What if plant functional types conceal species‐specific responses to environment? Study on arctic shrub communities
Abstract Plant functional types ( PFT ) are increasingly used to outline biome‐scale plant–environment relationship and predict global change effects on community structure. However, the potentials and limitations of the PFT approach have to be tested as they can be less sensitive than trait‐based o...
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crwiley:10.1002/ecy.1817 2024-06-02T08:01:58+00:00 What if plant functional types conceal species‐specific responses to environment? Study on arctic shrub communities Saccone, Patrick Hoikka, Kristiina Virtanen, Risto Suomen Akatemia 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1817 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fecy.1817 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.1817 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecology volume 98, issue 6, page 1600-1612 ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170 journal-article 2017 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1817 2024-05-03T11:12:55Z Abstract Plant functional types ( PFT ) are increasingly used to outline biome‐scale plant–environment relationship and predict global change effects on community structure. However, the potentials and limitations of the PFT approach have to be tested as they can be less sensitive than trait‐based or species‐level approaches. Here, we compare the responses of deciduous‐evergreen shrub PFT s and species to gradual snow‐related environmental conditions by also considering effects of aboveground architectural traits and neighboring shrubs. Five deciduous species and four evergreen dwarf shrub species were transplanted to be exposed to four levels of winter snow cover across mesotopographic gradients in northern Fennoscandian tundra. The survival and growth of individually tagged shoots were monitored over one year, and the change in cover of shrubs was monitored over four years. Evergreen species showed higher resistance to environmental severity and generally benefitted from higher abundance of neighboring shrubs. Deciduous species exhibited negligible to drastic responses to snow thickness and neighboring shrubs tended to have a negative effect on their performance and survival. Tall shoots of deciduous shrubs survived poorly under the thinnest snow cover. Overall, deciduous and evergreen PFT s showed modest differences in their performances along the gradient. Our results show that deciduous‐evergreen leaf phenology categories predict shrub responses to changing environmental conditions only to a limited extent. Our findings highlight strong species‐specific responses especially among deciduous shrubs, and a differential role of plant–plant interactions for shrubs. Our results emphasize that distribution patterns of arctic‐alpine shrubs and shrub community responses to altered snow regimes depend on species‐level plant functional attributes, species interactions and species‐specific sensitivities to environmental severity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Fennoscandian Tundra Wiley Online Library Arctic Ecology 98 6 1600 1612 |
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English |
description |
Abstract Plant functional types ( PFT ) are increasingly used to outline biome‐scale plant–environment relationship and predict global change effects on community structure. However, the potentials and limitations of the PFT approach have to be tested as they can be less sensitive than trait‐based or species‐level approaches. Here, we compare the responses of deciduous‐evergreen shrub PFT s and species to gradual snow‐related environmental conditions by also considering effects of aboveground architectural traits and neighboring shrubs. Five deciduous species and four evergreen dwarf shrub species were transplanted to be exposed to four levels of winter snow cover across mesotopographic gradients in northern Fennoscandian tundra. The survival and growth of individually tagged shoots were monitored over one year, and the change in cover of shrubs was monitored over four years. Evergreen species showed higher resistance to environmental severity and generally benefitted from higher abundance of neighboring shrubs. Deciduous species exhibited negligible to drastic responses to snow thickness and neighboring shrubs tended to have a negative effect on their performance and survival. Tall shoots of deciduous shrubs survived poorly under the thinnest snow cover. Overall, deciduous and evergreen PFT s showed modest differences in their performances along the gradient. Our results show that deciduous‐evergreen leaf phenology categories predict shrub responses to changing environmental conditions only to a limited extent. Our findings highlight strong species‐specific responses especially among deciduous shrubs, and a differential role of plant–plant interactions for shrubs. Our results emphasize that distribution patterns of arctic‐alpine shrubs and shrub community responses to altered snow regimes depend on species‐level plant functional attributes, species interactions and species‐specific sensitivities to environmental severity. |
author2 |
Suomen Akatemia |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Saccone, Patrick Hoikka, Kristiina Virtanen, Risto |
spellingShingle |
Saccone, Patrick Hoikka, Kristiina Virtanen, Risto What if plant functional types conceal species‐specific responses to environment? Study on arctic shrub communities |
author_facet |
Saccone, Patrick Hoikka, Kristiina Virtanen, Risto |
author_sort |
Saccone, Patrick |
title |
What if plant functional types conceal species‐specific responses to environment? Study on arctic shrub communities |
title_short |
What if plant functional types conceal species‐specific responses to environment? Study on arctic shrub communities |
title_full |
What if plant functional types conceal species‐specific responses to environment? Study on arctic shrub communities |
title_fullStr |
What if plant functional types conceal species‐specific responses to environment? Study on arctic shrub communities |
title_full_unstemmed |
What if plant functional types conceal species‐specific responses to environment? Study on arctic shrub communities |
title_sort |
what if plant functional types conceal species‐specific responses to environment? study on arctic shrub communities |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1817 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fecy.1817 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.1817 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Fennoscandian Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fennoscandian Tundra |
op_source |
Ecology volume 98, issue 6, page 1600-1612 ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1817 |
container_title |
Ecology |
container_volume |
98 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1600 |
op_container_end_page |
1612 |
_version_ |
1800746470071074816 |