Publications

Andean microrefugia: testing the Holocene to predict the Anthropocene

Publication ID: pub.1001800877

Publication date: 04/07/2016

Keywords: Eastern Flank of Andes; Ecosystem; Forests; Geography; Geologic Sediments; Paleontology; Peru; Time Factors

Microrefugia are important for supporting populations during periods of unfavourable climate change and in facilitating rapid migration as conditions ameliorate. With ongoing anthropogenic climate change, microrefugia could have an important conservation value; however, a simple tool has not been developed and tested to predict which settings are microrefugial. We provide a tool based on terrain […]

Vulnerability of the peatland carbon sink to sea-level rise

Publication ID: pub.1031108929

Publication date: 29/06/2016

Keywords: Blanket Bog; Carbon Accumulation Rates; Carbon Cycling; Coastal Marsh; Northwest Scotland; Peatland Carbon Sink; Plant and Microbial Communities; Salt Intrusion; Sea-level Rise; UK; Vulnerability

Freshwater peatlands are carbon accumulating ecosystems where primary production exceeds organic matter decomposition rates in the soil, and therefore perform an important sink function in global carbon cycling. Typical peatland plant and microbial communities are adapted to the waterlogged, often acidic and low nutrient conditions that characterise them. Peatlands in coastal locations receive inputs of […]

Potential carbon emissions dominated by carbon dioxide from thawed permafrost soils

Publication ID: pub.1050411881

Publication date: 13/06/2016

Keywords: Aerobic; Anaerobic; Carbon Release; Incubation Temperature; Northern Circumpolar Permafrost Zone; Permafrost Carbon Feedback; Permafrost Thaw; Soil Conditions; Warming Climate

A meta-analysis of soil incubation studies from the permafrost zone suggests that thawing under aerobic conditions, which releases CO2, will strengthen the permafrost carbon feedback more than waterlogged systems, which releases CO2 and CH4.

The influence of vegetation and soil characteristics on active‐layer thickness of permafrost soils in boreal forest

Publication ID: pub.1048544461

Publication date: 09/06/2016

Keywords: Canada; Northwest; Permafrost; Soil; Taiga; Trees

Carbon release from thawing permafrost soils could significantly exacerbate global warming as the active-layer deepens, exposing more carbon to decay. Plant community and soil properties provide a major control on this by influencing the maximum depth of thaw each summer (active-layer thickness; ALT), but a quantitative understanding of the relative importance of plant and soil […]

Sharing the Pain: Perceptions of Fairness Affect Private and Public Response to Hazards

Publication ID: pub.1030093317

Publication date: 08/06/2016

Keywords: Climate Risks; Cumbria; Fairness; Floods; Galway; Perceptions; Political Economy; Republic of Ireland; UK

Structural causes of vulnerability to hazards are well established in geographical research. But what facilitates individual adaptive behavior? How does the performance of government intervention affect such behavior? Drawing on political economy, environmental psychology, and climate justice perspectives, we explore how perceived fairness of responses to weather-related extreme events affects the public and private distribution […]

Collecting and Analysing Data on Climate‐related Local Mobility: the MISTIC Toolkit

Publication ID: pub.1036533224

Publication date: 08/06/2016

Keywords: Data Collection; Drought; Northeast Brazil; Population Mobility

It is widely recognised that environmental events may trigger permanent and seasonal migration but less attention has been given to the way they shape the everyday mobility that shapes household livelihood strategies. This dearth of attention can be traced to a lack of statistical data, the difficulties of collecting information on local space-time trajectories and […]