ABSTRACT Northern lakes provide many ecosystem services, including the provision of traditional foods and clean water. These systems are vulnerable to climate-driven changes in hydrology and contaminant accumulation, but the direction and magnitude of projected changes are poorly constrained. One contaminant of concern is mercury; currently, we cannot accurately predict how mercury accumulation in

(2021). Arctic Ecology. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research: Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 177-178.

ABSTRACT A complex landscape lies on an alpine plateau in the high Sierra Nevada, California, and comprises spatially organized physical and ecological features that interact to create a unique ecosystem. At the upslope end a tree-limited ribbon forest of whitebark pines grows on the crest of a short, steep slope, which is the only deformation on the otherwise flat plateau. A long-persistent snowbank

(2021). Cold: The Record of an Antarctic Sledge Journey. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research: Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 146-147.

ABSTRACT Tropical mountain permafrost has a unique thermal regime due to ground surface exposure to strong solar radiation. The intensity of the surface offset resulting from snow cover also strongly affects the absence or presence of permafrost. Latent heat transfer and reflected solar radiation (higher albedo) that occur during the snow-covered season contribute to a positive feedback that cools

ABSTRACT Freshwater ponds provide habitats for aquatic insects that emerge and subsidize consumers in terrestrial ecosystems. In the Arctic, insects provide an important seasonal source of energy to birds that breed and rear young on the tundra. The abundance and timing of insect emergence from arctic thaw ponds is poorly understood, but understanding these fluxes is important, given the role of insects

ABSTRACT Over the last century in the circumpolar north, notable terrestrial ecosystem changes include shrub expansion and an intensifying wildfire regime. Shrub invasion into tundra may be further accelerated by wildfire disturbance, which creates opportunities for establishment where recruitment is otherwise rare. The Seward Peninsula currently experiences more frequent and larger fires than other

ABSTRACT Plant-associated fungi have elementary roles in ecosystem productivity. There is little information on the interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal symbiosis, fine endophytic (FE) and dark septate endophytic (DSE) fungi, and their host plants in cold climate systems. In particular, the environmental filters potentially driving the relative abundance of these root symbionts remain

ABSTRACT Arctic lakes are exposed to warming during increasingly longer ice-free periods and, if located in glaciated areas, to increased inflow of meltwater and sediments. However, direct monitoring of how such lakes respond to changing environmental conditions is challenging not only because of their remoteness but also because of the scarcity of present and previously observed lake states. At the

(2021). About the cover. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research: Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 67-68.

ABSTRACT Permafrost occurs in the high Atacama Desert, and its thermal state was characterized at a study site 5,075 m a.s.l., at the lower regional altitude boundary for permafrost. The permafrost body is about 5 m thick and located in the hydrothermal alteration zone. The freeze–thaw layer and upper part of the permafrost layer temperatures were measured at 0 to 39 cm depth at 1-cm resolution throughout

ABSTRACT The Andean páramo is notable for high soil carbon storage and its contribution to ecosystem services. However, the páramo’s ability to maintain high soil carbon levels is threatened by land use change from tussock grassland and shrublands to agricultural uses. A chronosequence study was conducted in the páramo around Quito, Ecuador, to determine the rate of soil carbon loss from traditional

ABSTRACT The Andean páramo is notable for high soil carbon storage and its contribution to ecosystem services. However, the páramo’s ability to maintain high soil carbon levels is threatened by land use change from tussock grassland and shrublands to agricultural uses. A chronosequence study was conducted in the páramo around Quito, Ecuador, to determine the rate of soil carbon loss from traditional

ABSTRACT Though variability in morphological features along the environmental gradients has been extensively studied, less information is available on possible adaptations and trends of anatomical features. We examined the variation in morphological and stem anatomical features of a widely distributed (2,200–5,300 m a.s.l.) Rhododendron lepidotum across elevation gradients in Langtang and Sagarmatha

ABSTRACT Investigating changes in belowground functional plant traits is an important step toward a better understanding of vegetation dynamics during primary succession. However, in alpine glacier forelands, we still lack an accurate assessment of plant rooting patterns. In this study, we established two proglacial chronosequences with contrasting bedrocks to investigate changes in rooting patterns

ABSTRACT Rising temperatures in the Arctic can result in thaw of permafrost, with widespread implications for ecosystems and infrastructure. We analyzed mean annual air and ground temperatures in the eight northernmost national parks in Alaska using data from thirty-three National Park Service climate monitoring stations and eight National Weather Service stations. Mean annual air temperatures (MAATs)

(2020). Correction. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research: Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 650-650.

ABSTRACT Extreme abiotic conditions, geographic isolation, and low levels of disturbance have historically provided alpine, Arctic, and Antarctic regions with low input of and relative resistance to the introduction of new species. However, the climate is warming rapidly, concomitant with intense and diversified types of human influence in these cold environments. Consequently, many plant species,

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

(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.

Extreme abiotic conditions, geographic isolation, and low levels of disturbance have historically provided alpine, Arctic, and Antarctic regions with low input of and relative resistance to the int...

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...

Meltwater habitats are found on glacier surfaces worldwide, but much of the current understanding of these habitats comes from clean glaciers sprinkled with cryoconite. Cryoconite is windblown dust...

Analyzing historical maps and Landsat imagery indicates that coastal glaciers in the western Prince William Sound (PWS) have retreated since the end of the Little Ice Age, exhibiting accelerated re...

The physical and geochemical characteristics of shallow ice cores drilled in the accumulation area (Western Cwm) of Khumbu Glacier in the Nepal Himalayas in 1980 were analyzed. The two ice cores fr...

The arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) is a ubiquitous migratory seabird of the High Arctic, currently thought to be in decline in most of the circumpolar world, but surprisingly little is known of it...

We assessed the response of Salix richardsonii, a deciduous shrub, to climate change by determining the combination of climatic factors that regulated its growth over the past half-century. We test...

Venezuela will soon become the first Andean country to lose all of its glaciers, as the “eternal snows” of the Sierra Nevada de Merida (SNM) disappear. Although documentation of glacier retreat in ...

In recently deglaciated soils, microbial organisms drive soil transformations by increasing carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools while depleting available phosphorous (P), thus improving plant coloniz...

John Rae was a surgeon from the Orkney Islands, an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and an important nineteenth-century Arctic explorer. He is probably most famous for being the person who fir...

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 ...

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 fav...

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 c...

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 20...

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 fa...

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 car...

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 Pro...

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

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 co...

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 differ...

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 temperatu...

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 wi...

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 the...

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...

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....

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 ...

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 accumulati...

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 ...

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 chronozon...

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 wildli...

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...

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 Dongkemad...

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 di...

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 an...

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 sou...

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 mo...

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 collec...

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 an...

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 becau...