Prof. Yeonjoo Kim’s research group, Unrevealing carbon response of tundra ecosystems to advancing greenup and snowmelt in Alaska

 Prof. Yeonjoo Kim’s research group at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering investigated carbon response of tundra ecosystems to advancing greenup and snowmelt in Alaska.

 The ongoing disproportionate increases in temperature and precipitation over the Arctic region may greatly alter the latitudinal gradients in greenup and snowmelt timings as well as associated carbon dynamics of tundra ecosystems. In this study, Prof. Kim‘s research group used remotely-sensed and ground-based datasets and model results embedding snowmelt timing in phenology at seven tundra flux tower sites in Alaska.

 This study showed that the carbon response to early greenup or delayed snowmelt varies greatly depending upon local climatic limits. Given the high likelihood of more frequent delayed snowmelt at higher latitudes, this study highlights the importance of understanding the role of snowmelt timing in vegetation growth and terrestrial carbon cycles across warming Arctic ecosystems.

This study was funded by grants from the Korea Polar Research Institute and the National Research Foundation of Korea. This study was published online in Nature Communications on Nov. 25th,2021.

Publication Info.

Title: Carbon response of tundra ecosystems to advancing greenup and snowmelt in Alaska

Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26876-7