SPRUCE Manual Phenology Observations and Photographs Beginning in 2010

Heiderman, Ryan R.; Nettles, W. R.; Ontl, Todd A.; Latimer, John M.; Richardson, Andrew D.; Hanson, P. J.

doi:10.25581/spruce.054/1444106

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…And, while other factors may be involved, observational data at SPRUCE anecdotally support this risk. Following the low-snow winter of 2020-2021 at SPRUCE, ground phenology surveys noted extensive Chamaedaphne shoot dieback by early April in both of the +6.75°C plots and both of the +9°C plots, but not in any of the reference, control, or +2.25°C plots (Heiderman et al, 2018). Snow in the +9°C plots had largely disappeared by the beginning of February, but this was followed by extreme cold (minima below 20°C) for 10 days mid-month, and then episodic freezing events with nighttime lows below 5°C in early March, mid-March, and early April, all of which could have contributed to foliar damage on plants that were either not insulated by snow, or had prematurely lost frost hardiness.…”

Section: Impacts On Vegetation and Soilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Whole‐Ecosystem Warming Enables Novel Estimation of Snow Cover and Depth Sensitivities to Temperature, and Quantification of the Snow‐Albedo Feedback Effect

Richardson,

Schädel,

Westergaard‐Nielsen

et al. 2024

JGR Biogeosciences

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Climate change is reducing the amount, duration, and extent of snow across high‐latitude ecosystems. But, in landscapes where persistent winter snow cover develops, experimental platforms to specifically investigate interactions between warming and changes in snowpack, and impacts on ecosystem processes, have been lacking. We leveraged a whole‐ecosystem warming experiment in a boreal peatland forest to quantify how snow duration, depth, and fractional cover vary with warming of up to +9°C. We found that every snow‐related quantity we examined declined precipitously as the amount of warming increased. The importance of deep, continuous snow cover for moderating shallow soil temperature is highlighted by an increase in soil temperature variance and the frequency of short‐duration freeze‐thaw cycles in the warmer plots. We used a paired‐plot approach to estimate the magnitude of the snow‐albedo feedback effect, and demonstrate that albedo‐driven warming linked to reduced snow cover varies between December (+0.4°C increase in maximum air temperature) and March (+1.2°C increase) because of differences in insolation. Overall, results show that even modest future warming will have profound impacts on northern winters and cold‐season ecosystem processes. Plot‐level data from this warming experiment, and emergent relationships between warming and quantities related to snow cover and duration, could be of enormous value for testing and improving the representation of snow processes in simulation models, especially under future climate scenarios that are outside of the range of historically observed variability.

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Section: Impacts On Vegetation and Soilsmentioning

confidence: 99%