Polygon mires & Climate Change

Low-center polygon Lc04- Completed studies

Complex polygon Lhc11- Recent studies

Collapsed polygon complex Mnp12- Recent studies

High resolution

Palaeo-ecological studies of polygon mires in the Indigirka-Kolyma Lowlands

Annette Teltewskoi*, Pim de Klerk, Juliane Seyfert, Enrico Behrens, Martin Schrön, Dierk Michaelis & Hans Joosten

Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität, Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Grimmer Str. 88, 17487 Greifswald

* corresponding author: a.teltewskoi@uni-greifswald.de

Polygon

Polygon mires show typical short-distance diversity in vegetation and site conditions. Ice wedge polygons are highly dynamic ecosystems with a complex interplay of water, ice, vegetation and peat. The walls of a polygon may collapse and redevelop within a few years. This is a result of internal polygon processes, possibly initiated by changes in climatic conditions (Fig. 2) (de Klerk et al.2011).

Ice wedge polygon mires are typical features for the arctic zone (Fig. 1). Worldwide they cover an area of 250,000 km2, most of them are located in Siberia (Minke et al. 2007).

Climate change has been and will be particularly intense in the Arctic. But how large is the effect of external climate change on polygon mire development actually and to what extent are observed changes the result of internal polygon dynamics? This question we address with high resolution spatial and temporal research.

J18,80

Fig. 5: Elevation models of Mnp12, ground surface (with the location of the peat profiles) and frost table.

References De Klerk, P., Donner, N., Karpov, N.S., Minke, M. & Joosten, H., 2011:Short-term dynamics of a low-centred ice-wedge polygon near Chokurdakh (NE Yakutia, NE Siberia) and climate change during the last ca 1250 years. Quaternary Science Reviews 30: 3013-3031. Minke, M., Donner, N., Karpov, N.S., De Klerk, P. & Joosten, H., 2007: Distribution, diversity, development and dynamics of polygon mires: examples from Northeast Yakutia (Siberia). Peatlands International 2007(1): 36-40.

J18,80

During the recent field work in summer 2012 we investigated the collapsed polygon complex Mnp12 (Fig. 5). The distributions of selected plant species are shown in Figure 6. Further data and interpretation will follow!

Carex chordorrhiza Potentilla palustris Vaccinium vitis-idea

Fig. 6: Contour map of Mnp12 (a) and Contour maps with the distribution of selected plant species (b).

a) b)

Fig. 3: Elevation models of Lhc11, a) ground surface with water (with the location of the peat profiles), b) Ground surface and frost table.

a)

b)

Fig. 4: Micro- and macrofossil diagram of the profile Lhc11 j18,80. The microfossils- (pollen, spores and NPPs) are expressed in concentration [grain/10 mm3]. Analyses: P. de Klerk (pollen) and A. Teltewskoi with D. Michaelis (macrofossils).

High resolution studies of the polygon Lhc11 (Fig. 3) reveal differences and changes in surface height and vegetation composition, allowing us a detailed reconstruction of ecosystem patterns and developments. Figure 4 shows the micro- and macrofossil diagram of the peat profile j18,80. Six further profiles will be analysed.

Fig. 2: a) Paper, b) Morphology of ice-wedge polygon Lc04 with the location of the analysed peat sections and c) Dynamics of Lc04 (de Klerk et al. 2011).

a) c) b)

Fig. 1: Distribution of polygon mires (Minke et al. 2007) and location of the investigated polygons.

Lc04

Lhc11

Mnp12

Lhc11 j18,80

November 2012