Climatic conditionality of radial increment of conifers and hardwoods in the middle taiga subzone of Central Siberia

Presented are the dendroclimatic research results on annual growth rings of spruce, fir, pine, birch and aspen growing in the middle taiga subzone of Central Siberia. The study established the general annual growth ring variability patterns for the conifers (spruce and fir) as well as for the hardwoods (birch and aspen), with the correlation coefficients between their chronologies estimated at 0.38 and 0.46 (p < 0.001), respectively. It is shown that under the given conditions the influence of the climatic factors accounts not more than for 53.5% of the variability in radial increment. For pine this influence is less clearly pronounced because of the content of the more mixed (compared with the other species of this territory) climatic signal. It is found that the temperature conditions of June are of first importance for all species under investigation. For birch and aspen the dependence of radial increment on the amount of precipitation in June is explained by moisture depletion at the period of the most active growth.     

Holocene regional and local vegetation history and lake-level changes in the Torneträsk area, northern Sweden

A combination of pollen and macrofossil analyses from six lakes at altitudes between 370 and 999 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in the Torneträsk area reflect the Holocene vegetation history. The main field study area has been the Abisko valley at altitudes around 400 m a.s.l. The largest lake, Vuolep Njakajaure has annually laminated (varved) sediments. The chronology and sedimentation rates in the pollen-influx calculations are based on varve yrs in this lake and on radiocarbon dated terrestrial plant macrofossils in the other lakes. A strong increase of mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. tortuosa) during the early Holocene with a tree-line c. 300 m above the present, indicates that the summer temperature was c. 1.5 °C higher than today, assuming that the land uplift has been 100 m since then. Scattered stands of pine (Pinus sylvestris) may have been growing in the area immediately after the deglaciation but a forest consisting of pine and mountain birch expanded first at low elevations and reached the eastern parts of the Torneträsk area at c. 8300 cal BP and the western parts at c. 7600 cal BP. The highest pine-birch forest limit was not reached until 6300 cal BP (110 m above present pine limit). Warm and dry conditions during the pine forest maximum led to lowering of the water level documented in Lake Badsjön in the Abisko valley about 1-1.5 m lower than today. Pine and mountain birch were growing at the maximum altitude until c. 4500 cal BP. Assuming that land uplift has been in the range of 20-40 m since the mid-Holocene, this implies that the temperature was then c. 1.5-2 °C higher than today. Rising lake-levels and lowering limits of pine and mountain birch since c. 4500 cal BP indicate a more humid and cool climate during the late Holocene.     

Recent environmental changes inferred from the sediments of small lakes in Yellowstone's northern range

Recent sediments of eight small lakes in the northern winter range of Yellowstone National Park were cored to examine stratigraphic records of past changes in limnology and local environment that might be attributed to grazing and other activities of elk, bison, and other large ungulates. Cores of undisturbed sediment were analyzed at close intervals to depths covering the last 100–150 years according to chronologies established by lead-210 dating. Pollen analyses were made to show change in regional vegetation, and diatom and geochemical analyses were made to reveal possible limnological changes resulting from soil erosion and nutrient input from the lake catchments.Variations in sedimentary components prior to establishment of the Park in 1872 indicate some natural variability in environmental factors e.g., erosional inputs in landslide areas west of Gardiner. All lakes had abundant nutrient inputs.After the Park was founded, fire suppression may have been responsible for small increases in pollen percentages of various conifers and Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush) at different times in different lakes. Perceptible decreases in pollen of willow, aspen, alder, and birch at different times may reflect local ungulate browsing, although drier climatic conditions may have been a factor as well.The most striking manifestation of accelerated erosion in a catchment was found at a lake located beside a road constructed in the 1930s. In contrast to changes at this site, the record of erosion at other lakes is hardly perceptible. Changes in sediment-accumulation rates seen at most sites result from redistribution of sediment within the lake after initial deposition.In the century following Park establishment, the abundance of planktonic diatoms relative to benthic taxa varies among lakes and may reflect differential nutrient inputs or changes in lake level. Four of the five lakes analyzed for diatoms show in the last few decades an increase in planktonic relative to benthic species, implying elevated nutrient inputs. The recent flora, however, is similar to that in pre-Park levels which suggests that these lakes have not been perturbed outside their normal range. Increased nutrient supply in recent decades for at least two of the lakes is supported by the geochemical data, which show an increase in biogenic silica and in organic matter.As a whole, our investigation of the sedimentary record does not support the hypothesis that ungulate grazing has had a strong direct or indirect effect on the vegetation and soil stability in the lake catchments or on the water quality of the lakes.     

