• Please log in or register to access this feature.
You have full text access to this OnlineOpen article

Long-term sensitivity of a High Arctic wetland to Holocene climate change

  1. CHRISTOPHER J. ELLIS,
  2. LINE ROCHEFORT

Article first published online: 22 DEC 2005

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.01085.x

Issue

Journal of Ecology

Journal of Ecology

Volume 94, Issue 2, pages 441–454, March 2006

Additional Information

How to Cite

ELLIS, C. J. and ROCHEFORT, L. (2006), Long-term sensitivity of a High Arctic wetland to Holocene climate change. Journal of Ecology, 94: 441–454. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.01085.x

Author Information

  1. Département de phytologie & Centre d’études nordiques, Pavillon Paul-Comtois, Université Laval, Québec, Qc., Canada, G1K 7P4

*Present address and correspondence: Christopher J. Ellis, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, UK (tel. +44 131 248 2993; e-mail c.ellis@rbge.org.uk).

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 22 DEC 2005
  2. Article first published online: 22 DEC 2005
  3. Received 19 January 2005 revision accepted 20 September 2005 Handling Editor: Colin Osborne

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (563K)

References

  • Allard, M. (1996) Geomorphological changes and permafrost dynamics: key factors in changing arctic ecosystems. An example from Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. Geoscience Canada, 23, 205–212.
  • Arft, A.M., Walker, M.D., Gurevitch, J., Alatalo, J.M., Bret-Harte, M.S., Dale, M., Diemer, M., Gugerli, F., Henry, G.H.R., Jones, M.H., Hollister, R.D., Jónsdóttir, I.S., Laine, K., Lévesque, E., Marion, G.M., Molau, U., Mølgaard, P., Nordenhäll, U., Raszhivin, V., Robinson, C.H., Starr, G., Stenström, A., Totland, Ø., Turner, P.L., Walker, L.J., Webber, P.J., Welker, J.M. & Wookey, P.A. (1999) Responses of tundra plants to experimental warming: meta-analysis of the international tundra experiment. Ecological Monographs, 69, 491–511.
  • Bennike, O. (1992) Paleoecology and paleoclimatology of a late Holocene peat deposit from Brœndevinsskœr, central west Greenland. Arctic and Alpine Research, 24, 249–252.
  • Billings, W.D., Luken, J.O., Mortensen, D.A. & Peterson, K.M. (1982) Arctic tundra: a source or sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide in a changing environment? Oecologia, 53, 7–11.
  • Billings, W.D., Luken, J.O., Mortensen, D.A. & Peterson, K.M. (1983) Increasing carbon dioxide: possible effects on arctic tundra. Oecologia, 58, 286–289.
  • Billings, W.D. & Peterson, K.M. (1980) Vegetational change and ice-wedge polygons through the thaw-lake cycle in Arctic Alaska. Arctic and Alpine Research, 12, 413–432.
  • Bliss, L.C. (1997) Arctic ecosystems of North America. Ecosystems of the World, Vol. 3. Polar and Alpine Tundra (ed. F.E.Wielgolaski), pp. 551–683. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
  • Bradley, R.S. (1985) Quaternary Paleoclimatology. Unwin-Hyman, Boston.
  • Bradley, R.S. (1990) Holocene paleoclimatology of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canadian High Arctic. Quaternary Science Reviews, 9, 365–384.
  • Brady (1990) The Nature and Properties of Soils. MacMillan, New York.
  • Chapin, F.S., McFadden, J.P. & Hobbie, S.E. (1997) The role of arctic vegetation in ecosystem and global processes. Ecology of Arctic Environments. British Ecological Society Special Publication no. 13 (eds S.J.Woodin & M.Marquiss), pp. 97–112. Blackwell Science, Oxford.
  • Chapin, F.S., Shaver, G.R., Giblin, A.E., Nadelhoffer, K.J. & Laundre, J.A. (1995) Responses of arctic tundra to experimental and observed changes in climate. Ecology, 76, 694–711.
  • Curtis, J.T. & McIntosh, R.P. (1950) The inter-relations of certain analytic and synthetic phytosociological characters. Ecology, 31, 434–455.
  • Curtis, J.T. & McIntosh, R.P. (1951) An upland forest continuum in the prairievforest border region of Wisconsin. Ecology, 32, 476–496.
  • Davis, M.B. (1994) Ecology and paleoecology begin to merge. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 357–358.
  • Dostovalov, B.N. & Popov, A.I. (1966) Polygonal systems of ice-wedges and conditions of their development. Proceedings, First International Permafrost Conference, pp. 102–105. Publ. 1287: National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC and National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa.
  • Ellis, C.J. & Rochefort, L. (2004) Century-scale development of polygon-patterned tundra wetland, Bylot Island (73° N, 80° W). Ecology, 85, 963–978.
  • Epstein, H.E., Chapin, F.S., Walker, M.D. & Starfield., A.M. (2001) Analyzing the functional type concept in arctic plants using a dynamic vegetation model. Oikos, 95, 239–252.
    Direct Link:
  • Fisher, D.A. & Koerner, R.M. (1994) Signal and noise in four ice-core records from the Agassiz ice cap, Ellesmere Island, Canada: details of the last millennium for stable isotopes, melt and solid conductivity. Holocene, 4, 113–120.
  • Fisher, D.A., Koerner, R.M., Paterson, W.S.B., Dansgaard, W., Gundestrup, N. & Reeh, N. (1983) Effect of wind scouring on climatic records from ice-core oxygen-isotope profiles. Nature, 301, 205–209.
  • French, H.M. (1996) The Periglacial Environment. Longman, Harlow, UK.
  • Fujii, Y. (1995) Dating of glacier and ice sheet cores. Quaternary Research, 34, 151–156.
  • Gajewski, K. & Atkinson., D.A. (2003) Climatic change in northern Canada. Environmental Reviews, 11, 69–102.
  • Gajewski, K., Garneau, M. & Bourgeois, J.C. (1995) Paleoenvironments of the Canadian high arctic derived from pollen and plant macrofossils: problems and potentials. Quaternary Science Reviews, 14, 609–629.
  • Garneau, M. (1992) Analyses macrofossiles d’un dépôt de tourbe dans la région de Hot Weather Creek, Péninsule de Fosheim, île d’Ellesmere, Territoires du Nord-ouest. Géographie Physique et Quaternaire, 46, 285–294.
  • Genstat v.7.1. (2003) VSN International Ltd, Rothamsted, UK.
  • Green, D.G. (1995) Time and spatial analysis. Statistical Modelling of Quaternary Science Data (eds D.Maddy & J.S.Brew), pp. 65–105. Technical Guide no. 5, Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge.
  • Harry, D.G. & Gozdzik, J.S. (1988) Ice wedges: growth, thaw transformation, and palaeoenvironmental significance. Journal of Quaternary Science, 3, 39–55.
    Direct Link:
  • Hobbie, S.E. (1996) Temperature and plant species control over litter decomposition in Alaskan tundra. Ecological Monographs, 66, 503–522.
  • Hughen, K.A., Overpeck, J.T. & Anderson, R.F. (2000) Recent warming in a 500-year palaeotemperature record from varved sediments, Upper Soper Lake, Baffin Island, Canada. The Holocene, 10, 9–19.
  • Janssens, J.A. (1983) A quantitative method for stratigraphic analysis of bryophytes in Holocene peat. Journal of Ecology, 71, 189–196.
  • Janssens, J.A. (1988) Fossil bryophytes and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of peatlands. Methods in Bryology. Proceedings of the Bryological Methods Workshop, Mainz (ed. J.M.Glime), pp. 299–306. Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Nichinan.
  • Johnson, L.C., Shaver, G.R., Cades, D.H., Rastetter, E., Nadelhoffer, K., Giblin, A., Laundre, J. & Stanley, A. (2000) Plant carbon–nutrient interactions control CO2 exchange in Alaskan wet sedge tundra ecosystems. Ecology, 81, 453–469.
  • Johnson, L.C., Shaver, G.R., Giblin, A.E., Nadelhoffer, K.J., Rastetter, E.R., Laundre, J.A. & Murray, G.L. (1996) Effects of drainage and temperature on carbon balance of tussock tundra microcosms. Oecologia, 108, 737–748.
  • Jonasson, S., Michelsen, A., Schmidt, I.K. & Nielsen, E.V. (1999) Responses in microbes and plants to changed temperature, nutrient, and light regimes in the arctic. Ecology, 80, 1828–1843.
  • Jorgenson, M.T., Racine, C.H., Walters, J.C. & Osterkamp, T.E. (2001) Permafrost degradation and ecological changes associated with a warming climate in central Alaska. Climatic Change, 48, 551–579.
  • Kasper, J.N. & Allard, M. (2001) Late-Holocene climatic changes as detected by the growth and decay of ice wedges on the southern shore of Hudson Strait, northern Québec, Canada. The Holocene, 11, 563–577.
  • Klassen, R.A. (1993) Quaternary Geology and Glacial History of Bylot Island, Northwest Territories. Memoir 429. Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa.
