Arctic Science (Sep 2022)
Winters are changing: snow effects on Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems1
- Christian Rixen,
- Toke Thomas Høye,
- Petr Macek,
- Rien Aerts,
- Juha M. Alatalo,
- Jill T. Anderson,
- Pieter A. Arnold,
- Isabel C Barrio,
- Jarle W. Bjerke,
- Mats P. Björkman,
- Daan Blok,
- Gesche Blume-Werry,
- Julia Boike,
- Stef Bokhorst,
- Michele Carbognani,
- Casper T. Christiansen,
- Peter Convey,
- Elisabeth J. Cooper,
- J. Hans C. Cornelissen,
- Stephen J. Coulson,
- Ellen Dorrepaal,
- Bo Elberling,
- Sarah C. Elmendorf,
- Cassandra Elphinstone,
- T’ai G.W. Forte,
- Esther R. Frei,
- Sonya R. Geange,
- Friederike Gehrmann,
- Casey Gibson,
- Paul Grogan,
- Aud Helen Halbritter,
- John Harte,
- Gregory H.R. Henry,
- David W. Inouye,
- Rebecca E. Irwin,
- Gus Jespersen,
- Ingibjörg Svala Jónsdóttir,
- Ji Young Jung,
- David H. Klinges,
- Gaku Kudo,
- Juho Lämsä,
- Hanna Lee,
- Jonas J. Lembrechts,
- Signe Lett,
- Joshua Scott Lynn,
- Hjalte M.R. Mann,
- Mikhail Mastepanov,
- Jennifer Morse,
- Isla H. Myers-Smith,
- Johan Olofsson,
- Riku Paavola,
- Alessandro Petraglia,
- Gareth K. Phoenix,
- Philipp Semenchuk,
- Matthias B. Siewert,
- Rachel Slatyer,
- Marko J. Spasojevic,
- Katharine Suding,
- Patrick Sullivan,
- Kimberly L. Thompson,
- Maria Väisänen,
- Vigdis Vandvik,
- Susanna Venn,
- Josefine Walz,
- Robert Way,
- Jeffrey M. Welker,
- Sonja Wipf,
- Shengwei Zong
Affiliations
- Christian Rixen
- WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Flüelastr. 11, Davos Dorf, 7260, Switzerland.
- Toke Thomas Høye
- Department of Ecoscience and Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Allé 4-8, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
- Petr Macek
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Sadkach 7, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
- Rien Aerts
- Department of Ecological Science, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Juha M. Alatalo
- Environmental Science Center, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
- Jill T. Anderson
- Genetics Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-7223, USA.
- Pieter A. Arnold
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
- Isabel C Barrio
- Faculty of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Agricultural University of Iceland, Árleyni 22, 112, Reykjavík, Iceland.
- Jarle W. Bjerke
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, FRAM – High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment, Tromsø, Norway.
- Mats P. Björkman
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden.
- Daan Blok
- Dutch Research Council (NWO), The Hague, The Netherlands.
- Gesche Blume-Werry
- Experimental Plant Ecology, Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Soldmannstraße 15, Greifswald, 17487, Germany.
- Julia Boike
- Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Telegrafenberg A45, Potsdam, 14473, Germany.
- Stef Bokhorst
- Department of Ecological Science, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Michele Carbognani
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, I-43124, Parma, Italy.
- Casper T. Christiansen
- Terrestrial Ecology Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Peter Convey
- British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
- Elisabeth J. Cooper
- Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, UiT-The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø N-9037, Norway.
- J. Hans C. Cornelissen
- Department of Ecological Science, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Stephen J. Coulson
- Department of Arctic Biology, University Centre in Svalbard, P.O. Box 156, Longyearbyen, Svalbard 9171, Norway.
- Ellen Dorrepaal
- Climate Impacts Research Centre, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Abisko, Sweden.
- Bo Elberling
- Center for Permafrost (CENPERM), Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Sarah C. Elmendorf
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder. CO 80309-0450, USA.
- Cassandra Elphinstone
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
- T’ai G.W. Forte
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, I-43124, Parma, Italy.
