Influence of changed vegetations fields on regional climate simulations in the Barents Sea Region

Göttel, Holger; Alexander, Jörn; Keup-Thiel, Elke; Rechid, Diana; Hagemann, Stefan; Blome, Tanja; Wolf, Annett; Jacob, Daniela

doi:10.1007/s10584-007-9341-5

Cited by 30 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…The influences on the climate from the biogeophysical effects caused by land cover changes can enhance or reduce the projected climate change (Bathiany et al, 2010;Bonan, 2008;Feddema et al, 2005;Gálos et al, 2011;Göttel et al, 2008;Ge and Zou, 2013;Pielke et al, 2011Pielke et al, , 1998Pitman, 2003). Especially for the climate impacts of past large-scale afforestation, studies show that the most obvious effects of the increase of forests in boreal areas are warming during snow-cover periods due to decreased surface albedo and cooling in summertime from increased evapotranspiration (ET) in tropical areas with sufficient soil moisture (Bala et al, 2007;Betts, 2000;Betts et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeophysical impacts of peatland forestation on regional climate changes in Finland

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Land cover changes can impact the climate by influencing the surface energy and water balance. Naturally treeless or sparsely treed peatlands were extensively drained to stimulate forest growth in Finland over the second half of 20th century. The aim of this study is to investigate the biogeophysical effects of peatland forestation on regional climate in Finland. Two sets of 18-year climate simulations were done with the regional climate model REMO by using land cover data based on pre-drainage (1920s) and postdrainage (2000s) Finnish national forest inventories. In the most intensive peatland forestation area, located in the middle west of Finland, the results show a warming in April of up to 0.43 K in monthly-averaged daily mean 2 m air temperature, whereas a slight cooling from May to October of less than 0.1 K in general is found. Consequently, snow clearance days over that area are advanced up to 5 days in the mean of 15 years. No clear signal is found for precipitation. Through analysing the simulated temperature and energy balance terms, as well as snow depth over five selected subregions, a positive feedback induced by peatland forestation is found between decreased surface albedo and increased surface air temperature in the snow-melting period. Our modelled results show good qualitative agreements with the observational data. In general, decreased surface albedo in the snow-melting period and increased evapotranspiration in the growing period are the most important biogeophysical aspects induced by peatland forestation that cause changes in climate. The results from this study can be further integrally analysed with biogeochemical effects of peatland forestation to provide background information for adapting future forest management to mitigate climate warming effects. Moreover, they provide insights about the impacts of projected forestation of tundra at high latitudes due to climate change.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeophysical impacts of peatland forestation on regional climate changes in Finland

et al. 2014

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“…At high latitudes, feedbacks resulting from changes in albedo (reflectance of incoming solar radiation) associated with shrub expansion and treeline advance have received particular attention. A number of climate model-based studies have concluded that the decline in albedo resulting from the masking of snow by protruding trees and tall shrubs could amplify warming in affected areas to a degree comparable seasonally with the direct anthropogenic forcing of climate (Betts 2000;Claussen et al 2001;Göttel et al 2008;Wramneby et al 2010;Matthes et al 2012Bonfils et al 2012. Additional feedback mechanisms involving the effects of ecosystem changes on evapotranspiration and carbon balance are in general predicted to further amplify warming (Swann et al 2010;Koven et al 2011, Bonfils et al 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Tundra Vegetation Response to Recent Arctic Warming

Miller

Smith

2012

AMBIO

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The Arctic land area has warmed by [1°C in the last 30 years and there is evidence that this has led to increased productivity and stature of tundra vegetation and reduced albedo, effecting a positive (amplifying) feedback to climate warming. We applied an individual-based dynamic vegetation model over the Arctic forced by observed climate and atmospheric CO 2 for 1980-2006. Averaged over the study area, the model simulated increases in primary production and leaf area index, and an increasing representation of shrubs and trees in vegetation. The main underlying mechanism was a warming-driven increase in growing season length, enhancing the production of shrubs and trees to the detriment of shaded ground-level vegetation. The simulated vegetation changes were estimated to correspond to a 1.75 % decline in snow-season albedo. Implications for modelling future climate impacts on Arctic ecosystems and for the incorporation of biogeophysical feedback mechanisms in Arctic system models are discussed.

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“…However, the conclusions of both Kaplan et al (2010) and Boyle et al (2011) remain an open question as the emission estimates are not compatible with current understanding of the global carbon cycle and records from ice cores. (Göttel et al 2008) and northernmost Europe (Wramneby et al 2010;Smith et al 2011). The most significant feedback associated with forest expansion at these latitudes is expected to be the albedo feedback (warming) that is likely to be strong enough to offset the climate gains from the increased carbon sequestration in these forests.…”

Section: Before Ad 1850mentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes of Regional Change—Land Cover

Gaillard

Kleinen

Samuelsson

et al. 2015

Regional Climate Studies

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Anthropogenic land-cover change (ALCC) is one of the few climate forcings for which the net direction of the climate response over the last two centuries is still not known. The uncertainty is due to the often counteracting temperature responses to the many biogeophysical effects and to the biogeochemical versus biogeophysical effects. Palaeoecological studies show that the major transformation of the landscape by anthropogenic activities in the southern zone of the Baltic Sea basin occurred between 6000 and 3000/2500 cal year BP. The only modelling study of the biogeophysical effects of past ALCCs on regional climate in north-western Europe suggests that deforestation between 6000 and 200 cal year BP may have caused significant change in winter and summer temperature. There is no indication that deforestation in the Baltic Sea area since AD 1850 would have been a major cause of the recent climate warming in the region through a positive biogeochemical feedback. Several model studies suggest that boreal reforestation might not be an effective climate warming mitigation tool as it might lead to increased warming through biogeophysical processes.

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Influence of changed vegetations fields on regional climate simulations in the Barents Sea Region

Cited by 30 publications

References 43 publications

Biogeophysical impacts of peatland forestation on regional climate changes in Finland

Biogeophysical impacts of peatland forestation on regional climate changes in Finland

Modelling Tundra Vegetation Response to Recent Arctic Warming

Causes of Regional Change—Land Cover

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