577.
55. 2 efflux from upland tundra in the foothills of the Brooks Range, Alaska. Arctic and Alpine Research 28:326-336.
56. Oberbauer, S. F., G. Starr, and E. W. Pop. 1998. Effects of extended growing season and soil warming on carbon dioxide and methane exchange of tussock tundra in Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research 103:29075-29082.
57. Oechel, W. C., and W. D. Billings. 1992. Effects of global change on the carbon balance of arctic plants and ecosystems. Pages 139-168 in F. S. Chapin, III, R. L. Jeffries, J. F. Reynolds, G. R. Shaver, and J. Svoboda, editors. Arctic ecosystems in a changing climate. Academic Press, San Diego, California, USA.
58. 2 fertilization in Arctic tundra. Nature 371:500-503.
59. Oechel, W. C., S. J. Hastings, M. Jenkins, G. H. Riechers, N. Grulke, and G. Vourlitis. 1993. Recent change of arctic tundra ecosystems from a net carbon dioxide sink to a source. Nature 361:520-523.
60. Oechel, W. C., and G. L. Vourlitis. 1994. The effects of climate-change on land atmosphere feedbacks in arctic tundra regions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 9:324-329.
61. 2 flux of wet sedge tundra ecosystems. Global Change Biology 4:77-90.
62. 2 flux over two decades: effects of climate change at Barrow, Alaska. Ecological Applications 5:846-855.
63. 2 exchange in the Alaskan Arctic in response to decadal climate warming. Nature 406:978-981.
64. Pop, E. W., S. F. Oberbauer, and G. Starr. 2000. Predicting vegetative bud break in two arctic deciduous shrub species, Salix pulchra and Betula nana. Oecologia 124:176-184.
65. Rennermalm, A. K., H. Soegaard, and C. Nordstroem. 2005. Interannual variability in carbon dioxide exchange from a high arctic fen estimated by measurements and modeling. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 37:554-556.
66. Rustad, L. E., J. L. Campbell, G. M. Marion, R. J. Norby, M. J. Mitchell, A. E. Hartley, J. H. C. Cornelissen, and J. Gurevitch. and GCTE-NEWS. 2001. A meta-analysis of the response of soil respiration, net nitrogen mineralization, and aboveground plant growth to experimental ecosystem warming. Oecologia 126:543-562.
67. Shaver, G. R., W. D. Billings, F. S. Chapin III, A. E. Giblin, K. J. Nadelhoffer, W. C. Oechel, and E. B. Rastetter. 1992 Global change and the carbon balance of arctic ecosystems. BioScience 42:433-441.
68. Shaver, G. R., et al. 2000. Global warming and terrestrial ecosystems: a conceptual framework for analysis. BioScience 50:871-882.
69. Shaver, G. R., and F. S. Chapin, III. 1991. Production : biomass relationships and element cycling in contrasting arctic vegetation types. Ecological Monographs 61:1-31.
70. 2 flux in three Alaskan wet sedge tundras: responses to nutrients, temperature, and light. Ecological Monographs 68:75-97.
71. Shaver, G. R., and S. Jonasson. 1999. Response of arctic ecosystems to climate change: results of long-term field experiments in Sweden and Alaska. Polar Biology 18:245-252.
72. Soegaard, H., and C. Nordstroem. 1999. Carbon dioxide exchange in a high-arctic fen estimated by eddy covariance measurements and modelling. Global Change Biology 5:547-562.
73. Starr, G., D. S. Neuman, and S. F. Oberbauer. 2004. Ecophysiological analysis of two arctic sedges under reduced root temperatures. Physiologia Plantarum 120:458-464.
74. Sturm, M., C. R. Racine, and K. Tape. 2001. Increasing shrub abundance in the Arctic. Nature 411:546-547.
75. Svoboda, J., and B. Freedman. 1994. Ecology of a polar oasis, Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Captus University Publications, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
76. Tenhunen, J. D., C. T. Gillespie, S. F. Oberbauer, A. Sala, and S. Whalen. 1995. Climate effects on the carbon balance of tussock tundra in the Philip Smith Mountains, Alaska. Flora 190:273-283.
77. van Wijk, M. T., et al. 2004. Long-term ecosystem level experiments at Toolik Lake, Alaska, and at Abisko, Northern Sweden: generalizations and differences in ecosystem and plant type responses to global change. Global Change Biology 10:105-123.
78. 4 flux in unmanaged ecosystems - an arctic example. Functional Ecology 7:369-379.
79. Wahren, C.-H., M. D. Walker, and M. S. Bret-Harte. 2005. Vegetation responses in Alaskan arctic tundra after 8 years of a summer warming and winter snow manipulation experiment. Global Change Biology 11:537-552.
80. Walker, D. A., and M. D. Walker. 1996. Terrain and vegetation of the Imnavait Creek Watershed. Pages 73-108 in J. F. Reynolds and J. D. Tenhunen, editors. Landscape function and disturbance in the Arctic. Ecological Studies Series. Volume 120. Springer-Verlag, New York, New York, USA.
81. Walker, M. D., D. A. Walker, and N. A. Auerbach. 1994. Plant-communities of a tussock tundra landscape in the Brooks Range foothills, Alaska. Journal of Vegetation Science 5:843-866.
82. Walker, M. D., et al. 1999. Long-term experimental manipulation of winter snow regime and summer temperatures in arctic and alpine tundra. Hydrological Processes 13:2315-2330.
83. Walker, M. D., et al. 2006. Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 103:342-346.
84. Webber, P. J. 1974. Tundra primary productivity. Pages 445-474 in J. D. Ives and R. G. Barry, editors. Arctic and alpine environments. Methuen, London, UK.
85. Webber, P. J. 1978. Spatial and temporal variation of the vegetation and its production, Barrow, Alaska. Pages 37-112 in L. L. Tieszen, editor. Vegetation and production ecology of an Alaskan arctic tundra. Springer-Verlag, New York, New York, USA.
86. 2 flux in arctic and alpine dry tundra: comparative field responses under ambient and experimentally warmed conditions. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 31:272-277.
87. 2 exchange in three Canadian High Arctic ecosystems: response to long-term experimental warming. Global Change Biology 10:1981-1995.
88. 2 flux from dry and moist arctic tundra: field responses to increases in summer temperature and winter snow depth. Climatic Change 44:139-150.
89. Welker, J. M., U. Molau, A. N. Parsons, C. H. Robinson, and P. A. Wookey. 1997. Responses of Dryas octopetala to ITEX manipulations: a synthesis with circumpolar comparisons. Global Change Biology 3 (Supplement 1):61-73.
90. 2 exchange in a subtropical grassland. Journal of Geophysical Research 96:3067-3071.
91. Zar, J. H. 1998. Biostatistical analysis. Fourth edition. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA.