Larval outbreaks in West Greenland: instant and subsequent effects on tundra ecosystem productivity and CO2 exchange

Magnus Lund; Katrine Raundrup; Andreas Westergaard-Nielsen; Efrén López-Blanco; Josephine Nymand; Peter Aastrup

doi:10.1007/s13280-016-0863-9

Larval outbreaks in West Greenland: instant and subsequent effects on tundra ecosystem productivity and CO₂ exchange

Magnus Lund^*, Katrine Raundrup, Andreas Westergaard-Nielsen, Efrén López-Blanco, Josephine Nymand, Peter Aastrup

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography

28 Citations (Scopus)

76 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Insect outbreaks can have important consequences for tundra ecosystems. In this study, we synthesise available information on outbreaks of larvae of the noctuid moth Eurois occulta in Greenland. Based on an extensive dataset from a monitoring programme in Kobbefjord, West Greenland, we demonstrate effects of a larval outbreak in 2011 on vegetation productivity and CO₂ exchange. We estimate a decreased carbon (C) sink strength in the order of 118–143 g C m⁻², corresponding to 1210–1470 tonnes C at the Kobbefjord catchment scale. The decreased C sink was, however, counteracted the following years by increased primary production, probably facilitated by the larval outbreak increasing nutrient turnover rates. Furthermore, we demonstrate for the first time in tundra ecosystems, the potential for using remote sensing to detect and map insect outbreak events.

Original language	English
Journal	Ambio
Volume	46
Issue number	Suppl. 1
Pages (from-to)	26-38
Number of pages	13
ISSN	0044-7447
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-016-0863-9
Publication status	Published - 2017

Keywords

Arctic
Carbon
Disturbance
Ecosystem productivity
Eurois occulta
Insect outbreak

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10.1007/s13280-016-0863-9

Larval outbreaks in West Greenland Instant and subsequent effects on tundra ecosystem productivity and CO2 exchangeFinal published version, 2.21 MB

Cite this

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title = "Larval outbreaks in West Greenland: instant and subsequent effects on tundra ecosystem productivity and CO2 exchange",

abstract = "Insect outbreaks can have important consequences for tundra ecosystems. In this study, we synthesise available information on outbreaks of larvae of the noctuid moth Eurois occulta in Greenland. Based on an extensive dataset from a monitoring programme in Kobbefjord, West Greenland, we demonstrate effects of a larval outbreak in 2011 on vegetation productivity and CO2 exchange. We estimate a decreased carbon (C) sink strength in the order of 118–143 g C m−2, corresponding to 1210–1470 tonnes C at the Kobbefjord catchment scale. The decreased C sink was, however, counteracted the following years by increased primary production, probably facilitated by the larval outbreak increasing nutrient turnover rates. Furthermore, we demonstrate for the first time in tundra ecosystems, the potential for using remote sensing to detect and map insect outbreak events.",

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T2 - instant and subsequent effects on tundra ecosystem productivity and CO2 exchange

AU - Lund, Magnus

AU - Raundrup, Katrine

AU - Westergaard-Nielsen, Andreas

AU - López-Blanco, Efrén

AU - Nymand, Josephine

AU - Aastrup, Peter

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AB - Insect outbreaks can have important consequences for tundra ecosystems. In this study, we synthesise available information on outbreaks of larvae of the noctuid moth Eurois occulta in Greenland. Based on an extensive dataset from a monitoring programme in Kobbefjord, West Greenland, we demonstrate effects of a larval outbreak in 2011 on vegetation productivity and CO2 exchange. We estimate a decreased carbon (C) sink strength in the order of 118–143 g C m−2, corresponding to 1210–1470 tonnes C at the Kobbefjord catchment scale. The decreased C sink was, however, counteracted the following years by increased primary production, probably facilitated by the larval outbreak increasing nutrient turnover rates. Furthermore, we demonstrate for the first time in tundra ecosystems, the potential for using remote sensing to detect and map insect outbreak events.

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KW - Carbon

KW - Disturbance

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