Title: Plant Root Characteristics and Dynamics in Arctic Tundra Ecosystems, 1960-2012

Abstract

Plant roots play a critical role in ecosystem function in arctic tundra, but root dynamics in these ecosystems are poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we synthesized available literature on tundra roots, including their distribution, dynamics, and contribution to ecosystem carbon and nutrient fluxes, and we highlighted key aspects of their representation in terrestrial biosphere models. Across all tundra ecosystems, belowground plant biomass exceeded aboveground biomass, with the exception of polar desert tundra. Roots were shallowly-distributed in the thin layer of soil that thaws annually, and were often found in surface organic soil horizons. Root traits including distribution, chemistry, anatomy, and resource partitioning play an important role in controlling plant species competition, and therefore ecosystem carbon and nutrient fluxes, under changing climatic conditions, but have only been quantified for a small fraction of tundra plants. Further, the annual production and mortality of fine roots are key components of ecosystem processes in tundra, but extant data are sparse. Tundra root traits and dynamics should be the focus of future research efforts. Better representation of the dynamics and characteristics of tundra roots will improve the utility of models for evaluating the responses of tundra ecosystems to changing environmental conditions. Includes amore » data file in *.csv, and *.xlsx format and a *.pdf. The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska. Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).« less

Authors:

Iversen, Colleen ;

• Search DOE Data Explorer for author "Iversen, Colleen"
• Search DOE Data Explorer for ORCID "0000-0001-8293-3450"

Sloan, Victoria; Sullivan, Patrick; Euskirchen, Eugenie ;

• Search DOE Data Explorer for author "Euskirchen, Eugenie"
• Search DOE Data Explorer for ORCID "0000-0002-0848-4295"

McGuire, David; Norby, Richard ;

• Search DOE Data Explorer for author "Norby, Richard"
• Search DOE Data Explorer for ORCID "0000-0002-0238-9828"

Walker, Anthony ;

• Search DOE Data Explorer for author "Walker, Anthony"
• Search DOE Data Explorer for ORCID "0000-0003-0557-5594"

Warren, Jeffrey ;

• Search DOE Data Explorer for author "Warren, Jeffrey"
• Search DOE Data Explorer for ORCID "0000-0002-0680-4697"

Wullschleger, Stan

• Search DOE Data Explorer for author "Wullschleger, Stan"
• Search DOE Data Explorer for ORCID "0000-0002-9869-0446"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Publication Date:

Sun Aug 31 00:00:00 EDT 2014

Other Number(s):

https://doi.org/10.5440/1114222; NGA059
ngee_898DB1AF4A9FED3D5DCE6DFB59B700492018_07_17_12210333

DOE Contract Number:  

AC02-05CH11231

Research Org.:

Environmental System Science Data Infrastructure for a Virtual Ecosystem; Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE) Arctic

Sponsoring Org.:

U.S. DOE > Office of Science > Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

Collaborations:

PNL, BNL,ANL,ORNL

Subject:

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Abisko Scientific Research Station, Sweden; Abisko, Sweden; Aboveground biomass; Adventdalen, Svalbard; Aerenchyma; Agapa Settlement, Western Taimyr; Alaska; Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada; Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska; Atigun River, Alaska; Atkasook, Alaska; Author_year; Average_root diameter_mm; B_A; Barrow, Alaska; Bathurst Island, Canadian high arctic; Belowground biomass; Betty Pingo, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska; Bol'shoy Lyakhovsky Island; Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest, Alaska; Brandalpynten, Knudsenheia peninsula, Spitsbergen, Norway; Cape Abernethy, King Christian Island, Western Queen Elizabeth Islands; Cape Thompson, Alaska; Carbon_cycling; Caribou-Poker Creeks Research Watershed; Churchhill, Manifoba, Canada; Circle Hot Springs, Alaska; Coldfoot, Alaska; Cornwallis Island, Canadian High Arctic; Degraded_permafrost; Dempster, Yukon, Canada; Devon Island, Canada; Disko Island, Greenland; Eagle Creek, Alaska; Eagle Summit, Alaska; Eastern Taimyr; Ecosystem; Eight Mile Lake, Healy, Alaska; Elevation_m; Environmental_forcing; Everett Pond, Alaska; Experimental_Manipulation; Fairbanks, Alaska; Fineroot_Leaf; Hardangervidda, Norway; Harp, USSR; Hidden Pond, Alaska; Imnavait Creek watershed, Northern Foothills, Alaska; Imnavait Creek, Alaska; Ingrowth_cores; Isotopic_tracer_stable_isotope; Journal_Book_Thesis; Kamasjaure, Sweden; Kevo Sub-Arctic Research Institute, Finland; Kevo, Finland; King Christian Island, Canada; Komi, ASSR; Komperdell Alm, Austria; Koryakskaya Zemlya; La Perouse Bay, Manitoba, Canada; Latitude_Decimal; Latnjajaure, Sweden; Location_Place; Longitude_Decimal; Malloch Dome, Ellef Ringnes Island, Western Queen Elizabeth Islands; Maximum_rooting_depth_cm; Meade River, Alaska; Minirhizotrons; Mt. Paras, Signaldalen, Troms, Norway; Mycorrhizae; Northwestern Finland; Notes; Nutrient_cycling; Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen, Norway; Ny-London, Blomstrandhalvoya, Spitsbergen, Norway; Ogoturuk Creek, Alaska; Old Man, Alaska; PFT; Pituffik (Thule), Greenland; Polar_desert; Polygonal_topography; Pot_Tiller; Prince of Wales, Canadian high arctic; Project; Prudhoe Bay, Alaska; Publication_year; Pyasina River, Tareya station, Western Taimyr; Rea Point, Melville Island, Western Queen Elizabeth Islands; Review_Paper; Root turnover decomposition; Root_depth_distribution; Root_morphology; Root_production; Root_standing_crop; Rylekaerene, Greenland; Sag River, Alaska; Sagavanirktok River, Alaska; Sagwon Bluff, Alaska; Sagwon Hills, Alaska; Sagwon, Alaska; Samoylov, Lena Delta, Northern Siberia; Sibik, Eastern Siberia; Skirhasjohka valley, Fennoscandia; Smith Lake, Alaska; Snowden Mountain, Alaska; Soil monolith_Excavation; Soil_cores; Somerset Island, Canadian high arctic; Species; Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway; Stordalen mire, Abisko, Sweden; Stordalen, Sweden; Study; Study_Description; Taimyr, USSR; Tanana River floodplain, Fairbanks, Alaska; Timberline, Alaska; Toolik Lake, Alaska; Truelove Lowland, Devon island, Northwest Territories, Canada; Truelove, Devon island, Northwest Territories, Canada; Vorkuta city, Komi ASSR; Washington Creek, Alaska; Western Taimyr; Year_Final; Year_Initial; Zackenberg Research Station, Northeastern Greenland; Zackenberg, Northeast Greenland; root biomass

OSTI Identifier:

1114222

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5440/1114222