image: Salix polaris dwarf shrub from central Spitsbergen view more
Credit: Image credit: Agata Buchwal.
A study examines how declining sea ice in the Arctic impacts tundra shrubs. Arctic sea ice is rapidly melting due to climate change. However, the indirect impacts of sea ice loss on the growth of Arctic shrubs remains unclear. Agata Buchwal and colleagues analyzed 23 tundra shrub-ring chronologies of willow and birch, spanning from 1979 to 2008 across the Pan-Arctic, from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Siberia, and Spitsbergen. All but one shrub-ring chronology significantly correlated with the loss of sea ice. As Arctic sea ice declined, most shrubs experienced increased radial growth; however, 39% of shrubs experienced decreased growth. The divergence of growth trends among Arctic shrubs began in the mid-1990s, and the effects were strongest among young shrubs. Compared with shrubs that experienced increased growth, shrubs that experienced decreased growth were found at drier sites. Furthermore, changes in local climate associated with sea ice decline did not appear to offset increasing evaporative demand for shrubs that experienced decreased growth. The findings suggest that changes in moisture availability due to sea ice loss may constrain Arctic shrub growth responses to increasing temperatures and should be considered in climate change feedback projections, according to the authors.
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Article #20-13311: "Divergence of Arctic shrub growth associated with sea ice decline," by Agata Buchwal et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Agata Buchwal, Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna?, POLAND; tel: +48-505382488; e-mail: <kamzik@amu.edu.pl>; Patrick Sullivan, University of Alaska Anchorage, AK, tel: 907-440-2865; e-mail: <pfsullivan@uaa.alaska.edu>, <sullivan.p.sullivan@gmail.com>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences