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Recent Changes in Arctic Vegetation: Satellite Observations and Simulation Model Predictions

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Eurasian Arctic Land Cover and Land Use in a Changing Climate

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of observed changes in vegetation productivity in Arctic tundra and boreal forest ecosystems over the past 3 decades, based on satellite remote sensing and other observational records, and relates these to climate variables and sea ice conditions. The emerging patterns and relationships are often complex but clearly reveal a contrast in the response of the tundra and boreal biomes to recent climate change, with the tundra showing increases and undisturbed boreal forests mostly reductions in productivity. The possible reasons for this divergence are discussed and the consequences of continued climate warming for the vegetation in the Arctic region assessed using ecosystem models, both at the biome-scale and at high spatial resolution focussing on plant functional types in the tundra and the tundra-forest ecotones.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Woods Hole Research Center, 149 Woods Hole Road, Falmouth, MA, 02540-1644, USA

    Scott J. Goetz & Pieter S.A. Beck

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, PO Box 400123, Charlottesville, VA, 22904-4123, USA

    Howard E. Epstein & Qin Yu

  3. Department of Atmospheric Sciences Geophysical Institute, IARC Room 307, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 903 Koyukuk Dr, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7320, USA

    Uma S. Bhatt

  4. START Regional Center for Temperate East Asia, Chinese Academy of Science, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, PO Box 9804, Beijing, 100029, China

    Gensuo J. Jia

  5. EPFL Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, ENAC-ARVE, Ecole Polytechnique Fϩdϩrale de Lausanne Station 2, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jed O. Kaplan

  6. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstr. 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Heike Lischke

  7. Department of Environmental Sciences, Huxley College, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 98225-9181, USA

    Andrew Bunn

  8. Department of Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, 05443, USA

    Andrea H. Lloyd

  9. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904-4123, USA

    Domingo Alcaraz-Segura

  10. Cryospheric Sciences Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    Josefino C. Comiso

  11. , Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Box 757000, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7000, USA

    Martha K. Raynolds

  12. Department of Biology and Wildlife, Institute of Arctic Biology, Alaska Geobotany Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK, Fairbanks, 99775-7000, USA

    Donald A. Walker

Authors
  1. Scott J. Goetz
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  2. Howard E. Epstein
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  3. Uma S. Bhatt
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  4. Gensuo J. Jia
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  5. Jed O. Kaplan
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  6. Heike Lischke
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  7. Qin Yu
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  8. Andrew Bunn
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  9. Andrea H. Lloyd
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  10. Domingo Alcaraz-Segura
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  11. Pieter S.A. Beck
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  12. Josefino C. Comiso
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  13. Martha K. Raynolds
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  14. Donald A. Walker
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Scott J. Goetz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Headquarters, E. Street, SW 300, Washington, 20546, District of Columbia, USA

    Garik Gutman

  2. University of Helsinki, Department of Physics, iLEAPS International Project Office, Erik Palmenin aukio 1 2a, Helsinki, 00014, Finland

    Anni Reissell

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Goetz, S.J. et al. (2010). Recent Changes in Arctic Vegetation: Satellite Observations and Simulation Model Predictions. In: Gutman, G., Reissell, A. (eds) Eurasian Arctic Land Cover and Land Use in a Changing Climate. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9118-5_2

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