Finding northernmost baselines: high variability of above-ground biomass on Eurasian polar desert islands

Finding northernmost baselines: high variability of above-ground biomass on Eurasian polar desert islands | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 22 May 2025 V1 Latest version Share on Finding northernmost baselines: high variability of above-ground biomass on Eurasian polar desert islands Authors : Vitalii Zemlianskii 0000-0001-6597-2415 [email protected] , K Ermokhina , N Rietze , R Heim , J Assmann , J Rüthi , N Loginova , and G Schaepman-Strub Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174793885.51566430/v1 Published Environmental Research: Ecology Version of record Peer review timeline 237 views 152 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract As the Arctic rapidly warms, a major change in its vegetation and biomass is expected. Understanding the current state of Arctic plant biomass is crucial due to its role in the surface energy budget and ecosystem carbon storage yet challenging due to logistical and methodological limitations. Arctic polar deserts are one of the most vulnerable terrestrial biomes on Earth, highly sensitive to climate change, and likely also the most understudied. During the 2021 Arctic Century expedition, we performed vegetation surveys and collected aboveground plant and lichen biomass samples at 8 sites on the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, Franz Josef Land, Vize, and Uedineniya Islands, filling an important spatial gap in biomass measurements in the Arctic. For these study sites, we explored three different methods for estimating plant and lichen biomass: using 1) in-situ species richness, 2) in-situ cover, and 3) remotely sensed NDVI and plant cover. We found no relationship between total in-situ species richness and in-situ biomass, but in-situ lichen species richness significantly predicted lichen biomass. Remotely sensed NDVI had a limited explanatory power for in-situ biomass. However, drone-derived plant cover predicted in-situ biomass measurements well and could thus be used to effectively estimate landscape-level biomass of Arctic polar deserts. Our findings reveal that biomass varies widely among the sites, with an almost complete absence of biomass on Graham-Bell and Komsomolets islands, intermediate levels on October Revolution Inland and Pioneer islands, and maximum biomass found on Vize Island, although the results for this site are highly uncertain. Our findings could be used as a baseline to document future biomass changes in polar deserts. We propose our cover-based approach as an alternative to NDVI-based estimates of polar desert plant and lichen biomass and discuss its uncertainties and limitations. Supplementary Material File (finding_northernmost_baselines_high_variability_of_aboveground_biomass_on_eurasian_polar_desert_islands.pdf) Download 3.15 MB File (supplementary_materials_finding northernmost baselines high variability of above-ground biomass on eurasian polar desert islands.pdf) Download 1.82 MB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 22 May 2025 Peer review timeline Published Environmental Research: Ecology Version of Record 13 Aug 2025 Published Copyright This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Keywords arctic high arctic ndvi plant biomass polar desert remote sensing vegetation cover Authors Affiliations Vitalii Zemlianskii 0000-0001-6597-2415 [email protected] Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich View all articles by this author K Ermokhina A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences View all articles by this author N Rietze Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich View all articles by this author R Heim Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster View all articles by this author J Assmann Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich View all articles by this author J Rüthi Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL View all articles by this author N Loginova Institute of Geological Research (VSEGEI), Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Russian Academy of Science, Saint Petersburg Russian Academy of Sciences View all articles by this author G Schaepman-Strub Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 237 views 152 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Vitalii Zemlianskii, K Ermokhina, N Rietze, et al. Finding northernmost baselines: high variability of above-ground biomass on Eurasian polar desert islands. Authorea . 22 May 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174793885.51566430/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . 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