Borealization of tundra ecosystems with climate and land-use change
Abstract As the colder regions of the planet warm, species are moving northward and upward from the boreal forest to the tundra biome, a process that has been referred to as borealization. Here, we examine the diverse uses of the term borealization and propose the concept of ‘tundra borealization’ for terrestrial environments to specifically describe shifts and increases in abundance of boreal species into the tundra. We summarize the evidence to date for borealization of plant and animal communities in tundra ecosystems and the different approaches that can be used to quantify borealization. We discuss how land-use change is interacting with climate change, leading to species and community reorganization in colder biomes, and the consequences of borealization for food webs, ecosystem functions and northern livelihoods. Our review brings together the different definitions and lines of evidence for tundra borealization in terrestrial ecosystems to emphasize this important ecological process and rapidly evolving area of research.
Authors
- Emmanuel Pagneux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7963-6201)
- David Williamson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2445-5005)
- Jón Guðmundsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1703-8916)
- Mathilde Defourneaux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8960-9036)
- Jane Uhd Jepsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1517-1569)
- Niels Martin Schmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4166-6218)
- Timo Kumpula (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2716-7420)
- Anne D. Bjorkman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2174-7800)
- Jarad P. Mellard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1824-919X)
- Laura Barbero-Palacios (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3495-5839)
- James D. M. Speed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0633-5595)
- Gunnar Austrheim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3909-6666)
- Ása L. Aradóttir
- Mathilde Le Moullec (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3290-7091)
- Mariana García Criado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7480-6144)
- Alexandra Barry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5735-2600)
- Kristine Bakke Westergaard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4609-8704)
- Isla H. Myers‐Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8417-6112)
- Efrén López–Blanco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3796-8408)
- Mariana Verdonen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9780-0052)
- Elina Koivisto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7637-5509)
- Bjarni D. Sigurðsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4784-5233)
- Katrín Björnsdóttir (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7421-9441)
- Isabel C. Barrio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8120-5248)
- Alejandro Salazar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0798-882X)
- Beatrice M. Trascau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6236-9655)
- Tanguy Bernard
- Miguel Villosada
Institutions
- Agricultural University of Iceland (IS)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University of Iceland (IS)
- University of Eastern Finland (FI)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate (NO)
- Grønlands Naturinstitut (GL)
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NO)
- The FRAM Centre (NO)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Environmental Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-12-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae2e18
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Climate change and permafrost
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.30