  • Koerner, R.M. (1977) Devon Island ice cap: core stratigraphy and paleoclimate. Science, 196, 15–18.
  • Koerner, R.M. & Fisher, D.A. (1990) A record of Holocene summer climate from a Canadian high-arctic ice core. Nature, 343, 630–631.
  • Kovach, W.L. (19861999) MVSP – a multivariate statistical package for windows v. 3.1. Kovach Computing Services, Pentraeth, Wales, UK.
  • LaFarge-England, C., Vitt, D.H. & England., J. (1991) Holocene soligenous fens on a high arctic fault block, northern Ellesmere Island (82° N), N.W.T., Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research, 23, 80–98.
  • Lamb, H.H. (1965) The early Medieval warm epoch and its sequel. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 1, 13–37.
  • Lamoureux, S. (2000) Five centuries of interannual sediment yield and rainfall-induced erosion in the Canadian high arctic recorded in lacustrine varves. Water Resources Research, 36, 309–318.
  • Lamoureux, S.F. & Bradley, R.S. (1996) A Holocene varved sediment record of environmental change from northern Ellesmere Island, Canada. Journal of Paleolimnology, 16, 239–255.
  • Lamoureux, S.F., England, J.H., Sharp, M.J. & Bush, A.B.G. (2001) A varve record of increased Little Ice Age rainfall associated with volcanic activity, Arctic Archipelago, Canada. The Holocene, 11, 243–249.
  • Lewkowicz, A.G. (1994) Ice wedge rejuvenation, Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 5, 251–268.
    Direct Link:
  • Mackay, J.R. (1974) Ice-wedge cracks, Garry Island, North-west Territories. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 11, 1336–1383.
  • Mackay, J.R. (2000) Thermally induced movements in ice-wedge polygons, western Arctic coast: a long-term study. Géographie Physique et Quaternaire, 54, 41–68.
  • Mann, M.E., Bradley, R.S. & Hughes, M.K. (1998) Global-scale temperature patterns and climate forcing over the past six centuries. Nature, 392, 779–787.
  • Maxwell, B. (1992) Arctic climate: potential for change under global warming. Arctic Ecosystems in a Changing Climate: An Ecophysiological Perspective (eds F.S.Chapin, R.L.Jefferies, J.F.Reynolds, G.R.Shaver & J.Svoboda), pp. 11–34. Academic Press, San Diego.
  • McKane, R.B., Rastetter, E.B., Shaver, G.R., Nadelhoffer, K.J., Giblin, A.E., Laundre, J.A. & Chapin, F.S. (1997) Reconstruction and analysis of historical changes in carbon storage in arctic tundra. Ecology, 78, 1188–1198.
  • Millar, C.I. & Woolfenden, W.B. (1999) The role of climate change in interpreting historical variability. Ecological Applications, 9, 1207–1216.
  • Miller, P.C., Miller, P.M., Blake-Jacobson, M., Chapin, F.S., Everett, K.R., Hilbert, D.W., Kummerow, J., Linkins, A.E., Marion, G.M., Oechel, W.C., Roberts, S.W. & Stuart., L. (1984) Plant–soil processes in Eriophorum vaginatum tussock tundra in Alaska: a systems modeling approach. Ecological Monographs, 54, 361–405.
  • Mitchell, F.F.B., Manabe, S., Tokioka, T. & Meleshoko, V. (1990) Equilibrium climate change. Climate Change, the IPCC Scientific Assessment (eds J.T.Houghton, G.J.Jenkins & J.J.Ephraums), pp. 131–172. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  • Nadelhoffer, K.J., Giblin, A.E., Shaver, G.R. & Laundre, J.A. (1991) Effects of temperature and substrate quality on element mineralization in six arctic soils. Ecology, 72, 242–253.
  • Nelson, F.E., Anisimov, O.A. & Shiklomanov, N.I. (2001) Subsidence risk from thawing permafrost. Nature, 410, 889–890.
  • Nyholm, E. (19541969) The Illustrated Moss Flora of Fennoscandia. II. Musci Fascile 1–6. Swedish Natural Science Research Council, Stockholm.
  • Oechel, W.C., Hastings, S.J., Vourtilis, G., Jenkins, M., Riechers, G. & Grulke, N. (1993) Recent change of arctic tundra ecosystems from a net carbon dioxide sink to a source. Nature, 361, 520–523.
  • Oechel, W.C. & Vourtilis, G.L. (1994) The effects of climate change on land–atmosphere feedbacks in arctic tundra regions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 324–329.
  • Oechel, W.C., Vourtilis, G.L., Hastings, S.J. & Bochkarev, S.A. (1995) Change in arctic CO2 flux over two decades: effects of climate change at Barrow, Alaska. Ecological Applications, 5, 846–855.
  • Ovenden, L. (1982) Vegetation history of a polygonal peatland, northern Yukon. Boreas, 11, 209–224.
    Direct Link:
  • Overpeck, J., Hughen, K., Hardy, D., Bradley, R., Case, R., Douglas, M., Finney, B., Gajewski, K., Jacoby, G., Jennings, A., Lamoureux, S., Lasca, A., MacDonald, G., Moore, J., Retelle, M., Smith, S., Wolfe, A. & Zielinski, G. (1997) Arctic environmental change of the last four centuries. Science, 278, 1251–1256.
  • Paterson, W.S.B., Koerner, R.M., Fisher, D., Johnson, S.J., Clausen, H.B., Dansgaard, W., Bucher, P. & Oeschger, H. (1977) An oxygen-isotope climatic record from the Devon Island ice cap, arctic Canada. Nature, 266, 508–511.
  • Post, W.M., Emanuel, W.R., Zinke, P.J. & Stangenberger, A.G. (1982) Soil carbon pools and world life zones. Nature, 298, 156–159.
  • Rovansek, R.J., Hinzman, L.D. & Kane, D.L. (1996) Hydrology of a tundra wetland complex on the Alaskan arctic coastal plain, U.S.A. Arctic and Alpine Research, 28, 311–317.
  • Shaver, G.R., Billings, W.D., Chapin, F.S., III, Giblin, A.E., Nadelhoffer, K.J., Oechel, W.C. & Rastetter, E.B. (1992) Global Change and the carbon balance of Arctic ecosystems. BioScience, 42, 433–441.
  • Shaver, G.R. & Chapin, F.S. (1986) Effect of fertilizer on production and biomass of tussock tundra, Alaska, USA. Arctic and Alpine Research, 18, 261–268.
  • Shaver, G.R., Johnson, L.C., Cades, D.H., Murray, G., Laundre, J.A., Rastetter, E.B., Nadelhoffer, K.J. & Giblin, A.E. (1998) Biomass and CO2 flux in wet sedge tundras: responses to nutrients, temperature, and light. Ecological Monographs, 68, 75–97.
  • Sjörs, H. (1950) On the relation between vegetation and electrolytes in north Swedish mire waters. Oikos, 2, 241–257.
  • Stuiver, M., Burr, G., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., Van, der, Plicht, J., Spurk, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E. & Beck, J.W. (1998) INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24 000-0 cal. yr bp. Radiocarbon, 40, 1041–1083 .
  • Tallis, J.H. (1985) Mass movement and erosion of a southern Pennine blanket peat. Journal of Ecology, 73, 283–315.
  • Tarnocai, C. & Zoltai., S.C. (1988) Wetlands of arctic Canada. Wetlands of Canada (National Wetlands Working Group, Canada Committee on Ecological Land Classification), pp. 30–53. Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Canada.
  • Vardy, S.R., Warner, B.G. & Aravena, R. (1997) Holocene climate effects on the development of a peatland on the Tuktoyaktut Peninsula, Northwest Territories. Quarternary Research, 47, 90–104.
  • Vourtilis, G.L., Harazono, Y., Oechel, W.C. & Yoshimoto, M. (2000) Spatial and temporal variations in hectare-scale net CO2 flux, respiration and gross primary production of arctic tundra ecosystems. Functional Ecology, 14, 203–214.
    Direct Link:
  • Vourtilis, G.L. & Oechel, W.C. (1997) Landscape-scale CO2, H2O vapour and energy flux of moist-wet coastal tundra ecosystems over two growing seasons. Journal of Ecology, 85, 575–590.
  • Weller, G., Chapin, F.S., Everett, K.R., Hobbie, J.E., Kane, D., Oechel, W.C., Ping, C.L., Reeburgh, W.S., Walker, D. & Walsh, J. (1995) The arctic flux study: a regional view of trace gas release. Journal of Biogeography, 22, 365–374.
  • Williams, L.D. & Wigley, T.M.L. (1983) A comparison of evidence for late Holocene summer temperature variations in the northern hemisphere. Quaternary Research, 20, 286–307.
  • Wookey, P.A. & Robinson., C.H. (1997) Responsiveness and resilience of high arctic ecosystems to environmental change. Opera Botanica, 132, 215–231.
  • Young, K.L. & Lewkowicz, A.G. (1990) Surface energy balance of a perennial snow bank, Melville Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research, 22, 290–301.
  • Young, K.L., Woo, M.-K. & Edlund, S.A. (1997) Influence of local topography, soils, and vegetation on microclimate and hydrology at a high arctic site, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research, 29, 270–284.
  • Zoltai, S.C., McCormick, K.J. & Scotter, G.W. (1983) A Natural Resource Survey of Bylot Island and Adjacent Baffin Island, Northwest Territories. Parks Canada, Ottawa.
View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (563K)