TY - JOUR
TI - Air temperature changes and their impact on permafrost ecosystems in eastern Siberia
AU - Desyatkin Roman
AU - Fedorov Alexander
AU - Desyatkin Alexey
AU - Konstantinov Pavel
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2015
VL - 19
IS - 12
SP - 351
EP - 360
PT - Article
AB - Significant increasing of mean annual air temperatures, freezing index and  thawing index - have exerted a considerable impact on the state of permafrost  landscapes and ecosystems in Eastern Siberia on the last few decades. Many  animals and plants have shifted their ranges and this may be the precursor of  northward shifts of the landscape zones. Landscapes that contain ground ice  bodies in the underlying permafrost are especially sensitive to climate  warming. Increase of mean annual air temperature for 2-3°C over the last  three decades has resulted an increase in ground temperature by 0.4-1.3°C in  the upper part of permafrost, which in turn has led intensification of  negative cryogenic processes. Previous year’s measurements of greenhouses  gases emission in the Middle Taiga forest of central Yakutia were found to  show high values and spatial variability. The wet meadow soils and shallow  lakes have highest methane fluxes, almost comparable with emissions from  tropical peatlands. Permafrost ecosystems respond to global warming quite  rapidly. This makes the study of their changes somewhat easier, but still  requires meticulous attention to observations, research, and analysis of the  processes under way.