Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ecological State of Larch Forests in the Forest-Tundra Ecotone of Western Siberia (As Exemplified by the Mongayurbey River Valley)

  • Published:
Contemporary Problems of Ecology Aims and scope

Abstract

Based on remote sensing and tree-ring chronology data, the ecological state of the extrazonal sparse larch forest in the Mongayurbey River valley (Taz Peninsula) has been studied. This area is one of the northernmost enclaves of taiga vegetation in Western Siberia. An analysis of Terra-MODIS satellite images from 2000 to 2020 shows that the value of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVImean), which reflects the average amount of photosynthetically active phytomass for the summer period, most strongly depends on air temperature (correlation coefficient R = 0.69). However, despite the steady trend towards an increase in the avarage annual summer temperatures, no statistically significant trend in the vegetation index is found, which is due to the inertness of the shrub–moss–lichen ground cover. An analysis of the relationship between the maximum normalized difference vegetation index NDVImax and the absolute tree ring width (TRW) in Larix sibirica Ledeb. shows a strong correlation (R = 0.72) in the marginal, near-watershed area, where a young forest stand with the highest crown density and abundant undergrowth is located. In the valley areas, conversely, forest-stand digression associated with the deterioration of natural conditions is seen (changes in drainage, soil characteristics, and permafrost-geochemical conditions). With continued warming, the spread of the larch forest from the river floodplain to the watershed can be expected, which confirms the current shift of the forest vegetation boundary to the north.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Aref’ev, S.P., Dendrochronological investigations and biota dynamics in Taz Subarctic, Vestn. Ekol., Lesoved. Landshaftoved., 2007, no. 7, pp. 85–96.

  2. Aref’ev, S.P., Fixing of warming of climate in ring chronologies of shrubs in the North of Yamal and Gyda Peninsula, Zh. Sib. Fed. Univ., Ser. Biol., 2015, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 377–393.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Aref’ev, S.P., The reaction of trees and shrubs of the Eastern part of the Taz Peninsula to climate warming, Ekol. Monit. Bioraznoobrazie, 2016, no. 1, vol. 11, pp. 5–9.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Aref’ev S.P., Khomutov A.V., Ermokhina K. A., Leibman M.O. Dendrochronologic reconstruction of gas-inflated mound formation at the Yamal crater location, Kriosfera Zemli, 2017, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 107–119.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Atlas Yamalo-Nenetskogo avtonomnogo okruga (Atlas of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug), Omsk: Omsk. Kartogr. Fabr., 2004.

  6. Bhatt, U.S., Walker, D.A., Raynolds, M.K., et al., Circumpolar Arctic tundra vegetation change is linked to sea ice decline, Earth Interact., 2010, vol. 14, no. 8. https://doi.org/10.1175/2010EI315.1

  7. Bondur, V.G., Aerospace methods and technologies for monitoring of oil and gas areas and facilities, Issled. Zemli Kosmosa, 2010, no. 6, pp. 3–17.

