(2020). John Rae, Arctic Explorer. The Unfinished Autobiography. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research: Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 551-552.

ABSTRACT Population-based studies on snow leopard (Panthera uncia) are of theoretical and practical significance for the conservation of alpine ecosystems, though geographic remoteness and isolation hinder surveys in many promising regions. The Sanjiangyuan National Park on the Tibetan Plateau is acknowledged as a main snow leopard habitat, but most of the region remains unexplored and unknown. We

ABSTRACT Climate change in arctic tundra is projected to affect air temperature, snow depth, soil fertility, and caribou herbivory, which may alter plant community composition by shifting niche space to favor particular species’ life history strategies. We report responses of a Canadian mesic birch hummock tundra plant community to a range of manipulative experiments (greenhouse warming, fertilization

ABSTRACT Planktic diatom ecology in the mountain lakes of the northern European Alps has only been studied sparsely so far. To fill this knowledge gap, the driving parameters of planktic diatom assemblage composition in the euphotic zones of twenty lakes located between 955 and 2,060 m a.s.l. were assessed. The mean August water temperature, concentration of major ions, total phosphorous, and lake

Calving events of Petermann Glacier, northwest Greenland, in 2010 and 2012 reduced the length of its ice tongue by c. 25 km, allowing exploration of newly uncovered seafloor during the Petermann 2015 Expedition. This article presents the results of foraminiferal analysis and environmental data from thirteen surface sediment samples in northern Nares Strait and Petermann Fjord, including beneath the

Habitat connectivity supports life history requirements of many arctic fish species during periods of flowing water. However, aquatic habitat connectivity is susceptible to change due to climate factors and land use, particularly in the 4,600 km2 Fish Creek Watershed (FCW) located in National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Varying degrees and mechanisms of connectivity between overwintering habitat and

The net change in the carbon inventory of arctic tundra remains uncertain as global warming leads to shifts in arctic water and carbon cycles. To better understand the response of arctic tundra carbon to changes in winter precipitation amount, we investigated soil depth profiles of carbon concentration and radionuclide activities (7Be, 137Cs, 210Pb, and 241Am) in the active layer of a twenty-two-year

Within the gas hydrate drilling project in the Qilian Mountain permafrost region, a temperature–depth profile measured from borehole DK-12 in Juhugeng of Muri Coalfield, Tianjun County, Qinghai Province, China, was analyzed to infer recent climate changes. The long-term surface temperature and thermal gradient were retrieved from borehole temperature measurements. The ground surface temperature (GST)

The Matanuska–Susitna Borough is the fastest growing region in the State of Alaska and is impacted by a number of human activities. We conducted a multiscale assessment of the stressors facing the borough by developing and mapping the Index of Watershed Integrity (IWI) and Index of Catchment Integrity (the latter considers stressors in areas surrounding individual stream segments exclusive of upstream

ABSTRACT In mountain lakes, water transparency is regulated primarily by materials loaded from the surrounding catchment. Consequently, transparency within a lake can vary over time due to meteorological conditions that affect hydrologic inputs. Furthermore, lake responses to these inputs may depend on catchment characteristics. We examined the relationships between meteorological conditions and interannual

ABSTRACT Spring green-up in arctic and alpine systems is predominantly controlled by temperature and snowmelt timing preceding and during the growing season. Variation in the timing of green-up across space is an important aspect of resource variability with which mobile herbivores must contend. Here, we measure the explanatory power of abiotic drivers of green-up in a Low Arctic region of west Greenland

ABSTRACT Despite its importance for plant survival in cold biomes, little is known about the variation in the morphological traits of root systems of alpine plants. In this study, we investigated the difference in biomass allocation and morphological traits of belowground organs of Potentilla matsumurae between snowbeds and fellfields in an alpine tundra in northern Japan. The fellfields were characterized

ABSTRACT A multiyear study of forest-to-alpine ecotones across extensive krummholz zones in whitebark pine (WBP; Pinus albicaulis), Sierra Nevada, California, resolved mean treeline growing season temperature (GST) of 9.3°C, 2.6°C warmer than global thresholds previously described, and mean growing season length of 143 days. Temperatures declined with increasing elevation; GST at the upper krummholz

ABSTRACT We review and test an ecological paradigm that asserts that alpine invertebrate communities may shift upslope with climate warming. Our model couples the end of summer snow line (EOSS) elevation with invertebrate populations in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, using a forty-year data set, from fifty index glaciers. We show the snow line has risen an average 3.7 m a−1. This is equivalent to raising

