Polar ecosystems

 Arctic/Antarctic contrasts
 Tundra - the physical template (climate,
landforms, soils)
 Tundra plant and animal communities
 Winter survival
 Population cycles
 Management issues
 Responses to future climate change
 Arctic(a) vs. Antarctica
 land: 8 X 106 km2  land: 14 X 106 km2
(30% ice) (97% ice)
\ substantial \ no terrestrial food
terrestrial food
\ land mammals \ no land mammals
\ herbivorous & \ no herbivorous or
insectivorous insectivorous birds
birds
 Arctic(a) vs. Antarctica
 not geographically  geographically
isolated isolated
 glacial refuges no? glacial refuges
 ice-free coastal v. restricted ice-
zone in summer free coastal zone in
 relatively high summer
plant and animal low plant and animal
diversity diversity
Tundra ecosystems

“tundra” = treeless barrens

Global distribution of tundra
Arctic ecosystems in Canada

N.Arctic = polar desert

S.Arctic = tundra
 Tundra ecosystems
 Tundra ecosystems are associated
with areas of extreme near-polar
climate which operates either
directly, or through a series of
environmental forcings (primarily
thaw-layer dynamics) to limit
productivity and biodiversity.
 Tundra ecosystems
 Low species diversity may promote
instability. This is expressed by
highly cyclic behaviour.
 Arctic communities are
geologically-recent developments in
the planetary biome landscape.
 Day-length and insolation
at top of atmosphere
600

500 Equator
Insolation

400
(w m-2)

300
40°N
200

100 60°N
90°N
0
J M J S D
daylength
0h 12h 24h 12h 0h
(North Pole)
Tundra climate stations

Barrow

Tiksi

Churchill

Svalbard
Iqaluit

Gulf Stream
 Mean monthly temperatures,
tundra climate stations
15

10

-5 Barrow,AK
Churchill
-10 Iqaluit
Svalbard
-15 Tiksi

-20

-25

-30

-35
J F M A M J J A S O N D
 Mean monthly precipitation
tundra climate stations
70

60

50

40
Barro w,AK
Ti ksi
30 Churchil l
Iq alui t
Svalb ard
20

10

0 Svalb ard
Iq alui t
J F
M Churchil l
A
M Ti ksi
J
J
A Barro w,AK
S
O
N
D
 Synoptic climatology
(after Reid Bryson)
Bering Sea
ice

ARCTIC
airmass

Treeline

Mean position of Polar Front (July)

Frost-free days

Treeline
Mean annual snowfall (mm)

Treeline
 Permafrost
distribution
(note transect lines and
presence of sub-sea
permafrost)
Alaska

Siberia
 mean location
Jan tree July Polar Front
growth
120 30 mean #d >10°C
150 60 frost-free days
pollen/seed
150 viability 240 mean #d <0°C

Boreal forest Tundra

patchy discontinuous continuous

Permafrost
The critical thaw period

~40 d

~70 d
Data from Barrow, AK
Microclimatology: slope and aspect

forest?
Vigorous tree growth on south-
facing slopes near treeline
 Polar montane
environments:
freeze-thaw
weathering -
felsenmeer and
talus cones
Polar uplands:
thaw-layer
dynamics and
solifluction
Polar lowlands
 Cryoturbation and patterned ground

Quick Time™ and a

TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

sedges,
dwarf shrubs,
lichens
grasses
 Frost polygons: note unvegetated
‘boils’ and standing water in cracks
 Tundra floras
(product of late Tertiary cooling and
landbridges during glacial phases?

Centre-of-origin?

Alpine highlands
of NE Asia

Davis Strait “gap”

(major floristic contrast)
Topography Tundra Flora Thaw Organic
type depth layer (m)
(m)
rocky, well- Heath evergreen >2 <0.1
drained shrubs
ridges
gently Tussock Eriophorum 0.3-0.5 <0.3
rolling
flat Wet graminoids 0.2-0.3 0.1-0.5
lowlands sedge
well- Shrub deciduous >1 thin?
drained shrubs
alluvial
sites
 Tundra vegetation-soil catenas
Felsen-
Sedge Shrub Sedge Tussock Heath meer

