Mapping plant biomass distribution and change across the rapidly warming Arctic tundra biome
Logan Berner, Northern Arizona University, logan.berner@nau.edu (Presenter)
Kathleen Orndahl, Northern Arizona University, kathleen.orndahl@nau.edu
Matthew Macander, Alaska Biological Research, Inc.--Environmental Research & Services, mmacander@abrinc.com
Patrick Burns, Northern Arizona University, pb463@nau.edu
Scott J. Goetz, Northern Arizona University, scott.goetz@nau.edu
Climate change is unfolding more rapidly in the Arctic tundra biome than almost anywhere else on Earth, leading to widespread changes in tundra ecosystems that have fundamental consequences for humans, wildlife, biogeochemical cycles, and climate feedbacks. Plant aboveground biomass (AGB) is a fundamental ecosystem attribute that is sensitive to ongoing climatic change. Nevertheless, the current amount, distribution, and composition of plant AGB remains highly uncertain across the Arctic tundra biome, let alone changes that occurred during recent decades. The overarching goal of this NASA Terrestrial Ecology project is to advance understanding of current plant AGB and recent changes across the Arctic tundra biome using field, Landsat, and geospatial data. We are assembling and standardizing existing tundra biomass harvest data from sites around the Arctic and, so far, have assembled data from over 2,000 quadrats in six Arctic countries. We also carried out a successful field campaign across northern Finland during summer 2022. To predict plant AGB, we are now generating seasonal Landsat cloud-free mosaics using Google Earth Engine and the Continuous Change Detection and Classification (CCDC) algorithm. We will then predict the amount, distribution, and composition of plant AGB at 30 m resolution across the Arctic tundra biome for the years 2000 and 2020, as well as evaluate where, how much, and why changes occurred in recent decades. This highly collaborative research project currently includes over 35 collaborators at more than 20 domestic and international institutions. This project is poised to fundamentally advance our understanding of Arctic tundra ecosystems and how they’re changed during recent decades of rapid climate warming.
Poster: Poster_Berner_2-25_49_35.pdf
Associated Project(s):
Poster Location ID: 2-25
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Poster Session 2
Session Date: Wed (May 10) 5:15-7:15 PM
CCE Program: TE