Shrubification along Pipeline Corridors in Permafrost Regions

Xiaoying Jin; Huijun Jin; Xue Yang; Wenhui Wang; Shuai Huang; Shengrong Zhang; Suiqiao Yang; Xiaoying Li; Hongwei Wang; Ruixia He; Yan Li; Xinze Li; Xinyu Li

doi:10.3390/f13071093

Forests (Jul 2022)

Shrubification along Pipeline Corridors in Permafrost Regions

Xiaoying Jin,
Huijun Jin,
Xue Yang,
Wenhui Wang,
Shuai Huang,
Shengrong Zhang,
Suiqiao Yang,
Xiaoying Li,
Hongwei Wang,
Ruixia He,
Yan Li,
Xinze Li,
Xinyu Li

Affiliations

Xiaoying Jin: School of Civil Engineering, Permafrost Institute, Ministry of Education Observation and Research Station of Permafrost Geo-Environment System in Northeast China, and Institute of Cold Regions Science and Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Huijun Jin: School of Civil Engineering, Permafrost Institute, Ministry of Education Observation and Research Station of Permafrost Geo-Environment System in Northeast China, and Institute of Cold Regions Science and Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Xue Yang: School of Civil Engineering, Permafrost Institute, Ministry of Education Observation and Research Station of Permafrost Geo-Environment System in Northeast China, and Institute of Cold Regions Science and Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Wenhui Wang: School of Civil Engineering, Permafrost Institute, Ministry of Education Observation and Research Station of Permafrost Geo-Environment System in Northeast China, and Institute of Cold Regions Science and Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Shuai Huang: School of Civil Engineering, Permafrost Institute, Ministry of Education Observation and Research Station of Permafrost Geo-Environment System in Northeast China, and Institute of Cold Regions Science and Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Shengrong Zhang: School of Civil Engineering, Permafrost Institute, Ministry of Education Observation and Research Station of Permafrost Geo-Environment System in Northeast China, and Institute of Cold Regions Science and Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Suiqiao Yang: School of Civil Engineering, Permafrost Institute, Ministry of Education Observation and Research Station of Permafrost Geo-Environment System in Northeast China, and Institute of Cold Regions Science and Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Xiaoying Li: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management, School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Hongwei Wang: School of Civil Engineering, Permafrost Institute, Ministry of Education Observation and Research Station of Permafrost Geo-Environment System in Northeast China, and Institute of Cold Regions Science and Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
Ruixia He: State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering and Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Yan Li: State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering and Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Xinze Li: State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soils Engineering and Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Gansu Province, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Xinyu Li: School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f13071093
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 7
p. 1093

Abstract

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Pipeline corridors have been rapidly increasing in length and density because of the ever growing demand for crude oil and natural gas resources in hydrocarbon-rich permafrost regions. Pipeline engineering activities have significant implications for the permafrost environment in cold regions. Along these pipeline corridors, the shrubification in the right-of-way (ROW) has been extensively observed during vegetation recovery. However, the hydrothermal mechanisms of this ROW shrubification have seldom been studied and thus remain poorly understood. This paper reviews more than 112 articles mainly published from 2000 to 2022 and focuses on the hydrothermal mechanisms of shrubification associated with environmental changes induced by the rapidly degrading permafrost from pipeline construction and around the operating pipelines under a warming climate. First, the shrubification from pipeline construction and operation and the ensuing vegetation clearance are featured. Then, key permafrost-related ROW shrubification mechanisms (e.g., from the perspectives of warmer soil, soil moisture, soil type, soil nutrients, topography and landscapes, and snow cover) are discussed. Other key influencing factors on these hydrothermal and other mechanisms are hierarchically documented as well. In the end, future research priorities are identified and proposed. We call for prioritizing more systematic and in-depth investigations and surveys, laboratory testing, long-term field monitoring, and numerical modeling studies of the ROW shrubification along oil and gas pipelines in permafrost regions, such as in boreal and arctic zones, as well as in alpine and high-plateau regions. This review can improve our understanding of shrubification mechanisms under pipeline disturbances and climate changes and help to better manage the ecological environment along pipeline corridors in permafrost regions.

Published in Forests

ISSN: 1999-4907 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Botany: Plant ecology
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/

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