American Geophysical Union Become an AGU Member
Subscribe to AGU Journals
AGU Home AGU Publications

Read Full Article (file size: 2928035 bytes)    Cited by

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, NO. D19, 8170, doi:10.1029/2002JD002558, 2003

Climate change and Arctic ecosystems: 1. Vegetation changes north of 55°N between the last glacial maximum, mid-Holocene, and present

Nancy H. Bigelow

Alaska Quaternary Center, College of Science, Engineering and Mathematics, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA


Linda B. Brubaker

College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


Mary E. Edwards

Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
Department of Geography, Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, Trondheim, Norway


Sandy P. Harrison

Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
Dynamic Palaeoclimatology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden


I. Colin Prentice

Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany


Patricia M. Anderson

Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


Andrei A. Andreev

Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meerforschung, Potsdam, Germany


Patrick J. Bartlein

Department of Geography, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA


Torben R. Christensen

Climate Impacts Group, Department of Ecology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden


Wolfgang Cramer

Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung, Potsdam, Germany


Jed O. Kaplan

Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
Plant Ecology, Department of Ecology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden


Anatoly V. Lozhkin

Northeast Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Magadan, Russia


Nadja V. Matveyeva

Department of Vegetation of the Far North, Komarov Botanical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia


David F. Murray

University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA


A. David McGuire

Department of Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA


Volodya Y. Razzhivin

Department of Vegetation of the Far North, Komarov Botanical Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia


James C. Ritchie

Pebbledash Cottage, Corfe, Taunton, UK


Benjamin Smith

Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
Climate Impacts Group, Department of Ecology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden


Donald A. Walker

Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA


Konrad Gajewski

Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada


Victoria Wolf

Alaska SAR Facility, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA


Björn H. Holmqvist

Department of Geology, Quaternary Geology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden


Yaeko Igarashi

Earthscience Co. Ltd., Sapporo, Japan


Konstantin Kremenetskii

Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia


Aage Paus

Botanisk Institutt, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway


Michael F. J. Pisaric

Big Sky Institute, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA


Valentina S. Volkova

Joint Institute for Geology, Geophysics and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia


Abstract

A unified scheme to assign pollen samples to vegetation types was used to reconstruct vegetation patterns north of 55°N at the last glacial maximum (LGM) and mid-Holocene (6000 years B.P.). The pollen data set assembled for this purpose represents a comprehensive compilation based on the work of many projects and research groups. Five tundra types (cushion forb tundra, graminoid and forb tundra, prostrate dwarf-shrub tundra, erect dwarf-shrub tundra, and low- and high-shrub tundra) were distinguished and mapped on the basis of modern pollen surface samples. The tundra-forest boundary and the distributions of boreal and temperate forest types today were realistically reconstructed. During the mid-Holocene the tundra-forest boundary was north of its present position in some regions, but the pattern of this shift was strongly asymmetrical around the pole, with the largest northward shift in central Siberia (∼200 km), little change in Beringia, and a southward shift in Keewatin and Labrador (∼200 km). Low- and high-shrub tundra extended farther north than today. At the LGM, forests were absent from high latitudes. Graminoid and forb tundra abutted on temperate steppe in northwestern Eurasia while prostrate dwarf-shrub, erect dwarf-shrub, and graminoid and forb tundra formed a mosaic in Beringia. Graminoid and forb tundra is restricted today and does not form a large continuous biome, but the pollen data show that it was far more extensive at the LGM, while low- and high-shrub tundra were greatly reduced, illustrating the potential for climate change to dramatically alter the relative areas occupied by different vegetation types.

Received 23 May 2002; accepted 18 December 2002; published 8 October 2003.

Index Terms: 1615 Global Change: Biogeochemical processes (4805); 1620 Global Change: Climate dynamics (3309); 1851 Hydrology: Plant ecology; 3344 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Paleoclimatology.


Read Full Article (file size: 2928035 bytes)    Cited by

Citation: Bigelow, N. H., et al. (2003), Climate change and Arctic ecosystems: 1. Vegetation changes north of 55°N between the last glacial maximum, mid-Holocene, and present, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D19), 8170, doi:10.1029/2002JD002558.