Boreal forests are heading for an open state.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39793114.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.2404391121 and PMC identifier 11745404.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The boreal forest biome is warming four times faster than the global average. Changes so far are moderate, but time lags in responses may transiently maintain forest states which are no longer supported by current environmental conditions. Here, we explore whether tree cover dynamics hint at the state to which the biome may be shifting. Our results suggest that global boreal tree cover is heading for a unimodal state of open forest (30 to 50%), contrasting starkly to the bimodal distribution of dense forests (>60%) and sparse woodlands (5 to 15%) found today. A future open forest in a warmer world would likely increase the risk of forest fires, leading to potentially substantial releases of stored carbon.
Medical subject headings
- Taiga
- Trees