Modeling the Impacts of Boreal Deforestation on the Near-Surface Temperature in European Russia

Boreal deforestation plays an important role in affecting regional and global climate. In this study, the regional temperature variation induced by future boreal deforestation in European Russia boreal forest region was simulated based on future land cover change and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. This study firstly tested and validated the simulation results of the WRF model. Then the land cover datasets in different years (2000 as baseline year, 2010, and 2100) was used in the WRF model to explore the impacts of boreal deforestation on the near-surface temperature. The results indicated that the WRF model has good ability to simulate the temperature change in European Russia. The land cover change in European Russia boreal forest region, which will be characterized by the conversion from boreal forests to croplands (boreal deforestation) in the future 100 years, will lead to significant change of the near-surface temperature. The regional annual temperature will decrease by 0.58°C in the future 100 years, resulting in cooling effects to some extent and making the near-surface temperature decrease in most seasons except the spring.

Landscape control of uranium and thorium in boreal streams – spatiotemporal variability and the role of wetlands

The concentrations of uranium and thorium in ten partly nested streams in the boreal forest region were monitored over a two-year period. Considerable spatiotemporal variations were observed, with little or no correlation between streams. The export of both uranium and thorium varied substantially between the subcatchments, ranging from 1.7 to 30 g km−2 a−1 for uranium and from 3.2 to 24 g km−2 a−1 for thorium. Airborne gamma spectrometry was used to measure the concentrations of uranium and thorium in surface soils throughout the catchment, but could not explain the variability in the export. Instead, the extent of lakes and mires within each subcatchment was found to be a stronger predictor for the transport of uranium and thorium. The results indicate that there is a predictable and systematic accumulation of both uranium and thorium in boreal mires. Approximately 65–80 % of uranium and 55–65 % of thorium entering a mire is estimated to be retained in the peat. Overall, accumulation in mires and other types of wetlands is estimated to decrease the fluxes of uranium and thorium from the boreal forest landscape by 30–40 %. The atmospheric deposition of uranium and thorium was also quantified and its contribution to boreal streams was found to be low compared to weathering.