Climate change 2014 - Synthesis Report

CORRIGENDUM: Drosophila Kdm4 demethylases in histone H3 lysine 9 demethylation and ecdysteroid signalling

/pdf/corrigendum-drosophila-kdm4-demethylases-in-histone-h3-4bedqu1hya.pdf

Plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) are interactions among plants, soil organisms, and abiotic soil conditions that influence plant performance, plant species diversity, and community structure, ultimately driving ecosystem processes. We review how climate change will alter PSFs and their potential consequences for ecosystem functioning. Climate change influences PSFs through the performance of interacting species and altered community composition resulting from changes in species distributions. Climate change thus affects plant inputs into the soil subsystem via litter and rhizodeposits and alters the composition of the living plant roots with which mutualistic symbionts, decomposers, and their natural enemies interact. Many of these plant-soil interactions are species-specific and are greatly affected by temperature, moisture, and other climate-related factors. We make a number of predictions concerning climate change effects on PSFs and consequences for vegetation-soil-climate feedbacks while acknowledging that they may be context-dependent, spatially heterogeneous, and temporally variable.

/pdf/climate-change-effects-on-plant-soil-feedbacks-and-4g626yth3b.pdf

Climate change effects on plant-soil feedbacks and consequences for biodiversity and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems

Belowground community responses to fire: meta‐analysis reveals contrasting responses of soil microorganisms and mesofauna

Gut microbiota make an important contribution to host health but the effects of environmental pressures on the gut microbiota of soil fauna are largely uncharacterized. Here, we examine the effects...

Antibiotics Disturb the Microbiome and Increase the Incidence of Resistance Genes in the Gut of a Common Soil Collembolan

Environmental disturbances seem to be increasing in frequency and impact, yet we have little understanding of the belowground impacts of these events. Soil fauna, while widely acknowledged to be important drivers of biogeochemical function, soil structure and sustainability, and trophic interactions, are understudied compared to other belowground organisms such as archaea, bacteria, and fungi. In this review we summarize the current state of knowledge of soil fauna as it relates to and is influenced by various disturbances. We focus our review on three main natural and anthropogenic disturbance types: 1) natural disturbances, including damage from wind and flooding; 2) invasive species, including above and belowground flora and fauna; and 3) climate change impacts on the atmosphere and temperature. We do not address the impacts of wildfires, forestry, agricultural practices, mining, or human-caused pollution, as these topics have all been covered in other works. We highlight knowledge gaps and suggest future avenues of research, with hope that the importance of soil fauna and their influences on ecosystems will be given greater emphasis in future research.

/pdf/soil-fauna-responses-to-natural-disturbances-invasive-6litjgv5m9.pdf

Soil fauna responses to natural disturbances, invasive species, and global climate change: Current state of the science and a call to action

The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List) is the world's most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of species. Governmental agencies and conservation organizations increasingly rely on IUCN Red List assessments to develop conservation policies and priorities. Funding agencies use the assessments as evaluation criteria, and researchers use meta‐analysis of red‐list data to address fundamental and applied conservation science questions. However, the circa 143,000 IUCN assessments represent a fraction of the world's biodiversity and are biased in regional and organismal coverage. These biases may affect conservation priorities, funding, and uses of these data to understand global patterns. Isolated oceanic islands are characterized by high endemicity, but the unique biodiversity of many islands is experiencing high extinction rates. The archipelago of Hawaii has one of the highest levels of endemism of any floristic region; 90% of its 1367 native vascular plant taxa are classified as endemic. We used the IUCN's assessment of the complete single‐island endemic (SIE) vascular plant flora of Kauai, Hawaii, to assess the proportion and drivers of decline of threatened plants in an oceanic island setting. We compared the IUCN assessments with federal, state, and other local assessments of Kauai species or taxa of conservation concern. Finally, we conducted a preliminary assessment for all 1044 native vascular plants of Hawaii based on IUCN criterion B by estimating area of occupancy, extent of occurrence, and number of locations to determine whether the pattern found for the SIE vascular flora of Kauai is comparable to the native vascular flora of the Hawaiian Islands. We compared our results with patterns observed for assessments of other floras. According to IUCN, 256 SIE vascular plant taxa are threatened with extinction and 5% are already extinct. This is the highest extinction risk reported for any flora to date. The preliminary assessment of the native vascular flora of Hawaii showed that 72% (753 taxa) is threatened. The flora of Hawaii may be one of the world's most threatened; thus, increased and novel conservation measures in the state and on other remote oceanic islands are urgently needed.

