The bioclimatic extent and pattern of the cold edge of the boreal forest: the circumpolar taiga-tundra ecotone

Abstract

Abstract Current configurations of forest structure at the cold edge of the boreal may help understand the future of ecosystem functioning in high northern latitudes. The circumpolar biome boundary at the boreal (taiga) forest and tundra interface is an ecological transition zone (taiga-tundra ecotone; TTE) experiencing changes that affect its forest structure. We accounted for the TTE’s horizontal forest structure with an estimate of its extent and pattern as represented by tree canopy cover (TCC). We quantified TCC patterns with an algorithm that describes its spatial gradient, and summarized landscape patterns of structure to represent heterogeneity, capturing abrupt, diffuse, and uniform forest at mesoscales. We used these landscape patterns to constrain the spatial extent of sparse and open canopy forest, and non-forest (forest-adjacent) edge that defines the TTE extent. The resulting map of the TTE extent is based on forest structure spatial patterns resolved at 30 m, highlights structural variability across landscapes, and helps distinguish tundra from boreal domains. We classified 14 594 landscapes as those associated with the TTE within a circumpolar bioclimatic envelope (11.575 million km 2 ), where 44.83% of the area of these landscapes were forest and non-forest edge, yet 36.43% contributed to the TTE extent. We report the overall extent of the TTE (3.032 million km 2 ) across North America and Greenland (53%), and Eurasia (47%), where 0.697 million km 2 is non-forest edge, 0.549 million km 2 is sparse forest, and 1.787 million km 2 is open canopy forest. Diffuse forest landscapes dominate the TTE (79%), and abrupt landscapes (∼19%) indicate portions of the TTE where sparse forest and non-forest edge are the prevailing structural patterns. This account of the TTE quantifies the area of the cold edge of the boreal forest where previous global estimates show high discrepancies, and can help target monitoring and prediction of circumpolar dynamics.