  8. Cherepanov, A.S., Spectral properties of vegetation and vegetation indices, Geomatika, 2009, no. 3, pp. 28–32.

  9. Cook, E. and Peters, K., The smoothing spline: A new approach to standardizing forest interior tree-ring width series for dendroclimatic studies, Tree-Ring Bull., 1981, vol. 41, pp. 45–53.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Drozdov, D.S., Ukraintseva, N.G., Tsarev, A.M., and Chekrygina, S.N., Changes in the temperature field of frozen rocks and the state of geosystems on the territory of the Urengoy field for the last 35 years (1974–2008), Kriosfera Zemli, 2010, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 22–31.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Elsakov, V.V. and Telyatnikov, M.Yu., Effects of interannual climatic fluctuations of the last decade on NDVI in North-Eastern European Russia and Western Siberia, Sovrem. Probl. Dist. Zondir. Zemli Kosmosa, 2013, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 260–271.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Esau, I., Miles, V.V., Davy, R., Miles, M.W., and Kurchatova, A., Trends in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) associated with urban development in northern West Siberia, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 2016, vol. 16, no. 15, pp. 9563–9577.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Ferguson, C.W., A 7104-years annual tree-ring chronology for bristlecone pine, Pinus aristata, from the White Mountains, California, Tree-Ring Bull., 1969, vol. 29, nos. 3–4, pp. 3–29.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Fraser, R.H., Lantz, T.C., Olthof, I., et al., Warming-induced shrub expansion and lichen decline in the Western Canadian Arctic, Ecosystems, 2014, vol. 17, pp. 1151–1168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Geokriologiya SSSR. Zapadnaya Sibir’ (Geocryology of the USSR. Western Siberia) Ershov, E.D., Ed., Moscow: Nedra, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Im, S.T. and Kharuk, V.I., Climate-induced change in the alpine forest-tundra ecotone of Putorana plateau, Issled. Zemli Kosmosa, 2013, no. 5, pp. 32–44.

  17. Kaarlejärvi, E., Baxter, R., Hofgaard, A., et al., Effects of Warming on shrub abundance and chemistry drive ecosystem-level changes in a forest-tundra ecotone, Ecosystems, 2012, vol. 15, pp. 1219–1233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Khantemirov, R.M., Surkov, A.Yu., and Gorlanova, L.A., Climate change and the formation of age generations of larch on the polar forest boundary in Yamal, Ekologiya, 2008, no. 5, pp. 323–328

  19. Kharuk, V.I., Im, S.T., Renson, K.Dzh., and Naurzbaev, M.M., Temporal dynamics of larch in the forest-tundra ecotone, Dokl. Akad. Nauk, 2004, vol. 398, no. 3, pp. 404–408.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Kharuk, V.I., Im, S.T., Renson, K.Dzh., and San, G., High resolution satellite images in the forest tundra ecotone dynamics analysis, Issled. Zemli Kosmosa, 2005, no. 6, pp. 46–55.

  21. Kharuk, V.I., Renson, K.Dzh., Im, S.T., and Naurzbaev, M.M., Forest-tundra larch forests and climatic trends, Ekologiya, 2006, no. 5, pp. 323–331.

  22. Kharuk, V.I., Ranson, K.J., Dvinskaya, M.L., and Im, S.T., Siberian pine and larch response to climate warming in the southernsiberian mountain forest: Tundra ecotone, in Environmental Change in Siberia, Balzter, H., Ed., Dordrecht: Springer-Verlag, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Methods of Dendrochronology. Applications in the Environmental Sciences, Cook, E.R. and Kairiukstis, L.A., Eds., Dordrecht: Kluwer Acad. Publ., 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Miles, V.V. and Esau, I., Spatial heterogeneity of greening and browning between and within bioclimatic zones in northern West Siberia, Environ. Res. Lett., 2016, vol. 11, no. 11, art. ID 115002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Moskovchenko, D.V., Aref’ev, S.P., Glazunov, V.A., Tigeev, A.A., Changes in vegetation and geocryological conditions of the Tazovsky Peninsula (Eastern part) for the period of 1988–2016, Kriosfera Zemli, 2017, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 3–13.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Pattison, R.R., Jorgenson, J.C., Raynolds, M.K., et al., Trends in NDVI and tundra community composition in the Arctic of NE Alaska between 1984 and 2009, Ecosystems, 2015, vol. 18, pp. 707–719.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Ranson, K.J., Sun, G., Kharuk, V.I., and Kovacs, K., Assessing tundra-taiga boundary with multi-sensor satellite data, Remote Sens. Environ., 2004, vol. 93, no. 3, pp. 283–295.

  28. Raynolds, M.K., Walker, D.A., Epstein, H.E., Pinzon, J.E., and Tucker, C.J., A new estimate of tundra-biome phytomass from trans-Arctic field data and AVHRR NDVI, Remote Sens. Lett., 2012, no. 3, pp. 403–411.

