Author
Christian Rixen
Other affiliations: University of Zurich, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Clark University
Bio: Christian Rixen is an academic researcher from Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. The author has contributed to research in topics: Tundra & Snow. The author has an hindex of 50, co-authored 119 publications receiving 9366 citations. Previous affiliations of Christian Rixen include University of Zurich & University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Topics: Tundra, Snow, Climate change, Snowmelt, Vegetation
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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University of Alberta1, Université de Sherbrooke2, University of Lapland3, University of Victoria4, Wageningen University and Research Centre5, University of Alaska Fairbanks6, University of Oxford7, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières8, Laval University9, St. John's University10, University of Amsterdam11, University of Vermont12, Aarhus University13, University of Zurich14, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research15, University of Edinburgh16, La Trobe University17, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution18, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory19, University of British Columbia20, University of Tromsø21, University of Alaska Anchorage22, Queen's University23, University of Virginia24
TL;DR: This article used repeat photography, long-term ecological monitoring and dendrochronology to document shrub expansion in arctic, high-latitude and alpine tundra.
Abstract: Recent research using repeat photography, long-term ecological monitoring and dendrochronology has documented shrub expansion in arctic, high-latitude and alpine tundra
1,153 citations
University of British Columbia1, Grand Valley State University2, University of Gothenburg3, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences4, University of Sheffield5, St. John's University6, University of Tromsø7, VU University Amsterdam8, Arizona State University9, American Museum of Natural History10, United States Forest Service11, Agricultural University of Iceland12, University of California, Berkeley13, University of Alberta14, University of Melbourne15, University of Iceland16, Norwegian University of Life Sciences17, Colorado State University18, Hokkaido University19, University of Copenhagen20, Florida International University21, University of Saskatchewan22, Pennsylvania State University23, University of Manchester24, Aarhus University25, Marine Biological Laboratory26, Finnish Forest Research Institute27, La Trobe University28, Michigan State University29, University of Alaska Anchorage30, University of Stirling31
TL;DR: In this article, a synthesis of 61 experimental warming studies, of up to 20 years duration, in tundra sites worldwide, was used to understand the sensitivity of tundras vegetation to climate warming and to forecast future biodiversity and vegetation feedbacks to climate.
Abstract: 35 Abstract Understanding the sensitivity of tundra vegetation to climate warming is critical to forecasting future biodiversity and vegetation feedbacks to climate. In situ warming experiments accelerate climate change on a small scale to forecast responses of local plant communities. Limitations of this approach include the apparent site-specificity of results and uncertainty about the power of short-term studies to anticipate longer term change. We address these issues with a synthesis of 61 experimental warming studies, of up to 20 years duration, in tundra sites worldwide. The response of plant groups to warming often differed with ambient summer temperature, soil moisture and experimental duration. Shrubs increased with warming only where ambient temperature was high, whereas graminoids increased primarily in the coldest study sites. Linear increases in effect size over time were frequently observed. There was little indication of saturating or accelerating effects, as would be predicted if negative or positive vegetation feedbacks were common. These results indicate that tundra vegetation exhibits strong regional variation in response to warming, and that in vulnerable regions, cumulative effects of long-term warming on tundra vegetation - and associated ecosystem consequences - have the potential to be much greater than we have observed to date.
830 citations
University of British Columbia1, Grand Valley State University2, University of Gothenburg3, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières4, VU University Amsterdam5, Arizona State University6, Umeå University7, Moscow State University8, Environment Canada9, United States Department of Agriculture10, University of California, Berkeley11, University of Alberta12, University of Texas at El Paso13, University of Saskatchewan14, University of Iceland15, United States Fish and Wildlife Service16, Norwegian University of Life Sciences17, Colorado State University18, Hokkaido University19, University of Copenhagen20, Florida International University21, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research22, Aarhus University23, Marine Biological Laboratory24, University of California, Davis25, University of Oulu26, La Trobe University27, Michigan State University28, University of Alaska Anchorage29
TL;DR: In this paper, remote sensing data indicate that contemporary climate warming has already resulted in increased productivity and increased productivity in the tundra biome (Tundra Tundra Bi biome).
Abstract: Temperature is increasing at unprecedented rates across most of the tundra biome(1). Remote-sensing data indicate that contemporary climate warming has already resulted in increased productivity ov ...
782 citations
Aarhus University1, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg2, University of Bergen3, University of Rostock4, University of Picardie Jules Verne5, Austrian Academy of Sciences6, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna7, University of Turin8, University of Edinburgh9, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research10, University of Lausanne11, University of Warsaw12, Polish Academy of Sciences13, University of Vienna14, University of Innsbruck15, Spanish National Research Council16, International Agency for Research on Cancer17, Norwegian University of Life Sciences18, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg19, University of Aberdeen20, Slovak Academy of Sciences21, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ22, United States Environmental Protection Agency23, University College of Southeast Norway24, University of Geneva25, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne26
TL;DR: Analysis of changes in plant species richness on mountain summits over the past 145 years suggests that increased climatic warming has led to an acceleration in species richness increase, strikingly synchronized with accelerated global warming.
