Phoenix, G.K. orcid.org/0000-0002-0911-8107, Bjerke, J.W., Björk, R.G. orcid.org/0000-0001-7346-666X et al. (17 more authors) (2025) Browning events in Arctic ecosystems: Diverse causes with common consequences. PLOS Climate, 4 (1). e0000570. ISSN 2767-3200
Abstract
Arctic ecosystems are experiencing extreme climatic, biotic and physical disturbance events that can cause substantial loss of plant biomass and productivity, sometimes at scales of >1000 km2. Collectively known as browning events, these are key contributors to the spatial and temporal complexity of Arctic greening and vegetation dynamics. If we are to properly understand the future of Arctic terrestrial ecosystems, their productivity, and their feedbacks to climate, understanding browning events is essential. Here we bring together understanding of browning events in Arctic ecosystems to compare their impacts and rates of recovery, and likely future changes in frequency and distribution. We also seek commonalities in impacts across these contrasting event types. We find that while browning events can cause high levels of plant damage (up to 100% mortality), ecosystems have substantial capacity for recovery, with biomass largely re-established within five years for many events. We also find that despite the substantial loss of leaf area of dominant species, compensatory mechanisms such as increased productivity of undamaged subordinate species lessen the impacts on carbon sequestration. These commonalities hold true for most climatic and biotic events, but less so for physical events such as fire and abrupt permafrost thaw, due to the greater removal of vegetation. Counterintuitively, some events also provide conditions for greater productivity (greening) in the longer-term, particularly where the disturbance exposes ground for plant colonisation. Finally, we find that projected changes in the causes of browning events currently suggest many types of events will become more frequent, with events of tundra fire and abrupt permafrost thaw expected to be the greatest contributors to future browning due to their severe impacts and occurrence in many Arctic regions. Overall, browning events will have increasingly important consequences for ecosystem structure and function, and for feedback to climate.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 Phoenix et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 04 Feb 2025 15:09 |
Last Modified: | 04 Feb 2025 15:09 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000570 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:222808 |