- Esther R. Frei
- WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Flüelastr. 11, Davos Dorf, 7260, Switzerland.
- Sonya R. Geange
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
- Friederike Gehrmann
- Climate Impacts Research Centre, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Abisko, Sweden.
- Casey Gibson
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences UNSW, Sidney, Australia.
- Paul Grogan
- Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada.
- Aud Helen Halbritter
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
- John Harte
- Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
- Gregory H.R. Henry
- Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
- David W. Inouye
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
- Rebecca E. Irwin
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA.
- Gus Jespersen
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA.
- Ingibjörg Svala Jónsdóttir
- Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, Sturlugata 7, 102, Reykjavík, Iceland.
- Ji Young Jung
- Korea Polar Reseach Institute, Incheon, 21990, Republic of Korea.
- David H. Klinges
- School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
- Gaku Kudo
- Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
- Juho Lämsä
- Oulanka Research Station, University of Oulu, Liikasenvaarantie 134, Kuusamo, 93900, Finland.
- Hanna Lee
- NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, Bjekrnes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway.
- Jonas J. Lembrechts
- Research Group Plants and Ecosystems, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, Wilrijk, 2610, Belgium.
- Signe Lett
- Terrestrial Ecology Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Joshua Scott Lynn
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
- Hjalte M.R. Mann
- Department of Ecoscience and Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Allé 4-8, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
- Mikhail Mastepanov
- Oulanka Research Station, University of Oulu, Liikasenvaarantie 134, Kuusamo, 93900, Finland.
- Jennifer Morse
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
- Isla H. Myers-Smith
- School of GeoSciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FF, UK.
- Johan Olofsson
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, SE-901 87, Sweden.
- Riku Paavola
- Oulanka Research Station, University of Oulu, Liikasenvaarantie 134, Kuusamo, 93900, Finland.
- Alessandro Petraglia
- Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, I-43124, Parma, Italy.
- Gareth K. Phoenix
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.
- Philipp Semenchuk
- Division of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, Rennweg 14, 1030, Vienna.
- Matthias B. Siewert
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, SE-901 87, Sweden.
- Rachel Slatyer
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
- Marko J. Spasojevic
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
- Katharine Suding
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
- Patrick Sullivan
- Environment and Natural Resources Institute, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA.
- Kimberly L. Thompson
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
- Maria Väisänen
- Ecology and Genetics Rresearch Unit, University of Oulu, Pentti Kaiteran street 1, Linnanmaa, Oulu 90014, Finland.
- Vigdis Vandvik
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
- Susanna Venn
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Hwy, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia.
- Josefine Walz
- Climate Impacts Research Centre, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Abisko, Sweden.
- Robert Way
- Northern Environmental Geoscience Laboratory, Department of Geography and Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada.
- Jeffrey M. Welker
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA.
- Sonja Wipf
- WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Flüelastr. 11, Davos Dorf, 7260, Switzerland.
- Shengwei Zong
- Key Laboratory of Geographical Processes and Ecological Security in Changbai Mountains, Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China.
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2020-0058
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 8,
no. 3
pp. 572 – 608
Abstract
Snow is an important driver of ecosystem processes in cold biomes. Snow accumulation determines ground temperature, light conditions, and moisture availability during winter. It also affects the growing season’s start and end, and plant access to moisture and nutrients. Here, we review the current knowledge of the snow cover’s role for vegetation, plant-animal interactions, permafrost conditions, microbial processes, and biogeochemical cycling. We also compare studies of natural snow gradients with snow experimental manipulation studies to assess time scale difference of these approaches. The number of tundra snow studies has increased considerably in recent years, yet we still lack a comprehensive overview of how altered snow conditions will affect these ecosystems. Specifically, we found a mismatch in the timing of snowmelt when comparing studies of natural snow gradients with snow manipulations. We found that snowmelt timing achieved by snow addition and snow removal manipulations (average 7.9 days advance and 5.5 days delay, respectively) were substantially lower than the temporal variation over natural spatial gradients within a given year (mean range 56 days) or among years (mean range 32 days). Differences between snow study approaches need to be accounted for when projecting snow dynamics and their impact on ecosystems in future climates.
Keywords
