Arctic Ecosystems

Arctic ecosystems cover large land masses and provide vast wilderness areas with a valuable and particular diversity strongly related to climate. Current rapid sociological changes in the North, together with a predicted amplification of global climate warming in the Arctic, are likely to have large effects on potentially vulnerable Arctic ecosystems.

Keywords: tundra; taiga; ecosystem; Arctic plants; Arctic animals; biodiversity; adaptations; productivity; environment; global change; permafrost

Figure 1. Arctic regions. The blue dotted line denotes the Arctic circle, the black continuous line denotes the southern limit of the low Arctic and the red line denotes the southern limit of the high Arctic. Adapted from Nutall and Callaghan (2000).
Figure 2. Common Arctic plant growth forms. Adapted from Webber (1978).
Figure 3. Seasonal patterns of solar radiation, net photosynthesis and biomass during the growing season at Barrow, Alaska. Adapted from Chapin (1995) and other sources.
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 References
    Arft AM, Walker MD, Gurevitch J et al. (1999) Response patterns of tundra plant species to experimental warming: a meta-analysis of the International Tundra Experiment. Ecological Monographs 69: 491–511.
    book Bliss LC and Matveyeva NN (1992) "Circumpolar arctic vegetation". In: Chapin FS III, Jefferies RL, Reynolds JF, Shaver GR and Svoboda J (eds) Arctic Ecosystems in a Changing Climate: An Ecophysiological Perspective, pp. 59–89. San Diego: Academic Press.
    book Bliss LC, Heal OW and Moore JJ (eds) (1981) Tundra Ecosystems: A Comparative Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    Brooker R and Callaghan TV (1998) The balance between positive and negative plant interactions and its relationship to environmental gradients: a model. Oikos 81: 196–206.
    Cattle H and Crossley J (1995) Modelling arctic climate change. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A 352: 201–213.
    Chapin FS III (1983) Direct and indirect effects of temperature in arctic plants. Polar Biology 2: 47–52.
    book Chapin FS III, Jefferies RL, Reynolds JF, Shaver GR and Svoboda J (eds) (1992) Arctic Ecosystems in a Changing Climate: An Ecophysiological Perspective. San Diego: Academic Press.
    Chapin FS III, Shaver GR, Giblin AE, Nadelhoffer KJ and Laundre JA (1995) Responses of Arctic tundra to experimental and observed changes in climate. Ecology 76: 694–711.
    Cornelissen JHC, Callaghan TV, Alatalo JM et al. (in press) Global change and arctic ecosystems: is lichen decline a function of increase of vernacular plant biomass? Journal of Ecology.
    Crawford RMM, Chapman HM and Hodge H (1994) Anoxia tolerance in high Arctic vegetation. Arctic and Alpine Research 26: 308–312.
    book Heal OW, Flanagan PW, French DD and MacLean SF Jr (1981) "Decomposition and accumulation of organic matter in tundra". In: Bliss LC, Heal OW and Moore JJ (eds) Tundra Ecosystems: A Comparative Analysis, pp. 587–633. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    Hofgaard A, Danell K, Ball J and Callaghan TV (eds) (1999) Responses of Arctic animals to climate change. Ecological Bulletins 47: 187.
    Jonasson S and Callaghan TV (1992) Root mechanical properties related to disturbed and stressed habitats in the Arctic. New Phytologist 122: 179–186.
    book Jonasson S, Callaghan TV, Shaver GR and Nielsen LA (2000) "Arctic terrestrial ecosystems and ecosystem function". In: Nutall M and Callaghan TV (eds) (2000) The Arctic: Environment, People, Policy, pp. 275–313. Reading, UK: Harwood Academic.
    Jonsdottir IS, Callaghan TV and Lee JA (1995) Fate of added nitrogen in an Arctic plant community and effects of increased nitrogen deposition. The Science of the Total Environment 161: 677–685.
    Lévesque E and Svoboda J (1999) Vegetation re-establishment in polar ‘lichen-kill’ landscapes: a case study of the Little Ice Age impact. Polar Research 2: 221–227.
    Malmer N and Wallén B (1996) Peat formation and mass balance in subarctic ombrotrophic peatlands around Abisko, northern Scandinavia. Ecological Bulletins 45: 79–92.
    book Matveyeva NN and Chernov YI (2000) "Biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems". In: Nutall M and Callaghan TV (eds) The Arctic: Environment, People, Policy, pp. 275–313. Reading, UK: Harwood Academic.
    Myeni RB, Keeling CD, Tucker CJ, Asrar G and Nemani RR (1997) Increased plant growth in the northern high latitudes from 1981 to 1991. Nature 386: 698–702.
    book Nutall M and Callaghan TV (2000) "Introduction". In: Nutall M and Callaghan TV (eds) The Arctic: Environment, People, Policy, pp. XXV–XXVIII. Reading, UK: Harwood Academic.
    Oechel WC, Hastings ST, Vourlitis G et al. (1993) Recent changes of Arctic tundra ecosystems from a net carbon dioxide sink to a source. Nature 361: 520–523.
    book Polunin N (1959) Circumarctic Arctic Flora. London: Oxford University Press.
    book Smith TM, Shugart HH and Woodward FI (1997) Plant Functional Types: Their Relevance to Ecosystem Properties and Global Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    book Svoboda J and Friedman B (1994) Ecology of a Polar Oasis, Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada. Toronto: Captus University Publications.
    book Webber PJ (1978) "Spatial and temporal variation of the vegetation and its productivity". In: Tieszen LL (ed.) Vegetation and Production Ecology of an Alaskan Arctic Tundra, pp. 37–112. New York: Springer.
    book Weller G (2000) "The climate of the Arctic". In: Nutall M and Callaghan TV (eds) The Arctic: Environment, People, Policy, pp. 143–160. Reading, UK: Harwood Academic.
 Further Reading
    book Chapin FS III and Körner C (eds) (1995) Arctic and Alpine Biodiversity: Patterns, Causes, and Ecosystem Consequences. New York: Springer.
    book Chernov YI (1985) The Living Tundra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    book Karlsson PS and Callaghan TV (eds) (1996) "Plant ecology in the subarctic Swedish Lapland". Ecological Bulletins 45: 227.
    book Nutall M and Callaghan TV (eds) (2000) The Arctic: Environment, People, Policy. Reading, UK: Harwood Academic.
    book Oechel WC, Callaghan TV, Gilmanov T et al. (eds) (1997) Global Change and Arctic Terrestrial Ecosystems. Springer, New York.
    book Wadhams P, Dowdeswell JA and Schofield AN (1995) The Arctic and Environmental Change. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Gordon and Breach.
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How to Cite close
Callaghan, Terry V(Aug 2001) Arctic Ecosystems. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0003197]