Surface albedo of alpine lichen heaths and shrub vegetation
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. The aim of this article is to quantify the difference in albedo between lichen heaths and shrub-domina...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2020.1778890 |
| _version_ | 1818458799514583040 |
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| author | Peter Aartsma Johan Asplund Arvid Odland Stefanie Reinhardt Hans Renssen |
| author_facet | Peter Aartsma Johan Asplund Arvid Odland Stefanie Reinhardt Hans Renssen |
| author_sort | Peter Aartsma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. The aim of this article is to quantify the difference in albedo between lichen heaths and shrub-dominated vegetation and the variability within lichen heaths. Several environmental conditions that can influence the albedo measurements are considered. We measured the albedo of twenty lichen- and shrub-dominated plots on an alpine mountain area in southern Norway in the summer of 2018 with two radiometers using a paired plot design. With this design, we ensured similar weather conditions, aspects, and zenith angles between the paired lichen- and shrub-dominated plots. In addition, we collected patches of Cladonia stellaris and Flavocetraria nivalis to measure their albedo. The average difference in albedo between the lichen- and shrub-dominated plots is 0.124. The albedo of the lichen-dominated plots varies between 0.227 and 0.284, and that of the shrub-dominated plots varies between 0.115 and 0.148. This variation in albedo is explained by differences in aspect and vegetation composition. Further studies should focus on the consequences of this decrease in albedo for the microclimate in alpine and arctic areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T23:04:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-39cd75b6f1724517b0e8f3fae7faf9ea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1523-0430 1938-4246 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T23:04:12Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-39cd75b6f1724517b0e8f3fae7faf9ea2022-12-21T22:44:23ZengTaylor & Francis GroupArctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research1523-04301938-42462020-01-0152131232210.1080/15230430.2020.17788901778890Surface albedo of alpine lichen heaths and shrub vegetationPeter Aartsma0Johan Asplund1Arvid Odland2Stefanie Reinhardt3Hans Renssen4University of South-Eastern NorwayNorwegian University of Life SciencesUniversity of South-Eastern NorwayUniversity of South-Eastern NorwayUniversity of South-Eastern NorwayLichen 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. The aim of this article is to quantify the difference in albedo between lichen heaths and shrub-dominated vegetation and the variability within lichen heaths. Several environmental conditions that can influence the albedo measurements are considered. We measured the albedo of twenty lichen- and shrub-dominated plots on an alpine mountain area in southern Norway in the summer of 2018 with two radiometers using a paired plot design. With this design, we ensured similar weather conditions, aspects, and zenith angles between the paired lichen- and shrub-dominated plots. In addition, we collected patches of Cladonia stellaris and Flavocetraria nivalis to measure their albedo. The average difference in albedo between the lichen- and shrub-dominated plots is 0.124. The albedo of the lichen-dominated plots varies between 0.227 and 0.284, and that of the shrub-dominated plots varies between 0.115 and 0.148. This variation in albedo is explained by differences in aspect and vegetation composition. Further studies should focus on the consequences of this decrease in albedo for the microclimate in alpine and arctic areas.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2020.1778890lichenshrubbetula nanaalbedoalpine tundra |
| spellingShingle | Peter Aartsma Johan Asplund Arvid Odland Stefanie Reinhardt Hans Renssen Surface albedo of alpine lichen heaths and shrub vegetation Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research lichen shrub betula nana albedo alpine tundra |
| title | Surface albedo of alpine lichen heaths and shrub vegetation |
| title_full | Surface albedo of alpine lichen heaths and shrub vegetation |
| title_fullStr | Surface albedo of alpine lichen heaths and shrub vegetation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surface albedo of alpine lichen heaths and shrub vegetation |
| title_short | Surface albedo of alpine lichen heaths and shrub vegetation |
| title_sort | surface albedo of alpine lichen heaths and shrub vegetation |
| topic | lichen shrub betula nana albedo alpine tundra |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2020.1778890 |
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