Vegetation Response on Climatic Changes in West-Siberian North Sergey - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Vegetation Response on Climatic Changes in West-Siberian North Sergey Kirpotin 1 , Yury Polishchuk 2 , Oleg Pokrovsky 3 , Alexey Kouraev 3 , Natalia Bryksina 2 , Anna Sugaipova 2 , Elena Zakharova 3 , Liudmila Shirokova 4 , Maria Kolmakova 1,3 , Rinat Manassypov 1 , Bernard Dupre 3 1) Tomsk State University, 36, Lenina Pr., Tomsk, Russia, 634050, kirp@ums.tsu.ru 2) Ugra State University, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Yu_Polishchuk@ugrasu.ru 3) Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France, oleg@lmtg.obs-mip.fr 4) Institute of the Ecological Problems of the North, Arkhangelsk, RAS, liudmila@lmtg.obs-mip.fr ENVIROMIS – 2010 Tomsk, Russia

Western Siberia is a unique mire region in the World 90° E 90° E 90° E 90° E 90° E 90° E 90° E 90° E 90° E 70° E 70° E 70° E 70° E 70° E 70° E 70° E 70° E 70° E Yenisey Yenisey Yenisey Yenisey Yenisey Yenisey Yenisey Yenisey Yenisey M i d d l e M i d d l e M i d d l e M i d d l e M i d d l e M i d d l e M i d d l e M i d d l e M i d d l e Salekhard Salekhard Salekhard Salekhard Salekhard Salekhard Salekhard Salekhard Salekhard Ural Mountains Ural Mountains Ural Mountains Ural Mountains Ural Mountains Ural Mountains Ural Mountains Ural Mountains Ural Mountains Nadym Nadym Nadym Nadym Nadym Nadym Nadym Nadym Nadym n About 104 Mha of Russian peatlands Pur Pur Pur Pur Pur Pur Pur Pur Pur Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' are located in Western Siberia, which S i b e r i a n S i b e r i a n S i b e r i a n Taz Taz Taz S i b e r i a n S i b e r i a n S i b e r i a n S i b e r i a n S i b e r i a n S i b e r i a n Taz Taz Taz Taz Taz Taz Siberian Ridge Siberian Ridge Siberian Ridge consists almost completely of pristine Siberian Ridge Siberian Ridge Siberian Ridge Siberian Ridge Siberian Ridge Siberian Ridge peatland ecosystems. Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk H i g h l a n d H i g h l a n d H i g h l a n d H i g h l a n d H i g h l a n d H i g h l a n d H i g h l a n d H i g h l a n d H i g h l a n d n The biggest at the World – Great 60° N 60° N 60° N 60° N 60° N 60° N 60° N 60° N 60° N Vasiugan Mire (total area – 6.78 Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Ob' Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Vasyugan Vasyugan Vasyugan Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Vasyugan Vasyugan Vasyugan Vasyugan Vasyugan Vasyugan million hectare [Vaganov etc., 2005] is situated its territory. This unique mire Tomsk Tomsk Tomsk Tomsk Tomsk Tomsk Tomsk Tomsk Tomsk representing the object of a nature of the world value, comparable on the Tobol Tobol Tobol Tobol Tobol Tobol Tobol Tobol Tobol importance and a rank with the lake 150 km 150 km 150 km 150 km 150 km 150 km 150 km 150 km 150 km Ishim Ishim Ishim Ishim Ishim Ishim Ishim Ishim Ishim Baikal. Stocks of peat deposited by this largest bog pool in recalculation Altay Mountains Altai Mountains Altay Mountains Altay Mountains Altay Mountains Altai Mountains Altay Mountains Altay Mountains Altay Mountains Altay Mountains Altay Mountains Altai Mountains Altai Mountains Altai Mountains Altai Mountains Altai Mountains Altai Mountains Altai Mountains 50° N 50° N 50° N 50° N 50° N 50° N 50° N 50° N 50° N on absolutely dry organic substance Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh Irtysh make almost 18 billion т , and it is not Permafrost type a lot of a little - 16,5 % of stocks of Continuous permafrost Discontinuous permafrost peat of all Western Siberia [Vaganov Less than 5% permafrost etc., 2005]. Ob' w atershed Ob' inner w atershed Great Vasyugan Bog

Siberian peatlands have been a major sink of atmospheric carbon since the last deglaciation, but their precise role in the global carbon balance has not been quantified yet (photographer S. Kirpotin)

n Yefremov and Yefremova (2001) estimated that in total 51.7 Pg carbon is stored in all Western Siberian peat. Smith et al. (2004) found a total of 70.2 Pg carbon (=70.2 billion tonnes) which is according to highest estimation about 26% of global terrestrial carbon.