ABSTRACT The dependence of air temperature on elevation (i.e., its elevational gradient) in the mountains is well known. However, the elevational gradient of near-surface ground temperatures and derived thermal parameters is much less understood. In this study, we investigated how these parameters depend on elevation by one-year temperature measurements along a transect in the Valais Alps (Switzerland)

ABSTRACT Mushrooms and other fleshy fungi are important components of arctic and alpine habitats where they enhance nutrient uptake in plants and replenish poor soils through decomposition. Here we assemble the 200-year (1819–2019) record of their discovery in North America, beginning with early Arctic sailing expeditions, followed by intense taxonomic studies, and concluding with the molecular era

ABSTRACT Lichen heaths are declining in abundance while shrubs are increasing their range in alpine and arctic areas due to climate change. This can have a large impact on the surface albedo of these areas. The aim of this article is to quantify the difference in albedo between lichen heaths and shrub-dominated vegetation and the variability within lichen heaths. Several environmental conditions that

ABSTRACT Glaciers are important indicators of climate change, and recent observations worldwide document increasing rates of mountain glacier recession. Here we present approximately 200 years of change in mountain glacier extent in northern Troms and western Finnmark, northern Norway. This was achieved through (1) mapping and lichenometric dating of major moraine systems within a subset of the main

ABSTRACT Links between climate and glacier surges are poorly understood but are required to enable prediction of surges and mitigation of associated hazards. Here, we investigate the role of snow accumulation, rain, and temperature on surge periodicity, area changes, and timing of surge initiation since the 1930s at Donjek Glacier, Yukon, Canada. Snow accumulation measured in three ice cores collected

ABSTRACT Climate warming is affecting terrestrial ecosystems in the Canadian Arctic, potentially altering the carbon balance of the landscape and contributing additional CO2 to the atmosphere. High spatial resolution remote sensing data can enhance models of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and its component fluxes, gross ecosystem exchange (GEE), and ecosystem respiration (ER) by quantifying vegetation

ABSTRACT Palynological and sedimentological analyses of lacustrine cores from Baker Island, located in southeastern Alaska’s Alexander Archipelago, indicate that the beginning of the Younger Dryas chronozone, between approximately 12,900 cal yr BP and approximately 12,600 cal yr BP, was cooler and drier than modern conditions, based on decreases in the percentages of Pinus (pine) and Tsuga mertensiana

ABSTRACT Persistent organic pollutants are stored in environmental reservoirs globally. Tracking the mass and movement of these pollutants is critical for assessing environmental health for human and wildlife populations. Recently, glaciers have been identified as secondary reservoirs for persistent organic pollutants. Downstream lakes and rivers have increased risk of exposure with climate change

ABSTRACT Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are delayed when passing through the ionosphere due to an ionospheric refraction effect. The ionospheric-free linear combination of GPS signals can eliminate most of the error caused by the first-order ionospheric term. However, the influence of higher-order ionospheric terms remains, and it should be accounted for when conducting high-precision geodetic

ABSTRACT Glacier mass balance change is among the best indicators of glacier response to climate change. Due to its inaccessibility and limited observation, little is known about the change to the Dongkemadi Ice Field (DIF) in the Tanggula Mountains located in the source region of the Yangtze River in central Tibetan Plateau. Here, an enhanced temperature index–based glacier model considering glacier

ABSTRACT Climate change and associated permafrost thaw are creating new shallow waterbodies in vast regions of the circumpolar Arctic. These thaw ponds are characterized by high concentrations of colored dissolved organic matter originating from the degrading watershed, inducing a strong vertical thermal and oxygen (O2) stratification. We investigated the zooplankton community and biomass in eight

ABSTRACT Snowmelt in alpine regions supports hydroelectric power generation, water supply, and agricultural production. These regions are warming, and the impact on streamflow of changes in precipitation and the proportion falling as snow is of interest. We investigate the seasonality and interannual variability of streamflow in the Australian Alps, a key location due to the marginal snowpack with

ABSTRACT Hydrologic processes that control river flow in Bhutan’s Chamkhar Chhu basin are important for understanding water supply vulnerability to downstream populations in a changing climate. Seasonal source waters and flow paths of streamflow of the basin were determined using isotopic and geochemical tracers for water year 2016. Samples including surface water, groundwater, glacier meltwater, and

ABSTRACT Mountain regions are experiencing some of the highest air temperature increases and ice cover decreases. However, few studies have examined the effects of climate warming and earlier snowmelt on mountain lake thermal characteristics and energetic implications for fish. We assessed potential climate-induced thermal changes and energetic consequences for cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii

ABSTRACT Abundant ferromanganese oxide deposits were recovered from the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic Ocean during the 7th Chinese Arctic Scientific Expedition in August 2016. Representative samples were collected to perform a mineralogical and geochemical analysis and elucidate their origin. Their mineral phases consist of todorokite, buserite, and birnessite, along with a small quantity of detrital minerals

ABSTRACT Herbivores can play an important role in determining arctic ecosystem function with effects determined in part by herbivore identity. We examined the impact of long-term (twenty-two years) small and large mammal herbivore exclusion in two arctic plant communities in northern Alaska: dry heath (DH) and moist acidic tundra (MAT). Our aims were to examine how herbivore exclusion influences (1)

ABSTRACT Some mammalian species that inhabit cold environments are known to eat snow to fulfill their water requirements. However, there is a potential trade-off between eating snow and drinking water because of the considerable energy that the body invests in warming the ingested snow. It is claimed that the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) eats snow to fulfill its requirement of water, which is why

(2020). About the cover. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research: Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 104-104.

(2020). Glacier: Nature and Culture, by Peter G. Knight. London: Reaktion Books, 2019. 223 pp. $24.95 (paperback). ISBN: 978-1-78914-134-4. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research: Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 103-103.

ABSTRACT Over the past decades, warmer air temperature and spatiotemporal changes in the amount and patterns of precipitation have been observed at high latitudes. Such interannual variability in climatic conditions has a strong influence on the dynamics of biological processes regulating terrestrial ecosystems. Dendroclimatology can improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change on vegetation

ABSTRACT Climate change and glacial retreat are changing the runoff behavior of Alpine springs and streams. For example, in the extremely dry and hot summer of 2018, many springs used for drinking water supply lost up to 50 percent of their average discharge; a few springs have even run dry. In order to ensure drinking water supply in the future, springs featuring large and constantly sufficient discharge

ABSTRACT Black spruce trees lean to form “drunken” forest on degrading permafrost; however, the causes of tree leaning on continuous permafrost remain unclear. Leaning events are recorded by reaction wood formation in tree rings, and it remains unclear what soil conditions are required for reaction wood formation of drunken trees. Tree disk morphology and soil hummock properties were examined for fifty

ABSTRACT Predicted warming in Tibetan Plateau may have profound effects on plant community structure and function. We used open-top chambers to artificially warm two different plant communities in Tibet from 2012 to 2016. We recorded species richness, vegetation height, and graminoid, forb, legume, and litter cover each year of the experiment and leaf growth and chemical traits of the most dominant

ABSTRACT Observations of diversity in alpine vegetation appear to be scale dependent. The relations of plant species richness with surface processes and geomorphology have been studied, but patterns of beta diversity are less known. In Glacier National Park, Montana, diversity has been examined within 1 m2 plots and for 16 m2 plots across two ranges, with within-plot and across-range explanatory factors

ABSTRACT Anthropogenic and biotic disturbances have the potential to interact, generating cumulative impacts on animal movement or, alternatively, counterbalancing or masking each other. Despite their importance, those interactions have not been investigated thoroughly. Our study aimed to fill this knowledge gap by assessing the combined effects of a human activity—that is, military exercises—and a

ABSTRACT Permafrost plays an important role in numerous environmental processes at high latitudes and in high mountain areas. The identification of mountain permafrost, particularly in the discontinuous permafrost regions, is challenging due to limited data availability and the high spatial variability of controlling factors. This study focuses on mountain permafrost in a data-scarce environment of

ABSTRACT The upper Nu–Salween River basin in the Tibetan Plateau is mainly covered with seasonal frozen soils. We used daily surface freeze–thaw states, detected from Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) daily brightness temperature data, to analyze the variations in surface freeze–thaw states and the relationship with air temperature. We also examined baseflow to explore the influences of interannual

The altitudinal variation of precipitation, evapotranspiration and runoff was quantified at 16 different grassland sites between 580 and 2550 m a.s.l. in the Austrian Alps. Along this altitudinal transect annual evapotranspiration decreased from roughly 690 mm at low elevation sites to 210 - 220 mm at the upper limit of the alpine grassland belt. A detailed analysis of the data showed that the observed