Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA.
Ecology. 2022 Aug;103(8):e3717. doi: 10.1002/ecy.3717. Epub 2022 May 28.
Cold-air pooling is a global phenomenon that frequently sustains low temperatures in sheltered, low-lying depressions and valleys and drives other key environmental conditions, such as soil temperature, soil moisture, vapor pressure deficit, frost frequency, and winter dynamics. Local climate patterns in areas prone to cold-air pooling are partly decoupled from regional climates and thus may be buffered from macroscale climate change. There is compelling evidence from studies across the globe that cold-air pooling impacts plant communities and species distributions, making these decoupled microclimate areas potentially important microrefugia for species under climate warming. Despite interest in the potential for cold-air pools to enable species persistence under warming, studies investigating the effects of cold-air pooling on ecosystem processes are scarce. Because local temperatures and vegetation composition are critical drivers of ecosystem processes like carbon cycling and storage, cold-air pooling may also act to preserve ecosystem functions. We review research exploring the ecological impacts of cold-air pooling with a focus on vegetation, and then present a new conceptual framework in which cold-air pooling creates feedbacks between species and ecosystem properties that generate unique hotspots for carbon accrual in some systems relative to areas more vulnerable to regional climate change impacts. Finally, we describe key steps to motivate future research investigating the potential for cold-air pools to serve as microrefugia for ecosystem functions under climate change.
冷空气聚积是一种全球性现象，经常在受保护的低地洼地维持低温，并驱动其他关键环境条件，如土壤温度、土壤湿度、蒸气压亏缺、霜频和冬季动态。易受冷空气聚积影响地区的局部气候模式与区域气候部分脱钩，因此可能免受宏观气候变化的影响。全球各地的研究提供了令人信服的证据表明，冷空气聚积会影响植物群落和物种分布，使这些脱钩的小气候区域成为气候变暖下物种潜在的重要微观避难所。尽管人们对冷空气聚积在气候变暖下使物种得以持续存在的潜力感兴趣，但研究冷空气聚积对生态系统过程影响的研究却很少。由于当地温度和植被组成是碳循环和储存等生态系统过程的关键驱动因素，冷空气聚积也可能起到保护生态系统功能的作用。我们回顾了研究冷空气聚积对植被影响的生态影响的研究，并提出了一个新概念框架，其中冷空气聚积在物种和生态系统特性之间产生反馈，在某些系统中产生独特的碳积累热点，而这些热点相对于更易受区域气候变化影响的区域则更为脆弱。最后，我们描述了激励未来研究的关键步骤，以探讨冷空气聚积在气候变化下作为生态系统功能的微观避难所的潜力。
