Data from: Herbivory prevents positive responses of lowland plants to warmer and more fertile conditions at high altitudes ...

• Main Authors: Kaarlejärvi, Elina, Eskelinen, Anu, Olofsson, Johan
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2013
• Subjects: Tundra; range shifts; Silene dioica; consumer control; Epilobium anagustifolium; upward migration; thermophilic plants; 2010-2011; Kilpisjärvi
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.5c20k; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.5c20k

1. Warm-adapted low-elevation plants are expected to exhibit considerable range shifts to higher altitudes and latitudes as a result of climate warming and increased nutrient loads. However, empirical studies show that the magnitude and direction of plant responses are highly species- and site-specific, suggesting that several additional drivers interact with warmer climate. 2. We experimentally tested the interactive effects of climate warming, herbivory and soil fertility on low elevation plants. Seedlings of three warm-adapted lowland forbs (Epilobium angustifolium, Silene dioica and Solidago virgaurea) were transplanted to an open tundra site with native mountain tundra vegetation, and the effects of full-factorial combinations of herbivore exclosures, warming and fertilization on transplant survival, growth and flowering were studied for two growing seasons. We also investigated the response of native vegetation biomass to the same treatments, and compared it to the responses of transplanted lowland ... : Data format Kaarlejarvi TransplantDATA COLLECTION: This data were collected in beginning of August 2011 in Kilpisjärvi, NW Finland (69.055⁰N, 20.887⁰E). Data comes from full-factorial warming-fertilization-herbivore exclusion experiment, where transplants of three forbs were grown for two growing seasons. For detailed methods see Kaarlejärvi et al. 2013, Funct Ecol. The file contains total biomass estimates of the three transplant species, reproductive biomass for two of the species and estimates of total vascular plant biomass on the study plots using point-intercept method. DATA FORMAT: Year: sampling year, PlotID: Individual identification code for each of 56 study plots (7 replicates of each of 8 treatment combinations), Exclosure: “grazed” indicates plots without exclosure, “ungrazed” refers to plots with exclosures against mammalian herbivores, Fertilization: Self-explanatory, whether a plot was fertilized or not using NPK-fertilizer, Warming: Self-explanatory, whether a plot was warmed or not using ...