Impact of tundra vegetation type on topsoil temperature in central Spitsbergen (Svalbard, High Arctic)

Abstract

Current climatic models and projections forecast further increases in air temperature in the Arctic in the future. Therefore, new knowledge concerning the variability of air and soil temperature as well as its dependence on environmental factors is urgently needed to better understand and forecast the consequences of climate warming in the Arctic region. The main aims of this study were: 1) to determine the variability of the topsoil temperature for the one-year time scale under different types of tundra vegetation in the Adventdalen Valley in the central part of Spitsbergen (Svalbard, High Arctic), and 2) to determine the impact of different types of tundra vegetation on the topsoil temperature on a microscale in this area. The obtained results indicate that wet sites covered with marsh and moss tundra vegetation exhibited a significantly higher mean annual topsoil temperature (−0.7 °C and −1.2 °C, respectively) than sites featuring bare ground (−1.5 °C), Arctic meadow (−2.1 °C), and heath tundra vegetation (−2.4 °C). The mean topsoil temperature during the summer season was the lowest at sites covered with Arctic meadow and heath tundra vegetation (4.9 °C and 5.7 °C, respectively), and highest at the site with bare ground (6.9 °C). The topsoil temperature was highly and significantly correlated with the air temperature (correlation coefficient between 0.86 and 0.92); however, the correlation was clearly higher during the autumn and summer seasons (correlation coefficient between 0.76 and 0.89; p < 0.001) in comparison with the winter season (correlation coefficient between 0.67 and 0.89; p < 0.001) and especially the spring season (correlation coefficient between 0.62 and 0.71; p < 0.001). Freeze-thaw events were substantially less frequent in the topsoil (up to 16 events) compared to the atmosphere (at least 80 events), and their number was clearly different even at the microscale (from 4 to 16 events). Local microtopography, snow cover, tundra vegetation type, soil properties, and soil moisture were responsible for variances in topsoil temperature and number of freeze–thaw events. The obtained results indicated that the topsoil temperature is significantly different, even at the microscale, and further research is needed in other Arctic terrestrial environments to better understand and forecast the consequences of climate warming in this region of the world.