Biophysical controls of increased tundra productivity in the western Canadian Arctic

dc.contributor.authorChen, Angel
dc.contributor.authorLantz, Trevor C.
dc.contributor.authorHermosilla, Txomin
dc.contributor.authorWulder, Michael A.
dc.date.accessioned2021-03-13T18:29:48Z
dc.date.available2021-03-13T18:29:48Z
dc.date.copyright2021en_US
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractRapid climate warming has widely been considered as the main driver of recent increases in Arctic tundra productivity. Field observations and remote sensing both show that tundra “greening” has been widespread, but heterogeneity in regional and landscape-scale trends suggest that additional controls are mediating the response of tundra vegetation to warming. In this study, we examined the relationship between changes in vegetation productivity in the western Canadian Arctic and biophysical variables by analyzing trends in the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) obtained from nonparametric regression of annual Landsat surface reflectance composites. We used Random Forests classification and regression tree modelling to predict the trajectory and magnitude of greening from 1984 to 2016 and identify biophysical controls. More than two-thirds of our study area showed statistically significant increases in vegetation productivity, but observed changes were heterogeneous, occurring most rapidly within areas of the Southern Arctic that were: (1) dominated by dwarf and upright shrub cover types, (2) moderately sloping, and (3) located at lower elevation. These findings suggest that the response of tundra vegetation to warming is mediated by regional- and landscape-scale variation in microclimate, topography and soil moisture, and physiological differences among plant functional groups. Our work highlights the potential of the joint analysis of annual remotely sensed vegetation indices and broad-scale biophysical data to understand spatial variation in tundra vegetation change.en_US
dc.description.reviewstatusRevieweden_US
dc.description.scholarlevelFacultyen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN 06210-2018: TCL), the University of Victoria, the Arctic Institute of North America (Lorraine Allison Scholarship: AC), the Northern Scientific Training Program and the Polar Continental Shelf Program. Data processing and analysis was partially enabled by the computational capabilities provided by WestGrid (www.westgrid.ca) and Compute Canada (computecanada.ca). Open access publication is supported by the Government of Canada.en_US
dc.identifier.citationChen, A., Lantz, T. C., Hermosilla, T., & Wulder, M. A. (2021). Biophysical controls of increased tundra productivity in the western Canadian Arctic. Remote Sensing of Environment, 258, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112358.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112358
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/12770
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherRemote Sensing of Environmenten_US
dc.subjectLandsat
dc.subjectRandom Forests
dc.subjectArctic tundra
dc.subjectGreening
dc.subjectEVI
dc.subjectVegetation indices
dc.subjectClimate change
dc.subject.departmentSchool of Environmental Studies
dc.titleBiophysical controls of increased tundra productivity in the western Canadian Arcticen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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