Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome
Marilyn D. Walker,C. Henrik Wahren,Robert D. Hollister,Greg H. R. Henry,Lorraine E. Ahlquist,Juha M. Alatalo,M. Syndonia Bret-Harte,Monika P. Calef,Terry V. Callaghan,Amy B Carroll,Howard E. Epstein,Ingibjörg S. Jónsdóttir,Julia A. Klein,Borgthor Magnusson,Ulf Molau,Steven F. Oberbauer,Steven P. Rewa,Clare H. Robinson,Gaius R. Shaver,Katharine N. Suding,Catharine C. Thompson,Anne Tolvanen,Ørjan Totland,P. Lee Turner,Craig E. Tweedie,P. J. Webber,Philip A. Wookey +26 more
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TLDR
Warming increased height and cover of deciduous shrubs and graminoids, decreased cover of mosses and lichens, and decreased species diversity and evenness, which predict that warming will cause a decline in biodiversity across a wide variety of tundra, at least in the short term.Abstract:
Recent observations of changes in some tundra ecosystems appear to be responses to a warming climate. Several experimental studies have shown that tundra plants and ecosystems can respond strongly to environmental change, including warming; however, most studies were limited to a single location and were of short duration and based on a variety of experimental designs. In addition, comparisons among studies are difficult because a variety of techniques have been used to achieve experimental warming and different measurements have been used to assess responses. We used metaanalysis on plant community measurements from standardized warming experiments at 11 locations across the tundra biome involved in the International Tundra Experiment. The passive warming treatment increased plant-level air temperature by 1-3°C, which is in the range of predicted and observed warming for tundra regions. Responses were rapid and detected in whole plant communities after only two growing seasons. Overall, warming increased height and cover of deciduous shrubs and graminoids, decreased cover of mosses and lichens, and decreased species diversity and evenness. These results predict that warming will cause a decline in biodiversity across a wide variety of tundra, at least in the short term. They also provide rigorous experimental evidence that recently observed increases in shrub cover in many tundra regions are in response to climate warming. These changes have important implications for processes and interactions within tundra ecosystems and between tundra and the atmosphere.read more
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Ecological Dynamics Across the Arctic Associated with Recent Climate Change
Eric Post,Eric Post,Mads C. Forchhammer,M. Syndonia Bret-Harte,Terry V. Callaghan,Terry V. Callaghan,Torben R. Christensen,Bo Elberling,Bo Elberling,Anthony D. Fox,Olivier Gilg,David S. Hik,Toke T. Høye,Rolf A. Ims,Erik Jeppesen,David R. Klein,Jesper Madsen,A. David McGuire,Søren Rysgaard,Daniel E. Schindler,Ian Stirling,Mikkel P. Tamstorf,Nicholas J. C. Tyler,René van der Wal,Jeffrey M. Welker,Philip A. Wookey,Niels Martin Schmidt,Peter Aastrup +27 more
TL;DR: These rapid changes in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine systems, presage changes at lower latitudes that will affect natural resources, food production, and future climate buffering, and highlight areas of ecological research that deserve priority as the Arctic continues to warm.
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Shrub expansion in tundra ecosystems: dynamics, impacts and research priorities
Isla H. Myers-Smith,Isla H. Myers-Smith,Bruce C. Forbes,Martin Wilmking,Martin Hallinger,Trevor C. Lantz,Daan Blok,Ken D. Tape,Marc Macias-Fauria,Ute Sass-Klaassen,Esther Lévesque,Stéphane Boudreau,Pascale Ropars,Luise Hermanutz,Andrew J. Trant,Laura Siegwart Collier,Stef Weijers,Jelte Rozema,Shelly A. Rayback,Niels Martin Schmidt,Gabriela Schaepman-Strub,Sonja Wipf,Christian Rixen,Cécile B. Ménard,Susanna Venn,Scott J. Goetz,Laia Andreu-Hayles,Sarah C. Elmendorf,Virve Ravolainen,Jeffrey M. Welker,Paul Grogan,Howard E. Epstein,David S. Hik +32 more
TL;DR: This article used repeat photography, long-term ecological monitoring and dendrochronology to document shrub expansion in arctic, high-latitude and alpine tundra.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global assessment of experimental climate warming on tundra vegetation: heterogeneity over space and time.
Sarah C. Elmendorf,Gregory H. R. Henry,Robert D. Hollister,Robert G. Björk,Anne D. Bjorkman,Terry V. Callaghan,Terry V. Callaghan,Laura Siegwart Collier,Elisabeth J. Cooper,Johannes H. C. Cornelissen,Thomas A. Day,Anna Maria Fosaa,William A. Gould,Jarngerdur Gretarsdottir,John Harte,Luise Hermanutz,David S. Hik,Annika Hofgaard,Frith C. Jarrad,Ingibjörg S. Jónsdóttir,Frida Keuper,Kari Klanderud,Julia A. Klein,Saewan Koh,Gaku Kudo,Simone I. Lang,Val Loewen,Jeremy L. May,Joel Mercado,Anders Michelsen,Ulf Molau,Isla H. Myers-Smith,Steven F. Oberbauer,Sara Pieper,Eric Post,Christian Rixen,Clare H. Robinson,Niels Martin Schmidt,Gaius R. Shaver,Anna Stenström,Anne Tolvanen,Ørjan Totland,Tiffany G. Troxler,Carl-Henrik Wahren,Patrick J. Webber,Jeffery M Welker,Philip A. Wookey +46 more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Consequences of dominance: a review of evenness effects on local and regional ecosystem processes
TL;DR: A framework guiding the understanding of how dominance affects species interactions within communities, processes within ecosystems, and dynamics on regional scales is proposed and it is proposed that dominance affects regional species coexistence by altering metacommunity dynamics.
Journal ArticleDOI
Plot-scale evidence of tundra vegetation change and links to recent summer warming.
Sarah C. Elmendorf,Gregory H. R. Henry,Robert D. Hollister,Robert G. Björk,Noémie Boulanger-Lapointe,Elisabeth J. Cooper,Johannes H. C. Cornelissen,Thomas A. Day,Ellen Dorrepaal,Ellen Dorrepaal,Tatiana G. Elumeeva,M.J. Gill,William A. Gould,John Harte,David S. Hik,Annika Hofgaard,D. R. Johnson,Jill F. Johnstone,Ingibjörg S. Jónsdóttir,Janet C. Jorgenson,Kari Klanderud,Julia A. Klein,Saewan Koh,Gaku Kudo,Mark J. Lara,Esther Lévesque,Borgthor Magnusson,Jeremy L. May,Joel A. Mercado-Díaz,Anders Michelsen,Ulf Molau,Isla H. Myers-Smith,Steven F. Oberbauer,Vladimir G. Onipchenko,Christian Rixen,Niels Martin Schmidt,Gaius R. Shaver,Marko J. Spasojevic,Póra Ellen Pórhallsdóttir,Anne Tolvanen,Tiffany G. Troxler,Craig E. Tweedie,Sandra Villareal,Carl Henrik Wahren,Xanthe J. Walker,Xanthe J. Walker,P. J. Webber,Jeffrey M. Welker,Sonja Wipf +48 more
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).
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