Depth (m)
0 organics
sandy silty soil silty soil
soil rocky
1
soil

permafrost
2
Felsenmeer vegetation
dominated by lichens
 Evergreen heath tundra

Dominated by Ericaceae (heaths), such as Cassiope

Heath tundra is floristically more
diverse than other tundra types
Tussock tundra
(dominated by
Eriophorum)
[cotton grass]
 Wet sedge
tundra:
dominated by
graminoids (e.g.
Carex, Dupontia)
Animal life
 Surviving winter
Strategy Organisms
 Distant migration birds
 Local migration caribou
 Above snow-pack
heavy insulation
muskox, polar bear
protective colouring
 Below snow-pack arctic fox, ptarmigan
 Hibernation lemmings, voles
Dormant phase ground squirrels
plants, insects
Are cyclical
population
dynamics
(~4 yr period)
a product of
simple food
webs?
(note difference in time
scales)

Vole data: N. Finland

Lemming data: N. Norway
Lemming distribution
 The tundra phosphorus cycle
Forage (%P) 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.6
quality
Litter layer thin
•• thick
•• ••
K N P Ca K
Ca N K Ca
Active layer P N
P K
P Ca
N

Permafrost

lemmings/ha 2-12 2-12 40-50 180-200

jaegers uncommon uncommon breeding breeding

(pairs/km2) no breeding no breeding 10 40-50
snowy owls scarce scarce breeding breeding
(pairs/km2) no breeding no breeding 0.1 0.2
shorteared absent absent 1 record 10/km2
owls
 Caribou dynamics

The ANWR
debate
 Porcupine herd migrations:
radio-collared females at calving grounds on Arctic
Alaska coastal plain
Winter feeding grounds in Yukon,
Porcupine caribou herd (1998-99)
 Snow goose dynamics

devegetated
area
birds
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Lesser snow goose flock

~4 M geese breed in the
marshes of the Jeffries et al., 2006. J. Ecol. 94, 234-242.
Canadian Arctic
 Impacts of snow goose overgrazing
reduced
Intense grubbing and
grazing by snowgeese graminoid
growth

increased
soil salinity

reduced
graminoid
biomass
drying of
surface soil
Effects of snow goose grazing and grubbing
(James Bay)

Puccinellia

Salicornia
Potential effects of climate change

Is climate change occurring in Arctic

environments?
- climate records short
- biotic data fragmentary
Simulation models
Field experiments
 Recent (post-1950) climate
change in polar regions
Arctic:
• Reduction in sea ice extent and thickness
• Northward treeline shifts (e.g. E. coast Hudson Bay)
• Increased lake productivity (e.g. Ellesmere Island)
• Range expansions (e.g. dragonflies - Inuvik - 2000)
Antarctic:
• Ice shelf disintegration (e.g. N. Larsen & Wordie Shelf)
• Spread of flowering plants (e.g. Antarctic hairgrass has
expanded its range 25-fold since 1964)
• New lichen species colonizing recently deglaciated areas
Climate
change
 Climate change in the western Canadian arctic
Inuvik, NWT

30
Monthly Max. Temp. (°C)
Mean Ann. Temp. (°C)
20 Monthly Min. Temp. (°C)

10
Temperature (°C)

-10

-20

-30

-40
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year

Data: Environment Canada

 Climate change in the western Canadian arctic
Inuvik, NWT

400

350

300
Precipitation (mm)

250

200

150

100

Total Precip. (mm)

50
Snow (mm; water equivalent)

0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
Data: Environment Canada
 Climate change in the eastern Canadian arctic
Iqaluit, Nunavut

20 Monthly Max Temp (°C)

Mean Ann. Temp. (°C)
Monthly Min Temp (°C)

10

0
Temperature (°C)

-10

-20

-30

-40
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
Data: Environment Canada
 Climate change in the eastern Canadian arctic

Iqaluit, Nunavut

700
Total Precip. (mm)

600 Snow (mm; water

equivalent)

500
Precipitation (mm)

400

300

200

100

0
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
Data: Environment Canada
 Sea-ice
extent,
Arctic
and Antarctic
oceans

Source: www.metoffice.gov.uk/.../ images/figure5.jpg

Source: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment website
 The
Arctic
of the
future
 Field
experiments:
ITEX sites
 Impacts of climatic warming
(ITEX results [1997])

reduced evergreen
shrub competitiveness

Increased air increased reduced

temperature graminoid plant
increased abundance diversity
plant
productivity
inc. seed
weight and
viability