Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Tundra fire alters vegetation patterns more than the resultant thermokarst

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Tundra fires are increasing in their frequencies and intensities due to global warming, which alter revegetation patterns through various pathways. To understand the effects of tundra fire and the resultant thermokarst on revegetation, vegetation and related environmental factors were compared between burned and unburned areas of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, using a total of 140 plots, 50 cm × 50 cm each. The area was burned in 2002 and surveyed in 2013. Seven vegetation types were classified by a cluster analysis and were categorized along a fire-severity gradient from none to severe fire intensity. The species richness and diversity were higher in intermediately disturbed plots. Severe fire allowed the immigration of fire-favored species (e.g., Epilobium angustifolium, Ceratodon purpureus) and decreased or did not change the species diversity, indicating that species replacement occurred within the severely burned site. Although thermokarsts (ground subsidence) broadly occurred on burned sites, due to thawing, the subsidence weakly influenced vegetation patterns. These results suggest that the fire directly altered the species composition at a landscape scale between the burned and unburned sites and it indirectly altered the plant cover and diversity through the differential modification, such as thermokarst, at a small scale within the burned site.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Beringer J, Lynch AH, Chapin FS III, Mack M, Bonan GB (2001) The representation of Arctic soils in the land surface model: the importance of mosses. J Climate 14:3324–3335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bret-Harte MS, Mack MC, Shaver GR, Huebner DC, Johnston M, Mojica CA, Pizano C, Reiskind JA (2013) The response of Arctic vegetation and soils following an unusually severe tundra fire. Phil Trans R Soc B 368:20120490. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0490

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Brown J, Ferrians OJJ, Heginbottom JA, Melnikov ES (1997) International Permafrost Association Circum-Arctic map of permafrost and ground. US Geological Survey, Reston

    Google Scholar 

  • Core Team R (2017) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Cotto O, Wessely J, Georges D, Klonner G, Schmid M, Dullinger S, Thuiller W, Gullaume F (2017) A dynamic eco-evolutionary model predicts slow response of alpine plants to climate warming. Nat Comm 8:15399

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gamon JA, Kershaw GP, Williamson S, Hik DA (2012) Microtopographic patterns in an arctic baydjarakh field: do fine-grain patterns enforce landscape stability? Environ Res Lett 7:015502. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/1/01550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grosse G, Harden J, Turetsky M, McGuire AD, Camill P, Tarnocai C, Frolking S, Schuur EAG, Jorgenson T, Marchenko S, Romanovsky V, Wickland KP, French N, Waldrop M, Bourgeau-Chavez L, Striegl RG (2011) Vulnerability of high-latitude soil organic carbon in North America to disturbance. J Geophys Res 116: G00K06, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010jg001507

  • Hinzman LD, Kane DL, Yoshikawa K, Carr A, Bolton WR, Fraver M (2003) Hydrological variations among watersheds with varying degrees of permafrost. In: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Permafrost

  • Hu FS, Higuera PE, Duffy P, Chipman ML, Rocha AV, Young AM, Kelly R, Dietze MC (2015) Arctic tundra fires: natural variability and responses to climate change. Front Ecol Environ 13:369–777

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iwahana G, Harada K, Uchida M, Tsuyuzaki S, Saito K, Narita K, Kushida K, Hinzman L (2016) Geomorphological and geochemistry changes in permafrost after the 2002 wildfire in Kougarok, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. J Geophys Res 121:1697–1715

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jandt R, Joly K, Meyers CR, Racine C (2008) Slow recovery of lichen on burned Caribou Winter Range in Alaska tundra: potential influences of climate warming and other disturbance factors. Arct Antarct Alp Res 40:89–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones BM, Gusmeroli A, Arp CD, Strozzi T, Grosse G, Gaglioti BV, Whitman MS (2013) Classification of freshwater ice conditions on the Alaskan Arctic Coastal Plain using ground penetrating radar and TerraSAR-X satellite data. Int J Remote Sen 34:8267–8279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones BM, Grosse G, Arp CD, Miller E, Liu L, Jayes DJ, Larsen CF (2015) Recent Arctic tundra fire initiates widespread thermokarst development. Sci Rep 5:15865. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15865

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Jongman RHG, ter Braak CJF, Tongeren OFR (1995) Data analysis in community and landscape ecology. Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jorgenson MT, Shur YL, Pullman ER (2006) Abrupt increase in permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaska. Geophys Res Lett 33:L02503. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL024960

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kokelj SV, Jorgenson MT (2013) Advances in thermokarst research. Permafrost Periglac Process 24:108–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koyama A, Tsuyuzaki S (2013) Facilitation by tussock-forming species on seedling establishment collapses in an extreme drought year in a post-mined Sphagnum peatland. J Veg Sci 24:473–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lantz TC, Gergel SE, Kokelj SV (2010) Spatial heterogeneity in the shrub tundra ecotone in the Mackenzi Delta Region, Northwest Territories: implications for Arctic environmental change. Ecosystems 13:194–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liljedahl A, Hinzman LD, Busey R, Yoshikawa K (2007) Physical short-term changes after a tussock tundra fire, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. J Geophys Res 112: F02S07, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006jf000554

  • Lloyd AH, Yoshikawa K, Fastie CL, Hinzman L, Fraver M (2003) Effects of permafrost degradation on woody vegetation at arctic treeline on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Permafrost Periglac Process 14:93–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mack MC, Bret-Harte MS, Hollingsworth TN, Jandt RR, Schuur AG, Shaver GR, Verbyla DL (2011) Carbon loss from an unprecedented Arctic tundra wildfire. Nature 475:489–492

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCune B, Grace JB (2002) Analysis of ecological communities. MjM Software Design, Gleneden Beach

    Google Scholar 

  • Narita K, Harada K, Saito K, Sawada Y, Fukuda M (2015) Vegetation and permafrost thaw depth ten years after a tundra fire, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Arct Antarct Alp Res 47:547–559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panda SK, Prakash A, Solie DN, Romanovsky VE, Jorgenson TM (2010) Remote sensing and field-based mapping of permafrost distribution along the Alaska Highway corridor, interior Alaska. Permafrost Periglac Process 21:271–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Racine C, Jandt R, Meyers C, Dennis J (2004) Tundra fire and vegetation change along a hillslope on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA. Arct Antarct Alp Res 36:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raynolds MK, Walker DA, Munger CA, Vonlanthen CM, Kade AN (2008) A map analysis of patterned-ground along a North American Arctic Transect. J Geophys Res 113: G03S03, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007jg000512

  • Rocha AV, Shaver GR (2011) Postfire energy exchange in arctic tundra: the importance and climatic implications of burn severity. Global Change Biol 17:2831–2841

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shuur EAG, Crummer KG, Vogel JG, Mack MC (2007) Plant species composition and productivity following permafrost thaw and thermokarst in Alaskan tundra. Ecosystems 10:280–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ter Braak CJF, Smilauer P (2002) CANOCO reference manual and CanoDraw for Windows user’s guide: software for canonical ordination (version 4.5). Microcomputer Power, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsuyuzaki S, Ishizaki T, Sato T (1999) Vegetation structure in gullies developed by the melting of ice wedges along Kolyma River, Northeastern Siberia. Ecol Res 14:385–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuyuzaki S, Haraguchi A, Kanda F (2004) Effects of scale-dependent factors on herbaceous vegetation in a wetland, Northern Japan. Ecol Res 19:349–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuyuzaki S, Kushida K, Kodama Y (2009) Recovery of surface albedo and plant cover after wildfire in a Picea mariana forest in interior Alaska. Clim Change 93:517–525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuyuzaki S, Narita K, Sawada Y, Harada K (2013) Recovery of forest-floor vegetation after a wildfire in a Picea mariana forest. Ecol Res 28:1061–1068

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuyuzaki S, Narita K, Sawada Y, Kushida K (2014) The establishment patterns of tree seedlings are determined immediately after wildfire in a black spruce (Picea mariana) forest. Plant Ecol 215:327–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner MG, Gardner RH, O’Neill RV (2003) Landscape ecology in theory and practice: pattern and processes. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1997) Experiments in ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Viereck LA, Dyrness CT, Batten AR, Wenzlick KJ (1992) The Alaska vegetation classification. Gen Tech Rep (PNW-GTR-286), Portland

  • Walker MD, Wahren CH, Hollister RD, Henry GHR, Ahlquist LE, Alatalo JM, Bret-Harte MS, Cale MP, Callaghan TV, Carroll AB, Epstein HE, Jonsdottir IS, Klein JA, Magnusson B, Molau U, Oberbauer SF, Rewan SP, Robinson CH, Shaver GR, Suding KN, Thompson CC, Tolvanen A, Totland O, Turner PL, Tweedie CE, Webberw PJ, Wookey PA (2006) Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 103:1342–1346

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SD, Tilman D (2002) Quadratic variation in old-field species richness along gradients of disturbance and nitrogen. Ecology 83:492–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank K. Harada for field assistance. The authors also thank the staff members of IARC (International Arctic Research Center, the University of Alaska at Fairbanks) for various supports, including discussion and language improvement. This work was partly supported by IARC-JAXA and JSPS.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science (GSEES), Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Shiro Tsuyuzaki

  2. International Arctic Research (IARC), University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, 99775-7340, USA

    Go Iwahana

  3. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Kanagawa, 236-0001, Japan

    Kazuyuki Saito

  4. North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, Sakha, Russia

    Go Iwahana

Authors
  1. Shiro Tsuyuzaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Go Iwahana
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kazuyuki Saito
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shiro Tsuyuzaki.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tsuyuzaki, S., Iwahana, G. & Saito, K. Tundra fire alters vegetation patterns more than the resultant thermokarst. Polar Biol 41, 753–761 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2236-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2236-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation