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Loranty MM, Berner LT, Taber ED, Kropp H, Natali SM, Alexander HD, Davydov SP, Zimov NS. Understory vegetation mediates permafrost active layer dynamics and carbon dioxide fluxes in open-canopy larch forests of northeastern Siberia. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0194014. [PMID: 29565980 PMCID: PMC5863986 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2017] [Accepted: 02/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Arctic ecosystems are characterized by a broad range of plant functional types that are highly heterogeneous at small (~1–2 m) spatial scales. Climatic changes can impact vegetation distribution directly, and also indirectly via impacts on disturbance regimes. Consequent changes in vegetation structure and function have implications for surface energy dynamics that may alter permafrost thermal dynamics, and are therefore of interest in the context of permafrost related climate feedbacks. In this study we examine small-scale heterogeneity in soil thermal properties and ecosystem carbon and water fluxes associated with varying understory vegetation in open-canopy larch forests in northeastern Siberia. We found that lichen mats comprise 16% of understory vegetation cover on average in open canopy larch forests, and lichen abundance was inversely related to canopy cover. Relative to adjacent areas dominated by shrubs and moss, lichen mats had 2–3 times deeper permafrost thaw depths and surface soils warmer by 1–2°C in summer and less than 1°C in autumn. Despite deeper thaw depths, ecosystem respiration did not differ across vegetation types, indicating that autotrophic respiration likely dominates areas with shrubs and moss. Summertime net ecosystem exchange of CO2 was negative (i.e. net uptake) in areas with high shrub cover, while positive (i.e. net loss) in lichen mats and areas with less shrub cover. Our results highlight relationships between vegetation and soil thermal dynamics in permafrost ecosystems, and underscore the necessity of considering both vegetation and permafrost dynamics in shaping carbon cycling in permafrost ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael M. Loranty
- Department of Geography, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Logan T. Berner
- School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ United States of America
| | - Eric D. Taber
- Department of Geography, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY United States of America
| | - Heather Kropp
- Department of Geography, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY United States of America
| | - Susan M. Natali
- Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, MA United States of America
| | - Heather D. Alexander
- Department of Forestry, Forest and Wildlife Research Center, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS United States of America
| | - Sergey P. Davydov
- Northeast Science Station, Pacific Institute for Geography, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Cherskii, Republic of Sakha, Yakutia, Russia
| | - Nikita S. Zimov
- Northeast Science Station, Pacific Institute for Geography, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Cherskii, Republic of Sakha, Yakutia, Russia
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Schelchkova MV, Davydov SP, Fyodorov-Davydov DG, Davydova AI, Boeskorov GG, Solomonov NG. Initial data on biological activity of taiga-steppe soils in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River. Dokl Biol Sci 2017; 477:214-218. [PMID: 29299803 DOI: 10.1134/s0012496617060023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Microbiological and enzyme activities of extrazonal taiga-steppe soils in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River have been studied for the first time. Contrary to north-taiga cryometamorphic soils, predominating in the area, microbial cenoses under herb-sedge petrophytic and grass-sagebrush-herb thermophytic steppes are characterized by features typical for arid soils. The saturation of the soil profile with microorganisms is greater, and the development of actinomycetes is more intensive. The enzyme complex is characterized by high activity of dehydrogenases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - S P Davydov
- Northeastern Scientific Station, Pacific Institute of Geography, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Cherskii settlement, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia
| | - D G Fyodorov-Davydov
- Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow oblast, Russia
| | - A I Davydova
- Northeastern Scientific Station, Pacific Institute of Geography, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Cherskii settlement, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia
| | - G G Boeskorov
- Institute of Diamond and Precious Metal Geology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russia
| | - N G Solomonov
- Ammosov Northeastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia
- Institute of Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russia
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Lorenzen ED, Nogués-Bravo D, Orlando L, Weinstock J, Binladen J, Marske KA, Ugan A, Borregaard MK, Gilbert MTP, Nielsen R, Ho SYW, Goebel T, Graf KE, Byers D, Stenderup JT, Rasmussen M, Campos PF, Leonard JA, Koepfli KP, Froese D, Zazula G, Stafford TW, Aaris-Sørensen K, Batra P, Haywood AM, Singarayer JS, Valdes PJ, Boeskorov G, Burns JA, Davydov SP, Haile J, Jenkins DL, Kosintsev P, Kuznetsova T, Lai X, Martin LD, McDonald HG, Mol D, Meldgaard M, Munch K, Stephan E, Sablin M, Sommer RS, Sipko T, Scott E, Suchard MA, Tikhonov A, Willerslev R, Wayne RK, Cooper A, Hofreiter M, Sher A, Shapiro B, Rahbek C, Willerslev E. Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans. Nature 2011; 479:359-64. [PMID: 22048313 DOI: 10.1038/nature10574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 509] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2011] [Accepted: 09/16/2011] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Despite decades of research, the roles of climate and humans in driving the dramatic extinctions of large-bodied mammals during the Late Quaternary period remain contentious. Here we use ancient DNA, species distribution models and the human fossil record to elucidate how climate and humans shaped the demographic history of woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, wild horse, reindeer, bison and musk ox. We show that climate has been a major driver of population change over the past 50,000 years. However, each species responds differently to the effects of climatic shifts, habitat redistribution and human encroachment. Although climate change alone can explain the extinction of some species, such as Eurasian musk ox and woolly rhinoceros, a combination of climatic and anthropogenic effects appears to be responsible for the extinction of others, including Eurasian steppe bison and wild horse. We find no genetic signature or any distinctive range dynamics distinguishing extinct from surviving species, emphasizing the challenges associated with predicting future responses of extant mammals to climate and human-mediated habitat change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eline D Lorenzen
- Centre for GeoGenetics, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
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Boeskorov GG, Bakulina NT, Davydov SP, Shchelchkova MV, Solomonov NG. Study of pollen and spores from the stomach of a fossil woolly rhinoceros found in the lower reaches of the Kolyma river. Dokl Biol Sci 2011; 436:23-5. [PMID: 21374006 DOI: 10.1134/s0012496611010017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2010] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- G G Boeskorov
- Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha, Russia
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Boeskorov GG, Lazarev PA, Bakulina NT, Shchelchkova MV, Davydov SP, Solomonov NG. Preliminary study of a mummified woolly rhinoceros from the lower reaches of the Kolyma River. Dokl Biol Sci 2009; 424:53-6. [PMID: 19341085 DOI: 10.1134/s0012496609010165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- G G Boeskorov
- Mammoth Museum, Institute of Applied Ecology of North, Academy of Sciences of Republic Sakha (Yakutia), pr Lenina 39, Yakutsk 677891, Russia
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Gubin SV, Maksimovich SV, Davydov SP, Gilichinskiĭ DA, Shatilovich AV, Spirina EV, Iashina SG. [The possible contribution of late pleistocene biota to biodiversity in present permafrost zone]. Zh Obshch Biol 2003; 64:160-5. [PMID: 12723372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2023]
Abstract
During the last decade a wide range of biological objects, which have preserved their viability for tens and hundreds of thousands of years, was found in the samples of permafrost sediments from North-East Eurasia. Among them are bacteria, fungi, algae, moss spores, seeds of higher plants, protists. Along with physiological mechanisms of cryoconservation and constant low temperature of great importance for long-term preservation of biological objects in permafrost layers are ways of burying the organisms and conditions that prevail before the transition of sediments to the permafrost state. The analysis of viability showed by preserved biological objects gives reasons to suppose that some representatives of Pleistocene biota buried in permafrost thickness may contribute to the biodiversity of present cryolite zone.
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Affiliation(s)
- S V Gubin
- Institute of Physical-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science, Russian Academy of Science, 142290 Puschino, Moscow Region, Russia.
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