Abstract: Globally accelerating trends in societal development and human environmental impacts since the mid-twentieth century
1–7
are known as the Great Acceleration and have been discussed as a key indicator of the onset of the Anthropocene epoch
6
. While reports on ecological responses (for example, changes in species range or local extinctions) to the Great Acceleration are multiplying
8, 9
, it is unknown whether such biotic responses are undergoing a similar acceleration over time. This knowledge gap stems from the limited availability of time series data on biodiversity changes across large temporal and geographical extents. Here we use a dataset of repeated plant surveys from 302 mountain summits across Europe, spanning 145 years of observation, to assess the temporal trajectory of mountain biodiversity changes as a globally coherent imprint of the Anthropocene. We find a continent-wide acceleration in the rate of increase in plant species richness, with five times as much species enrichment between 2007 and 2016 as fifty years ago, between 1957 and 1966. This acceleration is strikingly synchronized with accelerated global warming and is not linked to alternative global change drivers. The accelerating increases in species richness on mountain summits across this broad spatial extent demonstrate that acceleration in climate-induced biotic change is occurring even in remote places on Earth, with potentially far-ranging consequences not only for biodiversity, but also for ecosystem functioning and services.
508 citations
University of Edinburgh1, University of Colorado Boulder2, National Ecological Observatory Network3, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution4, University of Greifswald5, University of Copenhagen6, University of Alaska Fairbanks7, University of Vermont8, University of Oxford9, Norwegian University of Science and Technology10, Université du Québec11, Aarhus University12, University of Victoria13, St. John's University14, University of Bonn15, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań16, Texas A&M University17, Norwegian Polar Institute18, University of Zurich19, University of Basel20, University of Alberta21, Université de Sherbrooke22
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed circumpolar data from 37 Arctic and alpine sites in 9 countries, including 25 species, and ∼42,000 annual growth records from 1,821 individuals, and demonstrated that the sensitivity of shrub growth to climate was heterogeneous, with European sites showing greater summer temperature sensitivity than North American sites, and higher at sites with greater soil moisture and for taller shrubs (for example, alders and willows) growing at their northern or upper elevational range edges.
Abstract: Rapid climate warming has been linked to increasing shrub dominance in the Arctic tundra. Research now shows that climate–shrub growth relationships vary spatially and according to site characteristics such as soil moisture and shrub height. Rapid climate warming in the tundra biome has been linked to increasing shrub dominance1,2,3,4. Shrub expansion can modify climate by altering surface albedo, energy and water balance, and permafrost2,5,6,7,8, yet the drivers of shrub growth remain poorly understood. Dendroecological data consisting of multi-decadal time series of annual shrub growth provide an underused resource to explore climate–growth relationships. Here, we analyse circumpolar data from 37 Arctic and alpine sites in 9 countries, including 25 species, and ∼42,000 annual growth records from 1,821 individuals. Our analyses demonstrate that the sensitivity of shrub growth to climate was: (1) heterogeneous, with European sites showing greater summer temperature sensitivity than North American sites, and (2) higher at sites with greater soil moisture and for taller shrubs (for example, alders and willows) growing at their northern or upper elevational range edges. Across latitude, climate sensitivity of growth was greatest at the boundary between the Low and High Arctic, where permafrost is thawing4 and most of the global permafrost soil carbon pool is stored9. The observed variation in climate–shrub growth relationships should be incorporated into Earth system models to improve future projections of climate change impacts across the tundra biome.
471 citations
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TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
Abstract: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201
14,171 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: For the next few weeks the course is going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach it’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery.
Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to
9,847 citations
01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: The modern applied statistics with s is universally compatible with any devices to read, and is available in the digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly.
Abstract: Thank you very much for downloading modern applied statistics with s. As you may know, people have search hundreds times for their favorite readings like this modern applied statistics with s, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they cope with some harmful virus inside their laptop. modern applied statistics with s is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our digital library saves in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the modern applied statistics with s is universally compatible with any devices to read.
5,249 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a document, redatto, voted and pubblicato by the Ipcc -Comitato intergovernativo sui cambiamenti climatici - illustra la sintesi delle ricerche svolte su questo tema rilevante.
Abstract: Cause, conseguenze e strategie di mitigazione Proponiamo il primo di una serie di articoli in cui affronteremo l’attuale problema dei mutamenti climatici. Presentiamo il documento redatto, votato e pubblicato dall’Ipcc - Comitato intergovernativo sui cambiamenti climatici - che illustra la sintesi delle ricerche svolte su questo tema rilevante.
4,187 citations
TL;DR: The analyses clearly show that the ecosystem consequences of local species loss are as quantitatively significant as the direct effects of several global change stressors that have mobilized major international concern and remediation efforts.
Abstract: Evidence is mounting that extinctions are altering key processes important to the productivity and sustainability of Earth’s ecosystems 1–4 . Further species loss will accelerate change in ecosystem processes 5–8 , but it is unclear how these effects compare to the direct effects of other forms of environmental change that are both driving diversity loss and altering ecosystem function. Here we use a suite of meta-analyses of published data to show that the effects of species loss on productivity and decomposition—two processes important in all ecosystems—are of comparable magnitude to the effects of many other global environmental changes. In experiments, intermediate levels of species loss (21–40%) reduced plant production by 5–10%, comparable to previously documented effects of ultraviolet radiation and climate warming. Higher levels of extinction (41–60%) had effects rivalling those of ozone, acidification, elevated CO2 and nutrient pollution. At intermediate levels, species loss generally had equal or greater effects on decomposition than did elevated CO2 and nitrogen addition. The identity of species lost also had a large effect on changes in productivity and decomposition, generating a wide range of plausible outcomes for extinction. Despite the need for more studies on interactive effects of diversity loss and environmental changes, our analyses clearly show that the ecosystem consequences of local species loss are as quantitatively significant as the direct effects of several global change stressors that have mobilized major international concern and remediation efforts 9 .
1,858 citations