Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Global Change and Arctic Terrestrial Ecosystems pp 1–18Cite as

Introduction Challenges for the Future: Arctic and Alpine Ecosystems in a Changing World

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 124))

Abstract

Beyond and above timberline, the cold-adapted low vegetations of arctic tundras and alpine fellfields are open to great changes in biotic structure: environmentally, floristically, faunistically, metabolically, and sociologically. The Arctic has been predicted to warm more rapidly and to a greater extent than the rest of the biosphere (Maxwell, 1992). Also, these once pristine and relatively isolated places are now subject to considerable disturbance, due mostly to increasing human populations and the use of industrial equipment and vehicles (Billings, 1973, 1979a, 1979b).

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Billings, W.D. 1952. The environmental complex in relation to plant growth and distribution. Q. Rev. Biol. 27:251–265.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D. 1969. Vegetational pattern near alpine timberline as afftected by fire-snowdrift interactions. Vegetatio 19:192–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D. 1973. Arctic and alpine vegetations: Similarities, differences, and susceptibility to disturbance. BioScience 23:697–704.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D. 1979a. High mountain ecosystems: Evolution, structure, operation, and maintenance. In: Webber, P.J. (ed.), High Altitude Geoecology (Chap. 6, pp. 97–125). AAAS Selected Symposium 12. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D. 1979b. Alpine ecosystems of western North America. In: Johnson D.A. (ed.), Special Management Needs of Alpine Tundra Ecosystems (pp. 6–21). Denver, CO: Range Management Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D. 1984. Effects of UV-B radiation on plants and vegetation as ecosystem components. In: National Research Council (ed.), Causes and Effects of Changes in Stratospheric Ozone: Update 1983 (Chap. 13, pp. 206–217). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D. 1987. Carbon balance of Alaskan tundra and taiga ecosystems: Past, present, and future. Quat. Sci. Rev. 6:165–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D. 1990. Bromus tectorum, a biotic cause of ecosystem impoverishment in the Great Basin. In: Woodwell, G.M. (ed.), The Earth in Transition: Patterns and Processes of Biotic Impoverishment (Chap. 15, pp. 300–322). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D. 1993. The effects of global and regional environmental changes on mountain ecosystems. In: Despain, D.G. (ed.), The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Denver, CO: U.S. National Park Service. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D., and Peterson, K.M. 1980. Vegetational change and ice-wedge polygons through the thaw-lake cycle in arctic Alaska. Arctic Alpine Res. 12:413–432.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D., and Peterson, K.M. 1992. Some possible effects of climatic warming on arctic tundra ecosystems of the Alaskan North Slope. In: Peters, R., and Lovejoy, T.E. (eds.), Climatic Warming and Biological Diversity (Chap. 18, pp. 233–243). New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D., Godfrey, P.G., and Hillier, R.D. 1965. Photoperiodic and temperature effects on growth, flowering, and dormancy of widely distributed populations of Oxyria. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Am. 46:189 (abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D., Peterson, K.M., and Shaver, G.R. 1978. Growth, turnover, and respiration rates of roots and tillers in tundra graminoids. In: Tieszen, L.L. (ed.), Vegetation and Production Ecology of an Alaskan Arctic Tundra (Chap. 18, pp. 415–434). Ecological Studies 29. New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D., Godfrey, P.J., Chabot, B.F., and Bourque, D.P. 1971. Metabolic acclimation to temperature in arctic and alpine ecotypes of Oxyria digyna. Arctic Alpine Res. 3:277–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D., Luken, J.O., Mortensen, D.A., and Peterson, K.M. 1982. Arctic tundra: A source or sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide in a changing environment? Oecologia 53:7–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D., Luken, J.O., Mortensen, D.A., and Peterson, K.M. 1983. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide: Possible effects on arctic tundra. Oecologia 58:286–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billings, W.D., Peterson, K.M., Luken, J.O., and Mortensen, D.A. 1984. Interaction of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and soil nitrogen on the carbon balance of tundra microcosms. Oecologia 65:26–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, M.M., Robberecht, R., and Billings, W.D. 1980. A steep latitudinal gradient of solar ultraviolet-B radiation in the arctic-alpine life zone. Ecology 61:600–611.