Spatial and temporal patterns of fires in tropical savannas of Indonesia

This paper examines spatial and temporal patterns of large to medium‐sized fires across the Indonesian Archipelago using remote sensing, particularly the MODIS fire products, over a 14 years period (2000–13 inclusive) in conjunction with climatic and land data in a GIS. Results showed fires (burned area and number of fires) were detected the most in year 2002 and least in 2010. The extent of burning was correlated with the annual Southern Oscillation Index with most burning occurring during times of sustained negative SOI values, which generally means drier conditions across the region. Most of the detected fires occurred in the middle of the dry season and in drier eastern Indonesia. Across Indonesia, approximately 1.5 per cent of available open vegetation area burned, whereas only 0.5 per cent of forest area burned. Most open vegetation burning was detected in the savanna with an area equivalent to 11.1 per cent of its extent being burned over the 14 years. On Sumba Island, where the pronounced dry season extends for at least four months, open vegetation is the most common land cover type, of which 99 per cent burned by area over the study period making it the island with the most burned areas in the Indonesian Archipelago.     

The Impact Of Extreme Summer Melt on Net Accumulation of an Avalanche Fed Glacier,as Determined by Ground‐Penetrating Radar

Glacier mass balance is more sensitive to warming than cooling, but feedbacks related to the exposure of previously buried firn and ice in very warm years is not generally considered in sensitivity studies. A ground‐penetrating radar survey in the accumulation area of Rolleston Glacier, New Zealand shows that five years of previous net accumulation was removed by melt from parts of the glacier above the long‐term equilibrium line altitude during a single negative mass balance year. Rolleston Glacier receives a large amount of accumulation from snow avalanches, which may temporarily buffer it from climate warming by providing additional mass that has accumulated at higher elevations, effectively increasing the elevation range of the glacier. However, glaciers reliant on avalanche input may have high sensitivity to climatic variations because the extra mass is concentrated on a small part of the glacier, and small variations in avalanche input could have a large impact on overall glacier accumulation. Further research is needed to better estimate the amount and spatial distribution of accumulation by avalanche in order to quantify the climate sensitivity of small avalanche‐fed glaciers.     

Spatial Patterns and Structure of the Mountain Birch Tree-Limit in the Southern Swedish Scandes – A Regional Perspective

Altitudinal tree- and forest-limits of mountain birch ( Betula pubescens Ehrh. ssp. tortuosa (Ledeb.) Nyman) were measured (m a.s.l.) on 229 sites forming a regional network of sites intended for long-term monitoring. Regional and local topographical variables used for correlations with the recorded elevations included slope aspect, inclination, morphology, snow depth and shortest distance to the sea. No relationship between past human utilization of natural resources and the vertical extension (width) and position of the tree-limit ecotone was found and thus the ecotone is regarded as natural. It is concluded that tree- and forest-limit altitudes are regionally controlled by macroclimate, and correlate negatively with the degree of maritimity. On a more local scale, snow conditions, and microtopography, are important for tree- and forest-limit altitudinal position. The ecotone is wider in snow accumulation areas than in deflation areas, and tree- and forest-limit altitudes are generally higher on slopes with a varied micro-topography than on flat slopes. Slope aspect and inclination are also important, and the highest tree- and forest-limit altitudes are generally found on steep, SE-W-facing slopes. Tree height at the tree-limit is independent of the analysed topographical parameters and fairly constant at 2.7 m, suggesting a strong common environmental control. Many of the results presented in this paper are confirmations of the results of earlier, small-scale investigations or of surveys lacking statistically treated data.     