Scheme of West-Siberian plain

Vegetation is the most sensitive and observable component of landscape Vegetation is the most sensitive n and observable component of landscape, respondent on climatic changes. Study of climatic driven vegetation n dynamics is one of the main tasks in joint French-Russian GDRI project “CAR-WET-SIB Biogeochemical cycle of carbon in wetlands of Western Siberia” which was started in 2007. Interdisciplinary approach of this project is based on combination of “terrestrial” (fieldwork), “spatial” (remote sensing) techniques and numerical modeling approaches on the same objects.

In particular the scientific research of the n GDRI is focus on: investigation of dynamics of pristine and disturbed ecosystems in connection with past, present and future global climatic changes; application of existing satellite remote sensing and numerical modelling techniques, analytical observations, GIS technologies; their validation, parameterisation and development of new ones for studies and monitoring of environmental conditions of the chosen natural objects; analyses and modeling of vegetation pattern and biodiversity at site, local and regional scales within a changing environment; development of mathematical and computer simulation of environmental and climatic dynamics.

Landslide permafrost melting in West Siberian cryolitozone n Landslide permafrost melting in West Siberian cryolitozone, which, according to our observations, started at the beginning of XXI century, notably changed patterns of vegetation cover: number of bog hollows and embryonic lakes were Melting of the frozen mound bog edge sufficiently increased as well as number of drained thaw lake basins (occupied by cotton- grass-sedge-sphagnum swamps) in the south part of permafrost zone and number of expanding lakes in its northern part.

n At the same time, in permafrost cryolithic zone of Western Siberia due to an unprecedented melting of permafrost the methane thread has increased, and the bogs of this region can turn from greenhouse gases sinks to a powerful Methane bubbling from source of their emission. northern lake

Thermokarst processes increase methane emission, especially from yedomas (ice-rich Pleistocene soils with a high labile carbon content). Recent discovery of hot spots of methane emission (bubbling) in Siberian lakes is a strong evidence of this possibility [Walter et al., 2006]. n Methane bubbles in lake ice on the Siberian North ( AP Photo/Nature, Katey Walter )

Since 2004 thermokarst activity increased even more and new forms of it appeared ( photographer S. Kirpotin, 2008) n the rest of melting frozen mounds surrounded by rings of water

Edges of the big (1 km) lakes ( photographer S. Kirpotin, 2004)

Edges of the big (1 km) lake Shirokoe ( photographer S. Kirpotin, 2008)

Reindeer skeleton - “alive” witness of permafrost thawing n 2004 n 2008 (the same place)

Location of pilot territories in West-Siberian permafrost

Fragment of space images Landsat-7 (07.08.1999 г .), central part of PT-5 Simbols: 1 – thermokarst lakes; 2 – dried lakes

Comparison of space images Landsat-1 (10.08.1973) and Spot-5 ( 20.07.2005)

Consequent stages of decrease of lake 7 area a b c d Thermokarst lake 7 areas (red) changes 1973 (a) 1988 (b) 1993 (c) 2005 (d) 151 ha 27 ha 3 ha 0 Landsat-1 (57m) Landsat-5 (30 m) Resurs -F2 (10 m) Spot-5 (5 m)

The index of relative change of lake areas (%) during 36 years of observation at 24 pilot sites of Western Siberia versus geographical latitude. Normalized values of thermokarst lake areas changes depending on latitude.

The territory of Western Siberia, the n climate of which is getting warmer more impetuously, than in other northern regions of the world, already suffers a significant social and economic damage, due to climatic changes: due to increase of soil instability accident rate at oil and gas pipelines has increased, exploitation period of Siberian traditional roads and ice crossing has decreased, negative shifts in the agricultural and wild plants development have taken place, traditional systems of life support of local people have changed, conditions of exploitation of residential infrastructure and preservation of cultural heritage objects have worsened, sickness rate structure of population has changed. Thus, for the world community Western n § Pylons holding electric wires are being moved Siberia is a unique ground, at the territory from tilting piles driven into the melting of which climatic changes and their permafrost 30 years ago onto more stable consequences are revealed most horizontal concrete ties. obviously, and is an ideal object for study and discussion of these issues. In Western Siberia the processes which other countries may face in the nearest future have already been developing.