  29. Rudinskii, M.G., Factors affecting radial increment of dahurian larch trees at the northern distribution boundary in Ary-Mas forest island, Taimyr Peninsula, Izv. Irkutsk. Gos. Univ., Ser. Biol. Ekol., 2013, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 34–41.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Sergienko, V. G. The dynamics of the boundaries of forest vegetation zones in Russia under climate change, Tr. S.-Peterb. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Lesn. Khoz.,. 2015, no. 1, pp. 5–19.

  31. Shiyatov, S.G., Dinamika drevesnoi i kustarnikovoi rastitel’nosti v gorakh Polyarnogo Urala pod vliyaniem sovremennykh izmenenii klimata (Dynamics of Tree and Shrub Vegetation in the Mountains of the Polar Urals under the Influence of Modern Climate Change), Ekaterinburg: Ural. Otd. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2009.

  32. Shiyatov S. G., Komin G. E. Results of dendrochronological studies in the eastern regions of the country for 1968–1982 and prospects for their development, Dendrokhronologiya i dendroklimatologiya (Dendrochronology and Dendroclimatology), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1986, pp. 3–19.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Shiyatov, S.G. and Mazepa, V.S., Modern expansion of Siberian larch into the mountain tundra of the Polar Urals, Ekologiya, 2015, no. 6, pp. 403–410.

  34. Shiyatov, S.G., Vaganov, E.A., Kirdyanov, A.V., Kruglov, V.B., Mazepa, V.S., Naurzbaev, M.M., and Khantemirov, R.M., Metody dendrokhronologii (Methods of Dendrochronology), vol. 1: Osnovy dendrokhronologii. Sbor i poluchenie drevesno-kol’tsevoi informatsii. Uchebno-metodicheskoe posobie (Fundamentals of Dendrochronology. Collecting and Obtaining Tree-Ring Information. Teaching Aid), Krasnoyarsk: Krasnoyarsk. Gos. Univ., 2000.

  35. USGS Earthexplorer. https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/. Cited April 1, 2021.

  36. Vaganov, E.A., Shiyatov, S.G., and Mazepa, V.S., Dendroklimaticheskie issledovaniya v Uralo-Sibirskoi Subarktike (Dendroclimatic Research in the Ural-Siberian Subarctic), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1996.

  37. Walker, D.A., Leibman, M.O., Epstein, H.E., et al., Spatial and temporal patterns of greenness on the Yamal Peninsula, Russia: interactions of ecological and social factors affecting the Arctic normalized difference vegetation index, Environ. Res. Lett., 2009, vol. 4, no. 4, art. ID 045004. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/4/4/045004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Wigley, T.M.L., Briffa, K.R., and Jones, P.D., On the average value of correlated time series, with applications in dendroclimatology and hydrometeorology, J. Clim. Appl. Meteorol., 1984, vol. 23, pp. 201–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Zuev, V.V., Climate-related changes in the vegetation cover of the taiga and tundra of Western Siberia in 1982–2015 according to satellite observations, Issled. Zemli Kosmosa, 2019, no. 6, pp. 66–76.

Download references

Funding

This study was performed as part of the basic budgetary project of the Tyumen Scientific Center, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences “Western Siberia in the Context of Eurasian Relations: Man, Nature, and Society” no. 121041600045-8.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tyumen Scientific Center, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 625026, Tyumen, Russia

    A. V. Fakhretdinov, S. P. Aref’ev & D. V. Moskovchenko

Authors
  1. A. V. Fakhretdinov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. P. Aref’ev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. V. Moskovchenko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. V. Fakhretdinov.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Translated by M. Batrukova

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fakhretdinov, A.V., Aref’ev, S.P. & Moskovchenko, D.V. Ecological State of Larch Forests in the Forest-Tundra Ecotone of Western Siberia (As Exemplified by the Mongayurbey River Valley). Contemp. Probl. Ecol. 15, 383–392 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425522040035

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995425522040035

Keywords:

Search

Navigation