Climatic limiting factors of North American ecosystems: a remote-sensing based vulnerability analysis
Remote-sensing based vulnerability assessments to climate change are a research priority of critical importance for landscape-scale efforts to prioritize conservation and management of ecosystems. Limiting climatic factors can serve as a proxy for quantifying ecosystem vulnerability, since theory pr...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8608 |
| _version_ | 1797747363493707776 |
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| author | Zihaohan Sang Andreas Hamann |
| author_facet | Zihaohan Sang Andreas Hamann |
| author_sort | Zihaohan Sang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Remote-sensing based vulnerability assessments to climate change are a research priority of critical importance for landscape-scale efforts to prioritize conservation and management of ecosystems. Limiting climatic factors can serve as a proxy for quantifying ecosystem vulnerability, since theory predicts that ecosystems close to critical climate thresholds will be more sensitive to interannual variation in limiting climate factors. Here, we analyze time series of enhanced vegetation index data for continental-scale vulnerability assessments. The analytical approach is a lagged monthly correlation analysis that accounts for memory effects from the previous growing season. Mapping multivariate correlation coefficients reveals that drought vulnerabilities can be found across the continent, including a distinct geographic band across the western boreal forest. The analytical approach reveals climate dependencies at high spatial and temporal resolution, with the direction and strength of correlation coefficients indicating the risk of threshold transgressions at the edge of species and ecosystem tolerance limits. The approach is further useful for hypothesis testing of contributing non-climatic factors to climatic vulnerability, allowing locally targeted management interventions to address climate change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:49:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2c12791f18a444be9c1bf14a715169d1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:49:39Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-2c12791f18a444be9c1bf14a715169d12023-08-09T15:14:58ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262022-01-0117909401110.1088/1748-9326/ac8608Climatic limiting factors of North American ecosystems: a remote-sensing based vulnerability analysisZihaohan Sang0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4149-7271Andreas Hamann1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2046-4550Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta , 751 General Services Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, CanadaDepartment of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta , 751 General Services Building, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1, CanadaRemote-sensing based vulnerability assessments to climate change are a research priority of critical importance for landscape-scale efforts to prioritize conservation and management of ecosystems. Limiting climatic factors can serve as a proxy for quantifying ecosystem vulnerability, since theory predicts that ecosystems close to critical climate thresholds will be more sensitive to interannual variation in limiting climate factors. Here, we analyze time series of enhanced vegetation index data for continental-scale vulnerability assessments. The analytical approach is a lagged monthly correlation analysis that accounts for memory effects from the previous growing season. Mapping multivariate correlation coefficients reveals that drought vulnerabilities can be found across the continent, including a distinct geographic band across the western boreal forest. The analytical approach reveals climate dependencies at high spatial and temporal resolution, with the direction and strength of correlation coefficients indicating the risk of threshold transgressions at the edge of species and ecosystem tolerance limits. The approach is further useful for hypothesis testing of contributing non-climatic factors to climatic vulnerability, allowing locally targeted management interventions to address climate change.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8608climate changeremote sensingresponse functionslimiting factorsEVI |
| spellingShingle | Zihaohan Sang Andreas Hamann Climatic limiting factors of North American ecosystems: a remote-sensing based vulnerability analysis Environmental Research Letters climate change remote sensing response functions limiting factors EVI |
| title | Climatic limiting factors of North American ecosystems: a remote-sensing based vulnerability analysis |
| title_full | Climatic limiting factors of North American ecosystems: a remote-sensing based vulnerability analysis |
| title_fullStr | Climatic limiting factors of North American ecosystems: a remote-sensing based vulnerability analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Climatic limiting factors of North American ecosystems: a remote-sensing based vulnerability analysis |
| title_short | Climatic limiting factors of North American ecosystems: a remote-sensing based vulnerability analysis |
| title_sort | climatic limiting factors of north american ecosystems a remote sensing based vulnerability analysis |
| topic | climate change remote sensing response functions limiting factors EVI |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8608 |
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