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, M.M., Robberecht, R., Nowak, R.S., and Billings, W.D. 1982. Differential photosynthetic inhibition by ultraviolet radiation in species from the arctic- alpine life zone. Arctic Alpine Res. 14:195–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin, F.S., III. 1993. Principles of ecosystem sustainability. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Am. 74(2):189–190 (abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapin, F.S., III, Miller, P.C., Billings, W.D., and Coyne, P.I. 1980. Carbon and nutrient budgets and their control in coastal tundra. In: Brown, J., Miller, P.C., KTieszen, L.L., and Bunnell, F.L. (eds.), An Arctic Ecosystem; The Coastal Tundra at Barrow, Alaska (Chap. 12, pp. 458–482). Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden Hutchinson, Ross, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cicerone, R.J. 1987. Changes in stratospheric ozone. Science 237:35–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, W.C., and Munn, R.E. (eds.). 1986. Sustainable Development of the Biosphere. New York: IIASA and Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, W.S. 1926. The fundamentals of vegetational change. Ecology 7:391–413.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dansgaard, W., and Oeschger, H. 1989. Past environmental long-term records from the Arctic. In: Oeschger, H., and Langway, C.C., Jr. (eds.), The Environmental Record in Glaciers and Ice Sheets (pp. 287–318). New York: John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M.B. 1989. Lags in vegetation response to greenhouse warming. Climatic Change 15:75–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M.B., and Zabinski, C. 1992. Changes in geographical range resulting from greenhouse warming: Effects on biodiversity in forests. In: Peters, R.L., and Lovejoy, T.E. (eds.), Global Warming and Biological Diversity (Chap. 22, pp. 297–308). New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gleason, J.F., et al. 1993. Record low ozone in 1992. Science 260:523–526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabherr, G., Gottfried, M., and Pauli, H. 1994. Climate effects on mountain plants. Nature 369:448.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, H.R. 1992. Veranderungen in der Vegetation von 14 Gipfeln des Berninagebietes zwischen 1905 und 1985. Berichte Geobot. Inst. ETH Riibel, Zurich 58:39–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson, G.L., Jr., Webb, T., Ill, and Grimm, E.C. 1987. Patterns and rates of vegetation change during the deglaciation of eastern North America. In: Ruddiman, W.F., and Wright, H.E., Jr. (eds.), North America and Adjacent Oceans During the Last Deglaciation. The Geology of North America (Vol. K-3, Chap. 13, pp. 277–288, 2 map plates). Boulder, CO: The Geological Society of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keeling, C.D., Bacastow, R.B., and Whorf, T.P. 1982. Measurements of the concentration of carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii. In: Clark, W.C. (ed.), Carbon Dioxide Review: 1982 (pp. 377–385). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korner, Ch., and Larcher, W. 1988. Plant life in cold climates. In: Long, S.F., and Woodward, F.I. (eds.), Plants and Temperature (Vol. 42, pp. 25–57). Cambridge, UK: Society for Experimental Biology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lachenbrach, A.H., and Marshall, B.V. 1986. Changing climate: Geothermal evidence from permafrost in the Alaskan Arctic. Science 234:689–696.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubchenco, J., et al. 1991. The sustainable biosphere initiative: An ecological research agenda. Ecology 72:371–412.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell, B. 1992. Arctic climate: Potential for change under global warming. In: Chapin, F.S., III, Jefferies, R.L., Reynolds, J.F., Shaver, G.R., and Svoboda J. (eds.), Arctic Ecosystems in a Changing Climate: An Ecophysiological Perspective (Chap. 2, pp. 11–34). San Diego: Academic Press, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayewski, P.A., et al. 1993. The atmosphere during the Younger Dryas. Science 261:195–197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney, H.A., and Billings, W.D. 1961. Comparative physiological ecology of arctic and alpine populations of Oxyria digyna. Ecol. Monogr. 