Widespread Occurrence of Ephemeral Funnel Hoarfrost and Related Air Ventilation in Coarse‐Grained Sediments of a Relict Rock Glacier in the Seckauer Tauern Range,Austria

This paper examines the occurrence of ephemeral hoarfrost crystals at funnel openings (funnel hoarfrost) detected between large blocks at the surface of the presumably relict Schöneben Rock Glacier. Field mapping on 25 November 2011 identified 51 individual funnel openings with notable hoarfrost crystals distributed over the entire rock glacier. Hoarfrost was no longer detectable a few days after the initial mapping campaign. At least in the period 20–25 November 2011 temperature conditions at the rock glacier surface were favourable for hoarfrost formation and preservation as indicated by different types of measurements. A period of 24–48 h of hoarfrost‐suitable weather conditions would have been sufficient to form the observed hoarfrost if crystal growth rates of 2–4 mm h^?1 are assumed. The void systems with funnel hoarfrost seem to be rather localised and limited in horizontal (10s of metres) and vertical (some metres) extent. Presumably the observed funnel hoarfrost was caused by the so‐called chimney effect, although no larger reversible air circulation systems with warm air exhalation were identified. Continuous ground temperature data from several sites at the rock glacier surface (period November 2011–December 2012) showed that hoarfrost sites are cooler and thermally buffered compared with non‐hoarfrost sites at similar elevations. This seems to be related to the decoupling of the air above the rock glacier and the pore air during periods of atmospheric warming. Only the combination of specific micro‐climatic (temperature/humidity), geometric (open void systems) and sedimentological (grain size/sediment structure) conditions allow the formation of the ephemeral funnel hoarfrost at this rock glacier.     

When Fields Revert to Forest: Development and Spontaneous Reforestation in Post‐War Puerto Rico

During the past 50 years forests have recolonized extensive areas of Puerto Rico. Between 1950 and 1990 forest cover increased from 9% to 37% of the island's land area. In proportional terms more land has reverted to forest in Puerto Rico than anywhere else on earth during the second half of the twentieth century. This paper explores the geography of this process by matching changes in land cover with the characteristics of the land and communities in Puerto Rico. The reversion of agricultural lands to forest occurred most frequently in humid, upland, coffee‐growing regions characterized by heavy out‐migration and populations of smallholders who earned some of their income from off‐farm sources. These findings suggest that changes in non‐farm labor markets, as well as changes in the political economy of agriculture, have important impacts on the prospects for converting agricultural lands into forests.     

基于微博大数据的气候变化对中国赏樱旅游的影响

研究气候变化对生态系统旅游和休闲功能的影响是旅游地理学的重要领域。本文发展和优化了基于Logistic曲线从微博大数据中提取赏樱旅游活动开展时间的方法,并从2879033条与樱花相关的新浪微博大数据中筛选出587891条有效微博,进而提取和重建了中国2010—2019年赏樱旅游活动时间数据集,该数据集通过了物候站点观测数据和与温度响应关系的验证。在此基础上分析了过去10 a中国21个城市赏樱旅游活动始日、末日和持续期的时空格局,并模拟和预测了SSP2-4.5和SSP5-8.5两种气候情景下,2020—2050年中国赏樱旅游活动时间的变化趋势。结果表明：① 过去10 a,全国大部分城市赏樱旅游活动始日提前（占比61.9%）,末日提前（占比76.2%）,持续期缩短（占比52.4%）。纬度每升高1°,始日、末日分别推迟0.286 d（P < 0.01）和0.394 d（P < 0.01）,持续期缩短0.286 d（P > 0.05）。② 未来气候情景下,大部分城市赏樱旅游活动始日和末日提前,持续期延长。SSP5-8.5情景对赏樱旅游活动的影响比SSP2-4.5情景更明显。本文的方法和框架能够为气候变化对特定旅游活动的影响研究提供基于大数据视角的参考。     

LATE QUATERNARY CHANGES IN PINYON AND JUNIPER DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE WHITE MOUNTAIN REGION OF CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA

