Holocene vegetation dynamics of circum-Arctic permafrost peatlands

Fewster, Richard E.; Morris, Paul J.; Swindles, Graeme T.; Ivanovic, Ruza F.; Treat, Claire C.; Jones, Miriam C.

Vegetation shifts in circum-Arctic permafrost peatlands drive feedbacks with important consequences for peatland carbon budgets and the extent of permafrost thaw under changing climate. Recent shrub expansion across Arctic tundra environments has led to an increase in above-ground biomass, but the long-term spatiotemporal dynamics of shrub and tree growth in circum-Arctic peatlands remain unquantified. We investigate changes in peatland vegetation composition during the Holocene using previously-published plant macrofossil records from 76 sites across the circum-Arctic permafrost zone. In particular, we assess evidence for peatland shrubification at the continental scale. We identify increasing abundance of woody vegetation in circum-Arctic peatlands from ~8000 years BP to present, coinciding with declining herbaceous vegetation and widespread Sphagnum expansion. Ecosystem shifts varied between regions and present-day permafrost zones, with late-Holocene shrubification most pronounced where permafrost coverage is presently discontinuous and sporadic. After ~600 years BP, we find a proliferation of non-Sphagnum mosses in Fennoscandia and across the present-day continuous permafrost zone; and rapid expansion of Sphagnum in regions of discontinuous and isolated permafrost as expected following widespread fen-bog succession, which coincided with declining woody vegetation in eastern and western Canada. Since ~200 years BP, both shrub expansion and decline were identified at different sites across the pan-Arctic, highlighting the complex ecological responses of circum-Arctic peatlands to post-industrial climate warming and permafrost degradation. Our results suggest that shrubification of circum-Arctic peatlands has primarily occurred alongside surface drying, resulting from Holocene climate shifts, autogenic peat accumulation, and permafrost aggradation. Future shrubification of circum-Arctic peatlands under 21st century climate change will likely be spatially heterogeneous, and be most prevalent where dry microforms persist.

Citation

In order to use these data, you must cite this data set with the following citation:

Richard E. Fewster, Paul J. Morris, Graeme T. Swindles, Ruza F. Ivanovic, Claire C. Treat, Miriam C. Jones, Holocene vegetation dynamics of circum-Arctic permafrost peatlands, Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 307, 2023, 108055, ISSN 0277-3791, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108055

Contact

Fewster, Richard E.

Metadata Access

DCAT in RDF/XML-Format

DCAT in Turtle-Format

DCAT in JSON-LD-Format

APGC Dataset Metadata in JSON-Format

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Identifier DOI:10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108055
Project(s)
Institute School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
Source https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108055
Publication Date 2023-05-01
Version 1.0
Product synthesis of plant macrofossil records from peatlands in the circum-Arctic permafrost region
Sensor structured literature search
Files
  1. Sites of plant macrofossil records
  2. Synthesis data of plant macrofossil records
  3. Supplemental information
Variables [Units]
  1. FID
  2. ID_(Auth-Site-CoreID)
  3. Site
  4. Core
  5. Latitude
  6. Longitude
  7. Reference: For full reference details, see supplementary information
  8. Depth_mid_[cm]
  9. Age_model: age-depth modelling software
  10. Age: Mean age derived from age-depth model
  11. Woody_taxa_[%]
  12. Species_[woody]
  13. Herbaceous_taxa_[%]
  14. Species_[herbaceous]
  15. Moss_[%]: Non-Sphagnum mosses
  16. Species_[true_moss]
  17. Sph_[%]: Sphagnum
  18. Species_[Sphagnum]
  19. Other_[%]: Total unidentified organic matter and ambiguous material (e.g. undefined roots)
  20. Species_[Other]
  21. Modern_peatland_type
  22. Permafrost_zone
  23. Region
  24. Age-depth_model
Region Circum-Arctic
Spatial Reference EPSG:4326 WGS 84
Spatial Resolution
Spatial Coverage Latitude 51.8 to 78.95, Longitude -163.45 to 147.91
Temporal Coverage
Temporal Resolution
Format XLSX
Is Supplement To
Related to

Dataset extent

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