31:1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oechel, W.C., and Lawrence, W.T. 1985. Taiga. In: Chabot, B.F., and Mooney, H.A. (eds.), Physiological Ecology of North American Plant Communities (Chap. 4, pp. 66–94). New York: Chapman and Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oechel, W.C., Hastings, S.J., Vouritis, G., Jenkins, M., Riechers, G., and Grulke, N. 1993. Recent change of arctic tundra ecosystems from a net carbon dioxide sink to a source. Nature 361:520–523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Overpeck, J.T., Bartlein, P.J., and Webb, T., Ill, 1991. Potential magnitude of future vegetation change in eastern North America: Comparisons with the past. Science 254:692–695.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, K.M., and Billings, W.D. 1975. Carbon dioxide flux from tundra soils and vegetation as related to temperature at Barrow, Alaska. Am. Midland Nat. 94:88–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Post, W.M., Emanuel, W.R., Zinke, P.J., and Stangenberger, A.G. 1982. Soil carbon pools and world life zones. Nature 298:156–159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raich, J.W., and Schlesinger, W.H. 1992. The global carbon dioxide flux in soil respiration and its relationship to vegetation and climate. Tellus 44B:81–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robberecht, R., Caldwell, M.M., and Billings, W.D. 1980. Leaf ultraviolet optical properties along a latitudinal gradient in the arctic-alpine life zone. Ecology 61:612–619.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowland, F.S. 1989. Chlorofluorocarbons and the depletion of stratospheric ozone. Am. Sci. 77:36–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riibel, E. 1912. Pflanzengeographische Monogaphie des Berninagebietes. Leipzig: Engelmann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schimel, D.S., Parton, W.J., Kittel, T.G.F., Ojima, D.S., and Cole, C.V. 1990. Grassland biogeochemistry: Links to atmospheric processes. Climatic Change 17:13–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver, G.R., Billings, W.D., Chapin, F.S., III, Giblin, A.E., Nadelhoffer, K.J., Oechel, W.C., and Rastetter, E.B. 1992. Global change and the carbon balance of arctic ecosystems. Bioscience 42:433–441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegenthaler, U., and Oeschger, H. 1987. Biospheric C02 emissions during the past 200 years reconstructed by deconvolution of ice core data. Tellus 39B:140–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tissue, D.T., and Oechel, W.C. 1987. Response of Eriophorum vaginatum to elevated C02 and temperature in the Alaskan tussock tundra. Ecology 68:401–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, D.A., Billings, W.D., and DeMolenaar, J.G. 1996. Snow-vegetation interactions in arctic and alpine environments. In: Jones, H.G., Hoham, R.W., Pomeroy, J.W., and Walker, D.A. (eds.), Snow Ecology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (In press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, D.A., Halfpenny, J.C., Walker, M.D., and Wessman, C.A. 1993. Long-term studies of snow-vegetation interactions. Bioscience 43:287–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. William Dwight Billings
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Global Change Research Group, San Diego State University, 92182, San Diego, CA, USA

    Walter C. Oechel

  2. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, Sheffield Centre for Arctic Ecology, University of Sheffield, S1D 5BR, Sheffield, UK

    Terry V. Callaghan

  3. Department of Vertebrate Zoology and General Ecology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    Tagir G. Gilmanov

  4. Arctic Adaptation Division, Canadian Climate Centre, Downsview, Ontario, Canada

    Barrie Maxwell

  5. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Göteborg, S-413 19, Göteborg, Sweden

    Ulf Molau

  6. Institute of Biology, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Bjartmar Sveinbjörnsson

  7. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska, 99775, Anchorage, AK, USA

    Bjartmar Sveinbjörnsson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1997 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Billings, W.D. (1997). Introduction Challenges for the Future: Arctic and Alpine Ecosystems in a Changing World. In: Oechel, W.C., et al. Global Change and Arctic Terrestrial Ecosystems. Ecological Studies, vol 124. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2240-8_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2240-8_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7468-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-2240-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation