摘要:Humans have traditionally cultivated steppe and forest-steppe on fertile soils for
agriculture. Forests are predicted to shift northwards in a warmer climate and
are likely to be replaced by forest-steppe and steppe ecosystems. We analyzed
potential climate change impacts on agriculture in south-central Siberia believing
that agriculture in traditionally cold Siberia may benefit from warming. Simple
models determining crop range and regression models determining crop yields were
constructed and applied to climate change scenarios for various time frames: pre-1960,
1960–90 and 1990–2010 using historic data and data taken from 2020 and 2080
HadCM3 B1 and A2 scenarios. From 50 to 85% of central Siberia is predicted to be
climatically suitable for agriculture by the end of the century, and only soil potential
would limit crop advance and expansion to the north. Crop production could
increase twofold. Future Siberian climatic resources could provide the potential for
a great variety of crops to grow that previously did not exist on these lands.
Traditional Siberian crops could gradually shift as far as 500 km northwards (about 50–70 km/decade) within suitable soil conditions, and new crops nonexistent today may be introduced in the
dry south that would necessitate irrigation. Agriculture in central Siberia would likely
benefit from climate warming. Adaptation measures would sustain and promote food
security in a warmer Siberia.