摘要：This study is presented against the background that climate warming is predicted to continue in much of the Arctic through the next century and that small greenhouse chambers have been used widely to warm tundra communities in order to forecast climate-related changes. It reports results from up to 8 years of experimental warming with ∼1 m 2 open-top chambers (OTCs) at four tundra communities near Barrow (71°18′N, 156°40′W) and Atqasuk (70°29′N, 157°25′W) in northern Alaska. Between 1994 and 2002 the OTCs increased the mean growing season air temperature by between 0.6 and 2.2°C, depending on the site and year. The change in average July soil temperature recorded over 3 years at 10 cm depth due to the OTCs varied between −0.8 and 0.7°C, depending on the site. Changes in soil temperature did not result in detectable differences in thaw depth at any site. This is interpreted to be the result of the small size of the OTCs and possibly changes in vegetation. The differences in warming profiles between sites are important for the biological interpretation of manipulative warming experiments. These profiles also illustrate that vertical heat exchange varies according to plant community type and that this may be an important consideration as the region undergoes climatic change.
