Forest disturbances and their impact on ground surface temperatures in permafrost-underlain forest in central Mongolia

Zweigel, Robin B.; Avirmed, Dashtseren; Temuujin, Khurelbaatar; Webster, Clare; Lee, Hanna; Westermann, Sebastian

doi:10.5194/tc-20-1001-2026

Articles | Volume 20, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1001-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-20-1001-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 2

Research article

|

11 Feb 2026

Research article |

| 11 Feb 2026

Forest disturbances and their impact on ground surface temperatures in permafrost-underlain forest in central Mongolia

Robin B. Zweigel, Dashtseren Avirmed, Khurelbaatar Temuujin, Clare Webster, Hanna Lee, and Sebastian Westermann

Data sets

Research data for egusphere-2025-2366 Robin B. Zweigel https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15470689

Short summary

Two years of data along a forest disturbance gradient in Mongolia show a larger annual ground surface temperature range in dead and logged forests than intact forest, while the range is dampened in stands of young regrowth. Compared to intact forest, mean annual ground surface temperatures are 0.5 °C colder in dead and logged forest and dense stands of young regrowth. This is linked to differences in vegetation and surface cover due to the disturbance and patterns in livestock activity.