Regional fire-greening positive feedback loops in Alaskan Arctic tundra

Arctic tundra has experienced rapid warming, outpacing global averages, leading to significant greening whose primary drivers include widespread shrubification. Here we confirm that a fire-greening positive feedback loop is evident across the Alaskan tundra, and evidence suggests that this feedback...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature plants Vol. 10; no. 12; pp. 1886 - 1891
Main Authors: Chen, Dong, Fu, Cheng, Jenkins, Liza K, He, Jiaying, Wang, Zhihao, Jandt, Randi R, Frost, Gerald V, Bredder, Allison, Berner, Logan T, Loboda, Tatiana V
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01.12.2024
Subjects:
Alaska
Arctic Regions
Biomass
Carbon sinks
Climate Change
Feedback
Feedback loops
Fires
Greening
Heterogeneity
Positive feedback
Remote sensing
Spatial heterogeneity
Taiga & tundra
Tundra
Vegetation
Wildfires
Arctic Regions
Alaska
Arctic region
ISSN:2055-0278, 2055-0278
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Arctic tundra has experienced rapid warming, outpacing global averages, leading to significant greening whose primary drivers include widespread shrubification. Here we confirm that a fire-greening positive feedback loop is evident across the Alaskan tundra, and evidence suggests that this feedback loop is dominated by the fire-shrub interactions. We show that tundra wildfires, especially those with higher severity, play a critical role in boosting the overall greening of the tundra, often by enhancing upright deciduous shrub growth or establishment but sometimes by inducing increases in other vascular biomass. In addition, fire-greening interactions vary greatly within different tundra subregions, a likely consequence of the spatial heterogeneity in vegetation composition, climatic and geophysical conditions.
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ISSN:2055-0278
2055-0278
DOI:10.1038/s41477-024-01850-5