Data from packrat middens are used to reconstruct the migration of single-leaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) in the White Mountain region of California and Nevada for the last 20,000 years. Today this region is characterized by arid conditions with dry summers. Pinyon woodlands, which are favored by dry summer conditions, are dominant at middle elevations of the White Mountains. The midden record indicates that during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, juniper was dominant at elevations now occupied by desert shrubs. A late Pleistocene-early Holocene record of desert shrubs was found only in the double rainshadow of the Sierra Nevada and the White Mountains. Pinyon entered the area during the Holocene (ca. 9000 yr B.P.) and subsequently became more important than juniper. During the late Holocene, desert shrubs became established at the lower elevation sites that they now occupy. The late Pleistocene-early Holocene record indicates that there may have been a more zonal upper-level wind flow and associated penetration of Pacific moisture, as indicated by the occurrence of desert shrubs downwind of the north-south-trending mountain ranges. Zonal flow probably became less important during the early Holocene based on the increasing amount of pinyon. The increase in pinyon also may indicate a change from an even seasonal distribution of precipitation to the dry summer conditions presently found in the region. [Key words: biogeography, packrat middens, Great Basin paleoenvironments, Pinus monophylla, Juniperus osteosperma, White Mountains.]     

Comparative Rates of Western Juniper Afforestation in South‐Central Oregon and the Role of Anthropogenic Disturbance*

We examine changes in canopy cover for adult western juniper from the 1960s to 1994 in central Oregon using repeat aerial photography. We compare changes at four sites with a land‐use history of minimal anthropogenic disturbance to changes on adjacent sites that have a disturbance history more typical of central Oregon rangelands. Canopy cover increased at all sites, but afforestation on sites with domestic livestock grazing was greater. The potential driving forces common to all sites include a long fire‐free interval, early twentieth‐century favorable climatic conditions, biological inertia, and atmospheric CO₂ enrichment.     

Predicting gully rejuvenation after wildfire using remotely sensed burn severity data

The loss of surface vegetation and reduced infiltration caused by wildfires can trigger gully rejuvenation, resulting in damage to downstream aquatic resources and risk to human life and property. We developed a spatially explicit metric of burn severity — the Burn Severity Distribution Index (BSDI) — and tested its ability to predict post-fire gully rejuvenation in 1st and 2nd order basins burned in the 2000 Valley Complex fires in the Sapphire Mountains of western Montana. The BSDI was derived from burn severity data interpreted from Landsat 7 satellite imagery using the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) method, and ranged from 0.0 for completely unburned basins to 4.0 for basins burned entirely at high severity. In July 2001 rainstorms with peak 30-minute intensities of up to 17 mm h^− 1 triggered gully rejuvenation in 66 of the 171 basins examined. The frequency of gully rejuvenation was higher in basins with higher BSDI values, increasing from zero for basins with a BSDI less than 1.3 to 67% for basins with a BSDI greater than 3.0. Binary logistic regression indicated that BSDI was a more significant predictor of gully rejuvenation than basin morphometric variables. The absence of gully rejuvenation in several basins with a high BSDI was attributed to low gradient, dense riparian vegetation, or concentration of high burn severity at lower elevations in the basin. The presence of gully rejuvenation in several basins with a low BSDI was associated with false negative NBR classification errors in northwest aspects, and concentration of severe burn impacts in the drainage headslopes. BSDI is a useful metric for predicting gully rejuvenation after wildfire. The use of the BSDI in Burned Area Emergency Response team assessments could improve the planning, implementation, and monitoring of burned area recovery treatments.     

HOLOCENE CARBONATE PRECIPITATES ON PRECAMBRIAN BEDROCK IN THE HIGH ARCTIC: AGE AND POTENTIAL FOR PALAEOCLIMATIC INFORMATION

ABSTRACT. Crusts of white carbonate precipitate occur commonly on the upper surfaces of glacially sculptured Precambrian granites and gneisses in east-central Ellesmere Island. Radiocarbon dating of 21 such carbonate precipitates, from elevations between 50 m and 1050 m a.s.l., has yielded only Holocene ages. Two samples from Ellesmere Island, plus one from Inglefield Land, Greenland, have calibrated ages over 5000 years, the rest are younger. The formation of these deposits, mainly calcite and characterized by unusually heavy δ¹³C ratios (+3.36 to +15.18‰), has apparently been aided in some cases by the presence of bacteria, and some crusts seem to have developed where Ca-bearing minerals are more prevalent. In the case of Bache Peninsula and Cape Herschel, where the carbonate crusts are particularly abundant, the presence of calcareous till may have played a role as well. The carbonate crusts may be related to the presence of small, thin carapace ice caps, when such features formed at lower elevations than those at which they exist today. The more extensive cover of ice and snow is postulated to have existed during the latter, cooler part of the Holocene, especially during the period from 2500 to 100 years ago, deduced as a period of low melt from ice core studies on the Agassiz Ice Cap, 200 km to the north. The existence of carapace ice caps at lower elevations also agrees with the radiocarbon evidence for outlet glacier advances during the last 2000 years on both east and west margins of the Prince of Wales Icefield. Alternatively, the white carbonate crusts may be, to a large degree, the result of weathering processes. In either case they provide minimum ages for the exposed, ice-sculptured rock surfaces on which they occur.     

Characteristics of Autumn Precipitation Trends in the Northeastern United States

Previous research has shown that the northeastern United States experienced a significant increase in precipitation during the twentieth century, especially during the autumn. This shift toward wetter conditions can be explained by examining trends in daily precipitation characteristics. Early season precipitation changes in the western portion of the study area were associated with increases in the frequency of precipitation‐days. Later in the season a coincident increase in precipitation‐day intensity enhanced these trends. Tropical storms had little influence on autumn precipitation increases. The study suggests that, instead, changes in regional atmospheric circulation may be responsible for changing precipitation characteristics.     

Towards a genealogy of tropical architecture: Historical fragments of power‐knowledge,built environment and climate in the British colonial territories

In this paper, we trace the history of tropical architecture beyond its supposed founding moment, that is, its institutionalization and naming‐as‐such, in the mid‐twentieth century. We note that many of the planning principles, spatial configurations and environmental technologies of tropical architecture could be traced to knowledge and practices from the eighteenth century onwards, and we explore three pre‐1950s moments of ‘tropical architecture’ in the British empire through building types such as the bungalow, military barrack and labourers' housing in the tropics. Unlike the depoliticized technical discourse of tropical architecture in the mid‐twentieth century, this earlier history shows that so‐called tropical architecture was inextricably entangled with medical and racial discourses, biopolitics and the political economy of colonialism. We argue that tropical architecture should not be understood as an entity with a fixed essence that is overdetermined by a timeless and unchanging external tropical nature. Rather, tropical architecture should be understood as a set of shifting discourses that privilege tropical nature, especially climate, in various ways as the prime determinant of built form according to different constellations of sociocultural and technoscientific conditions. We thus see ‘tropical architecture’ not as a depoliticized entity but as a power‐knowledge configuration inextricably linked to asymmetrical colonial power relations.     

Mallee vegetation: steady state or successional?

Two stands of mallee vegetation, one last burned in 1945 and the other at the turn of the century, were surveyed during the 1960s and again in 1984. Over this interval patch area and geography, species composition and relative abundance remained the same but standing crop evidently increased by a quarter: the increase was from 20,800 to 26,200 kg per hectare for the older of the two stands. It is suggested that the vegetation dynamics of both stands are not well described by classic succession theory. Rather, events during and in the months immediately following fire appear to have an overriding impact upon vegetation composition and structure for decades thereafter.     

Assessing the social context of wildfire-affected areas. The case of mainland Portugal

Wildfires cause different impacts, depending on the conditions and resilience level of the exposed communities. Wildfire occurrence in mainland Portugal was assessed with regard to socioeconomic and demographic parameters, to identify the most distinctive conditions of fire-affected areas, without implying the existence of causal relationships. The latest population and agriculture census data were used to retrieve conditions at the civil parish level, regarding demographic patterns, social and labor conditions, physical structures and agricultural activities. To identify differences between parishes, two groups were created with the communities that showed the highest and lowest 20% of wildfire incidence between 2007 and 2014, separately for density of fire events and for burned area. A stepwise approach based on classification trees and random Forest methods was applied to identify the best discriminant variables between the groups. First, irrelevant variables were removed by an interactive process based on misclassification rates. The second step used random Forest analysis to the remaining variables to evaluate their importance in distinguishing the groups. In the final step, cluster analysis was applied to test the correspondence between the clusters created with the selected variables and the initial groups. Results showed that parishes with higher fire density have higher population density, higher proportion of young and educated people, larger families and more overcrowded buildings. On the contrary, parishes with larger burned area are less populated, less attractive to foreigners, have a higher proportion of elderly people, more degraded housing conditions and agricultural activities, visible in the density of sheep and goat and pastures, are still relevant. The cluster analysis demonstrated a better performance of the model for wildfire density, revealing a strong association with socioeconomic dynamics with an agreement above 0.85, much higher than for burned areas which is 0.29. Overall, the spatial distribution of wildfire impacts is framed by societal settings and particular conditions must be further understood to improve the coping capacity of affected communities.     

Elevation, Age, Soil Development, and Chemical Weathering at Storbreen, Jotunheimen, Norway

Chemical weathering and associated soil development trends on glacial forelands are commonly assumed to exhibit increases with time elapsed since glaciation. However, this gross trend is complicated by several other factors including elevation, aspect, and microtopography. This paper demonstrates that on the glacial foreland at Storbreen, Jotunheimen, Norway, chemical weathering and associated soil development trends show significant elevational influences. We sampled soils at shallow depths (0–1, 1–5, and 15–20 cm) at two sites on a moraine dated to 1750 at its elevational extremes of 1155 m (site L) and 1385 m (site H). The two moraine sites also differed developmentally from an adjacent 9000-year-old surface (site T) at an intermediate elevation, 1205 m. Analyses were conducted on the fine-earth fractions. Extractable elemental composition exhibited detectable differences between the same-age soils at different elevations with the lower site L tending to have measured parameters intermediate between the high site H and the older site T. Weathering, as indicated by mineralogy, was more pronounced at the 9000-year-old site T and least evident at the high elevation site H. In addition, elevation under the conditions of the field research may inhibit pedogenesis as indicated by the chemical data. Site H, for example, showed little variation with depth and had in general, less organic matter accumulation, smaller C:N ratio, greater pH, and lesser amounts of the measured extractable elements than the soil at site L. Site T generally had smaller pH and larger levels of the measured elements than the other sites. It was concluded that elevation has a significant control on weathering and pedogenesis that may mask the effects of age in this cold and wet environment.     

基于Landsat时间序列遥感数据的华北平原农田火烧迹地检测与制图

以河南省漯河市、周口市和驻马店市交界处为研究区,基于2000年10月~2011年12月间的101幅图像,采用谐波模型和断点识别算法拟合Landsat时间序列实现对过火像元的检测,并将结果与目视解译结果、MODIS火烧迹地产品MCD64A1检测结果对比进行精度分析。结果表明：① 随着燃烧面积指数BAI (Burned Area Index)异常值阈值增大,焚烧火点误判误差减小,漏判误差增大,火烧迹地制图的总体精度先增大后减小;② 当BAI异常值阈值2.9×RMSE（Root Mean Square Error）时,该方法总体精度达到最高93.25%,MCD64A1产品总体精度为70.25%;③ 本文算法的漏判误差和误判误差相对平衡,而MCD64A1产品的漏判误差远大于误判误差。研究表明,相比MODIS火烧迹地产品数据,Landsat时间序列火烧迹地法可更有效地检测农田火烧迹地。     

Evaluating Volumetric Glacier Change Methods Using Airborne Laser Scanning Data

Assessments of geodetic volume change are widely used in glaciology and have a long tradition dating back to the nineteenth century. Over time, the geodetic method and corresponding data storage have been developed further, but the resulting methodological heterogeneity can lead to errors that are difficult to separate from other survey uncertainties. In this study we used high‐resolution airborne laser scanning data from the Findelengletscher in the Swiss Alps to evaluate state‐of‐the‐art volumetric glacier change methods. For the first time we have been able to simulate errors arising from different geodetic methods and spatial resolutions. The evaluation showed that, although the digital elevation models were perfectly co‐registered, systematic and random method‐ and scale‐dependent errors still occurred. These errors have an impact on the resulting volume changes at lower spatial resolutions and may lead to exponentially larger uncertainties. Volume changes from contour methods provided reasonably accurate results, while volumetric change assessments from central profile lines were especially prone to biases at any scale.