Post-1980s shift in the sensitivity of tundra vegetation to climate revealed by the first dendrochronological record from Bear Island (Bjørnøya), western Barents Sea

Abstract

Tundra vegetation dynamics are an excellent indicator of Arctic climate change. In many places in the Arctic, greening of tundra has been observed since the 1980s due to rapid increases in temperature. However, in some areas the opposite process has taken place in connection with a reduction in biomass production. The spatial patterns of tundra ‘greening’ and ‘browning’ constitute important issues in the contemporary analysis of polar ecosystems. The aim of our study was to assess recent tundra vegetation dynamics on the basis of changes in annual growth ring widths of the polar willow. Bjørnøya (Bear Island), located in the western part of the Barents Sea is an important site in the transition zone between the high and low Arctic. No dendrochronological studies have been conducted to date due to the island’s isolation, which makes access very difficult. In 2012 and 2016, 43 samples of Salix polaris Wahlenb. were taken from the south-eastern part of Bear Island. An average chronology of the 29 most closely correlated measurement series was then compiled, covering 95 years (1922–2016); however, the time span 1946–2016 was used for the climate-growth analysis. Beginning in the mid-1980s, an increase in the width of annual increments was observed, whereas over the last decade (since 2005) the growth rate has declined rapidly. Simple correlation analyses showed that temperatures in spring and summer had the positive influence on the radial growth of the polar willow; however, the results of the moving correlation analysis made it possible to conclude that this relationship is more complex and time-dependent. Sensitivity of radial growth to temperature was strongest in the years 1955–2005, whereas the decrease in the strength of positive correlation with temperature since 2005 has been accompanied by a significant increase in the importance of summer precipitation.

Keywords

• Arctic
• dwarf shrubs
• dendrochronology
• climate change
• drought stress