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These datasets are associated with the following paper: Metsaranta, J.M., Mamet, S.D., Maillett, J., Barr, A.G. (2021). Comparison of tree-ring and eddy covariance derived annual ecosystem production estimates for jack pine and trembling aspen forests in Saskatchewan, Canada. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. There are two files: (1) CBMOutput.zip. This contains the hybrid biometric modelled ecosystem C stock and flux estimates. (2) StandReconstructionData.zip. This contains the field measurement data and the tree level biomass and wood volume data for the Stand Reconstruction plots used to develop the hybrid biometric modelled estimates. The data are formatted as .csv files, and an associated Microsoft Excel spreadsheet explains the data columns and provides information on the associated units of measure.

Data from: 30 Years Brings Changes to the Arthropod Community of Kibale National Park, Uganda by Opito, E.A., T. Alanko, U. Kalbitzer, M. Nummelin, P. Omeja, A. Valtonen, and Colin A. Chapman. 2023, Biotropica, Article DOI: 10.1111/btp.13206

Aim Despite an increasing number of studies highlighting the impacts of climate change on boreal species, the main factors that will drive changes in species assemblages remain ambiguous. We study how species community composition would change following anthropogenic and natural disturbances. We determine the main drivers of assemblage dissimilarity for bird and beetle communities. Location Côte-Nord, Québec, Canada. Methods We quantify two climate-induced pathways based on direct and indirect effects on species occurrence under different harvest management scenarios. The direct climate effects illustrate the impact of climate variables while the indirect effects are reflected through habitat-based climate change. We develop empirical models to predict the distribution of more than 100 species over the next century. We analyze the regional and the latitudinal species assemblage dissimilarity by decomposing it into 'balanced variation in species occupancy and occurrence' and 'occupancy and occurrence gradient'. Results Both pathways increased dissimilarity in species assemblage. At the regional scale, both effects have an impact on decreasing the number of winning species. Yet, responses are much larger in magnitude under mixed climate effects (a mixture of direct and indirect effects). Regional assemblage dissimilarity reached 0.77 and 0.69 under mixed effects versus 0.09 and 0.10 under indirect effects for beetles and birds, respectively, between RCP8.5 and baseline climate scenarios when considering harvesting. Latitudinally, assemblage dissimilarity increased following the climate conditions pattern. Main conclusions The two pathways are complementary and alter biodiversity, mainly caused by species turnover. Yet, responses are much larger in magnitude under mixed climate effects. Therefore, the inclusion of climatic variables considers aspects other than just those related to forest landscapes, such as life cycles of animal species. Moreover, we expect differences in occupancy between the two studied taxa. This could indicate the potential range of change in boreal species concerning novel environmental conditions.

A major achievement in research supported by the Kluane Lake Research Station was the recovery, in 2001 – 02, of a suite of cores from the icefields of the central St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, by teams of researchers from Canada, the United States, and Japan. This project led to the development of parallel, long (103 – 104 year) ice-core records of climate and atmospheric change over an altitudinal range of more than 2 km, from the Eclipse Icefield (3017 m) to the ice-covered plateau of Mt. Logan (5340 m). These efforts built on earlier work recovering single ice cores in this region. Comparison of these records has allowed for variations in climate and atmospheric composition to be linked with changes in the vertical structure and dynamics of the North Pacific atmosphere, providing a unique perspective on these changes over the Holocene. Owing to their privileged location, cores from the St. Elias Icefields also contain a remarkably detailed record of aerosols from various sources around or across the North Pacific. In this paper we review major scientific findings from the study of St. Elias Mountain ice cores, focusing on five main themes: (1) The record of stable water isotopes (δ18O, δD), which has unique characteristics that differ from those of Greenland, other Arctic ice cores, and even among sites in the St. Elias; (2) the snow accumulation history; (3) the record of pollen, biomass burning aerosol, and desert dust deposition; (4) the record of long-range air pollutant deposition (sulphate and lead); and (5) the record of paleo-volcanism. Our discussion draws on studies published since 2000, but based on older ice cores from the St. Elias Mountains obtained in 1980 and 1996.

Logging is the main human disturbance impacting biodiversity in forest ecosystems. However, the impact of forest harvesting on biodiversity is modulated by abiotic conditions through complex relationships that remain poorly documented. Therefore, the interplay between forest management and climate change can no longer be ignored. Our aim was to study the expected long-term variations in the assemblage of bird and beetle communities following modifications in forest management under different climate change scenarios. We developed species distribution models to predict the occurrence of 88 species of birds and beetles in eastern Canadian boreal forests over the next century. We simulated three climate scenarios (baseline, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) under which we varied the level of harvesting. We also analyzed the regional assemblage dissimilarity by decomposing it into balanced variations in species occupancy and occupancy gradient. We predict that forest harvesting will alter the diversity by increasing assemblage dissimilarity under all the studied climate scenarios, mainly due to species turnover. Species turnover intensity was greater for ground-dwelling beetles, probably because they have lower dispersal capacity than flying beetles or birds. A good dispersal capacity allows species to travel more easily between ecosystems across the landscape when they search for suitable habitats after a disturbance. Regionally, an overall increase in the probability of occupancy is projected for bird species, whereas a decrease is predicted for beetles, a variation that could reflect differences in ecological traits between taxa. Our results further predict a decrease in the number of species that increase their occupancy after harvest under the most severe climatic scenario for both taxa. We anticipate that under severe climate change, increasing forest disturbance will be detrimental to beetles associated with old forests but also with young forests after disturbances.

Additional file 1. Histotical and projected C stocks and fluxes.

Rapid, ongoing permafrost thaw of peatlands in the discontinuous permafrost zone is exposing a globally significant store of soil carbon (C) to microbial processes. Mineralisation and release of this peat C to the atmosphere as greenhouse gases is a potentially important feedback to climate change. Here we investigated the effects of permafrost thaw on peat C at a peatland complex in western Canada. We collected 15 complete peat cores (between 2.7 abd 4.5 m deep) along four chronosequences, from elevated permafrost plateaus to saturated thermokarst bogs that thawed up to 600 years ago. The peat cores were analysed for peat C storage and peat quality, as indicated by decomposition proxies (FTIR and C/N ratios) and potential decomposability using a 200-day aerobic incubation. Our results suggest net C loss following thaw, with average total peat C stocks decreasing by ~19.3 +/- 7.2 kg C m-2 over <600 years (~13% loss). Average post-thaw accumulation of new peat at the surface over the same period was ~13.1 +/- 2.5 kg C m-2. We estimate ~19% (+/- 5.8%) of deep peat (>40 cm below surface) C is lost following thaw (average 26 +/- 7.9 kg C m-2 over <600 years). Our FTIR analysis shows peat below the thaw transition in thermokarst bogs is slightly more decomposed than peat of a similar type and age in permafrost plateaus, but we found no significant changes to the quality or lability of deeper peat across the chronosequences. Our incubation results also showed no increase in C mineralisation of deep peat across the chronosequences. While these limited changes in peat quality in deeper peat following permafrost thaw highlight uncertainty in the exact mechanisms and processes for C loss, our analysis of peat C stocks shows large C losses following permafrost thaw in peatlands in western Canada.

Global transition towards renewable energy production has increased the demand for new and more flexible hydropower operations. Before management and stakeholders can make informed choices on potential mitigations, it is essential to understand how the hydropower reservoir ecosystems respond to water level regulation (WLR) impacts that are likely modified by the reservoirs' abiotic and biotic characteristics. Yet, most reservoir studies have been case-specific, which hampers large-scale planning, evaluation and mitigation actions across various reservoir ecosystems. Here, we investigated how the effect of the magnitude, frequency and duration of WLR on fish populations varies along environmental gradients. We used biomass, density, size, condition and maturation of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in Norwegian hydropower reservoirs as a measure of ecosystem response, and tested for interacting effects of WLR and lake morphometry, climatic conditions and fish community structure. Our results showed that environmental drivers modified the responses of brown trout populations to different WLR patterns. Specifically, brown trout biomass and density increased with WLR magnitude particularly in large and complex-shaped reservoirs, but the positive relationships were only evident in reservoirs with no other fish species. Moreover, increasing WLR frequency was associated with increased brown trout density but decreased condition of individuals within the populations. WLR duration had no significant impacts on brown trout, and the mean weight and maturation length of brown trout showed no significant response to any WLR metrics. Our study demonstrates that local environmental characteristics and the biotic community strongly modify the hydropower-induced WLR impacts on reservoir fishes and ecosystems, and that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to mitigate environmental impacts. This knowledge is vital for sustainable planning, management and mitigation of hydropower operations that need to meet the increasing worldwide demand for both renewable energy and ecosystem services delivered by freshwaters. Data of environmental characteristics and brown trout populations in 102 Norwegian hydropower reservoirsThe data contains field-collected data of brown trout populations in 102 Norwegian reservoirs with variable environmental characteristics. The brown trout data (i.e. response variables) include estimates of: "Biomass" (grams of fish per 100m2 net per night); "Density" (number of fish per 100m2 net per night); "Mean weight" (mean wet mass in grams); "Mean condition" (mean Fulton's condition factor); and "Mean maturity length" (mean total length of mature females in millimeters). All abbreviations for different variables (columns) are explained in the paper. Many reservoirs ("Lake") have various names, some including Norwegian letters (æ, ø & å). Hence, we recommend to use coordinate data (EPSG:4326; "decimalLongitude" and "decimalLatitude") and Norwegian national lake ID numbers ("Lake_nr"; managed by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate; www.nve.no) to locate the reservoirs. The variables "Year", "Month" and "Day" refer to times when survey fishing was conducted. Lake morphometry data ("A"=surface area, "SD"=shoreline development) is obtained from NVE database. The lake climatic and catchment data ("T"=mean July air temperature, "NDVI"= Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and "SL"=terrain slope) is obtained and measured as described by Finstad et al. (2014; DOI: 10.1111/ele.12201). Other abbreviations include: "FC"=presence of other fish species (1=absent, 2=present); "GS"=gillnet series (1=Nordic, 2=Jensen); and "ST"=brown trout stocking (0=no stocking, 1=stocking). The water level regulation (WLR) metrics include: ): "WLR_magnitude"= maximum regulation amplitude; "WLR_frequency"=relative proportion of weeks with a sudden rise or drop in water level; and "WLR_duration"=the relative proportion of weeks with exceptionally low water levels.Data-in_doi.org-10.1016-j.scitotenv.2017.10.268.xlsx