Variation in albedo and other vegetation characteristics in non-forested northern ecosystems
The role of lichens and mosses
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15544264 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eirik Aasmo Finne (0000-0002-8559-3655, University of Oslo, corresponding author), Jarle W Bjerke (0000-0003-2721-1492, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research), Rasmus Erlandsson (0000-0002-9207-5709, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research), Hans Tømmervik (0000-0001-7273-1695, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research), Frøde Stordal (0000-0002-5190-6473, University of Oslo), Lena M Tallaksen (0000-0002-8480-7842, University of Oslo) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 074038-074038 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ace06d |
| OpenAlex | W4381683420 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 70 |
Vegetation has a profound impact on climate through complex interactions and feedback loops, where especially regulation of albedo, the ratio of reflected to incoming solar radiation, is important at high latitudes. How vegetation albedo varies along environmental gradients in tundra ecosystems is still not well understood, particularly for ecosystems dominated by nonvascular vegetation. We studied broadband shortwave albedo of open boreal, arctic, and alpine ecosystems over a 2000 km long latitudinal gradient (60° N–79° N) and contrasted this against species composition, vegetation greenness (normalised difference vegetation index—NDVI), momentary ecosystem CO 2 fluxes and reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus ) grazing pressure. High cover of pale terricolous fruticose lichens was the single most important predictor for vegetation albedo, which had a maximum value of 0.389 under clear sky conditions and solar zenith angle 60°. To our knowledge, this is the highest broadband albedo recorded for a vegetated surface. NDVI was negatively correlated to lichen biomass ( r s = −0.56), and albedo ( r s = −0.19). Gross primary production and ecosystem respiration varied considerably less between plots and vegetation types than albedo. While it is well-known that Rangifer affects climate-relevant aboveground biomass, we here show that its regulation of surface albedo in northern ecosystems may also be of high importance for land-atmosphere interactions. The data presented here thus advocate for an increased understanding of the important and complex role of herbivores and lichen cover in climate-vegetation interactions
Albedo (alchemy · Atmospheric sciences · Biology · Biomass (ecology · Ecosystem · Geography · Leaf area index · Lichen · Normalized Difference Vegetation Index · Physical geography · Tundra · Vegetation (pathology · Climate change and permafrost · Environmental Science · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Lichen and fungal ecology · Ecology · Geology
Increased plant growth in the northern high latitudes from 1981 to 1991
Consequences of changing biodiversity
Red and photographic infrared linear combinations for monitoring vegetation
Role of Land-Surface Changes in Arctic Summer Warming
WorldClim 2
Diversity and distribution of landscape types in Norway
Reindeer grazing increases summer albedo by reducing shrub abundance in Arctic tundra
Attribution of the spatial heterogeneity of Arctic surface albedo feedback to the dynamics of vegetation, snow and soil properties and their interactions
Modeling vegetation and land use in models of the Earth System
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |