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Title: Deciduous trees are a large and overlooked sink for snowmelt water in the boreal forest

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep29504· OSTI ID:1313012
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK (United States); Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
  2. Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
  3. NOAA National Weather Service, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The terrestrial water cycle contains large uncertainties that impact our understanding of water budgets and climate dynamics. Water storage is a key uncertainty in the boreal water budget, with tree water storage often ignored. The goal of this study is to quantify tree water content during the snowmelt and growing season periods for Alaskan and western Canadian boreal forests. Deciduous trees reached saturation between snowmelt and leaf-out, taking up 21–25% of the available snowmelt water, while coniferous trees removed <1%. We found that deciduous trees removed 17.8–20.9 billion m3 of snowmelt water, which is equivalent to 8.7–10.2% of the Yukon River’s annual discharge. Deciduous trees transpired 2–12% (0.4–2.2 billion m3) of the absorbed snowmelt water immediately after leaf-out, increasing favorable conditions for atmospheric convection, and an additional 10–30% (2.0–5.2 billion m3) between leaf-out and mid-summer. By 2100, boreal deciduous tree area is expected to increase by 1–15%, potentially resulting in an additional 0.3–3 billion m3 of snowmelt water removed from the soil per year. Furthermore, this study is the first to show that deciduous tree water uptake of snowmelt water represents a large but overlooked aspect of the water balance in boreal watersheds.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR); National Science Foundation (NSF); USGS
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0006913; 1114457; G10AC00588
OSTI ID:
1313012
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 6; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 22 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

Anticipated changes to the snow season in Alaska: Elevation dependency, timing and extremes journal June 2019
Differential declines in Alaskan boreal forest vitality related to climate and competition journal November 2017
Stand basal area and solar radiation amplify white spruce climate sensitivity in interior Alaska: Evidence from carbon isotopes and tree rings journal December 2018
Alaska Snowpack Response to Climate Change: Statewide Snowfall Equivalent and Snowpack Water Scenarios journal May 2018

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Environmental sciences
Ecosystem ecology
Boreal ecology