Extinction risk of the endemic vascular flora of Kauai, Hawaii, based on IUCN assessments

Plant-soil feedbacks (PSF) greatly influence forest community structure and diversity. However, it remains unknown how feedbacks change after disturbances. Biotic and abiotic changes reduce soil microbial diversity after a severe disturbance. These post-disturbance changes may create neutral PSF. We examine a) differences in performance of three seedlings of southern Appalachian tree species in same-species and different-species soil and b) whether the relationship differs between intact forest and wind-damaged patches, as well as c) test mycorrhizal colonization rate as a potential mechanism. In April 2011, a severe (EF-3) tornado damaged several thousand hectares of mature secondary mixed pine-oak forest in northeast Georgia, USA. In 2012, we collected soil from the base of mature trees in intact forest and in tornado-damaged patches. Three tree species seedlings were grown in same-species and different-species soil for three months. Height, biomass, and mycorrhizal colonization were compared. Results suggest that PSF are neutral to negative in intact forest. For Nyssa sylvatica Marsh., PSF were less negative in wind-damaged soils. Quercus alba L. exhibited the opposite response. Pinus strobus L. PSF did not differ with wind damage. We found that PSF may be changed by severe wind disturbance, but the nature of the changes depends upon species identity. Multiple soil mechanisms aside from mycorrhizal colonization likely drive disturbance-related PSF changes.

Plant-soil feedbacks differ in intact and tornado-damaged areas of the southern Appalachian mountains, USA

Societal Impact Statement Trees are an important part of many ecosystems. The Global Tree Assessment data can be used to focus conservation and restoration efforts for the circa 30% of tree species that are threatened worldwide. The conservation status for the tree flora of Limahuli Valley on Kaua'i Island and a restoration plan for 11 endangered tree species is evaluated in the Global Tree Assessment framework. Lessons learned from Limahuli Valley, one of the most biodiverse valleys in the Hawaiian Islands, provide recommendations for developing long-term sustainable restoration projects. Summary Based on conservation status assessments of the world's circa 60,000 trees, the Global Tree Assessment (GTA) report revealed that 30% (17,500) of known tree species are currently at risk of extinction. This study aims to evaluate the conservation status for the tree flora of Limahuli Valley and a restoration plan for 11 endangered tree species, in the Global Tree Assessment framework. Of the 117 tree taxa found in Limahuli Valley, 83 (71%) have been assessed for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and 90% of the assessed tree taxa are threatened. However, only 19 (21%) of these are federally listed and nine tree taxa were not found under their current name or at all in the GlobalTree Portal, suggesting a need for additional curation as well as a conservation status assessment gap. Progress has been made in Limahuli Valley on most restoration goals suggested by the GTA framework, but challenges remain related to both access to material for restoration, mitigation of threats, and understanding correlates of survivorship. Furthermore, trees only constitute about 40% of the flora in Limahuli Valley, and it is important to also consider nontrees including ferns and allies to strive for restoration of an ecosystem as well as the targeted species. 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/ppp3.10301

Uma J. Nagendra

Papers

Soil fauna responses to natural disturbances, invasive species, and global climate change: Current state of the science and a call to action

Extinction risk of the endemic vascular flora of Kauai, Hawaii, based on IUCN assessments

Plant-soil feedbacks differ in intact and tornado-damaged areas of the southern Appalachian mountains, USA

Restoration of threatened plant species in Limahuli Valley on the Hawaiian I sland of Kaua'i in the framework of the Global Tree Assessment