A synthesized field survey database of vegetation and active-layer properties for the Alaskan tundra (1972–2020)

Abstract. Studies in recent decades have shown strong evidence of physical and biological changes in the Arctic tundra, largely in response to rapid rates of warming. Given the important implications of these changes for ecosystem services, hydrology, surface energy balance, carbon budgets, and climate feedbacks, research on the trends and patterns of these changes is becoming increasingly important and can help better constrain estimates of local, regional, and global impacts as well as inform mitigation and adaptation strategies. Despite this great need, scientific understanding of tundra ecology and change remains limited, largely due to the inaccessibility of this region and less intensive studies compared to other terrestrial biomes. A synthesis of existing datasets from past field studies can make field data more accessible and open up possibilities for collaborative research as well as for investigating and informing future studies. Here, we synthesize field datasets of vegetation and active-layer properties from the Alaskan tundra, one of the most well-studied tundra regions. Given the potentially increasing intensive fire regimes in the tundra, fire history and severity attributes have been added to data points where available. The resulting database is a resource that future investigators can employ to analyze spatial and temporal patterns in soil, vegetation, and fire disturbance-related environmental variables across the Alaskan tundra. This database, titled the Synthesized Alaskan Tundra Field Database (SATFiD), can be accessed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC) for Biogeochemical Dynamics (Chen et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2177).

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Publication Details

Journal
Earth system science data
Published
2024-08-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3687-2024
Citations
5
Primary Topic
Climate change and permafrost
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.88

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article

A synthesized field survey database of vegetation and active-layer properties for the Alaskan tundra (1972–2020)

Adrian V. Rocha, S. J. Goetz, Logan T. Berner, Xin Xu et al.
5 citations
Earth system science data
Climate change and permafrost
1.88
article

A synthesized field survey database of vegetation and active-layer properties for the Alaskan tundra (1972–2020)

Adrian V. Rocha, S. J. Goetz, Logan T. Berner, Xin Xu, C. E. Tweedie, Donald A. Walker, Yingtong Zhang, Michelle C. Mack, Maruko Kogure, Gerald V. Frost, Teresa N. Hollingsworth, Mathew Williams, Amy Breen, Tatiana Loboda, Nancy H. F. French, Scott J. Davidson, Go Iwahana, Abhishek Chatterjee, Elizabeth Hoy, Susan M. Natali, Shiro Tsuyuzaki, Charles E. Miller, Eric A. Miller, Randi Jandt, Matt Macander, Dong Chen, Xiaoran Zhu, Anja Kade, Martha K. Raynolds
article en
5 citations

Abstract

Abstract. Studies in recent decades have shown strong evidence of physical and biological changes in the Arctic tundra, largely in response to rapid rates of warming. Given the important implications of these changes for ecosystem services, hydrology, surface energy balance, carbon budgets, and climate feedbacks, research on the trends and patterns of these changes is becoming increasingly important and can help better constrain estimates of local, regional, and global impacts as well as inform mitigation and adaptation strategies. Despite this great need, scientific understanding of tundra ecology and change remains limited, largely due to the inaccessibility of this region and less intensive studies compared to other terrestrial biomes. A synthesis of existing datasets from past field studies can make field data more accessible and open up possibilities for collaborative research as well as for investigating and informing future studies. Here, we synthesize field datasets of vegetation and active-layer properties from the Alaskan tundra, one of the most well-studied tundra regions. Given the potentially increasing intensive fire regimes in the tundra, fire history and severity attributes have been added to data points where available. The resulting database is a resource that future investigators can employ to analyze spatial and temporal patterns in soil, vegetation, and fire disturbance-related environmental variables across the Alaskan tundra. This database, titled the Synthesized Alaskan Tundra Field Database (SATFiD), can be accessed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC) for Biogeochemical Dynamics (Chen et al., 2023: https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2177).

Earth system science dataVol. 16(8)
University of Notre Dame (US), Boston University (US), Michigan Technological University (US), Bureau of Land Management (US), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), Woodwell Climate Research Center (US), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US), University of Alaska Fairbanks (US), University of Waterloo (CA), The University of Texas at El Paso (US), Northern Arizona University (US), Hokkaido University (JP), University of Massachusetts Boston (US), Global Science & Technology (United States) (US), Rocky Mountain Research Station (US), Alaska Biological Research (United States) (US), Rocky Mountain Research (United States) (US), University of Maryland, College Park (US), University of Plymouth (GB), University of Edinburgh (GB)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 16%
Climate change and permafrost
1.88
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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