Increased plant biomass in a High Arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008
The Canadian High Arctic has been warming for several decades. Over this period, tundra plant communities have been influenced by regional climate change, as well as other disturbances. At a site on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, we measured biomass and composition changes in a heath community o...
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Figshare
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3301277 https://figshare.com/collections/Increased_plant_biomass_in_a_High_Arctic_heath_community_from_1981_to_2008/3301277 |
id |
ftdatacite:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3301277 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdatacite:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3301277 2023-05-15T14:53:38+02:00 Increased plant biomass in a High Arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008 J. M. G. Hudson G. H. R. Henry 2016 https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3301277 https://figshare.com/collections/Increased_plant_biomass_in_a_High_Arctic_heath_community_from_1981_to_2008/3301277 unknown Figshare https://dx.doi.org/10.1890/09-0102.1 CC-BY http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us CC-BY Environmental Science Ecology FOS Biological sciences Collection article 2016 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3301277 https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0102.1 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z The Canadian High Arctic has been warming for several decades. Over this period, tundra plant communities have been influenced by regional climate change, as well as other disturbances. At a site on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, we measured biomass and composition changes in a heath community over 13 years using a point-intercept method in permanent plots (1995–2007) and over 27 years using a biomass harvest comparison (1981–2008). Results from both methods indicate that the community became more productive over time, suggesting that this ecosystem is currently in transition. Bryophyte and evergreen shrub abundances increased, while deciduous shrub, forb, graminoid, and lichen cover did not change. Species diversity also remained unchanged. Because of the greater evergreen shrub cover, canopy height increased. From 1995 to 2007, mean annual temperature and growing season length increased at the site. Maximum thaw depth increased, while soil water content did not change. We attribute the increased productivity of this community to regional warming over the past 30–50 years. This study provides the first plot-based evidence for the recent pan-Arctic increase in tundra productivity detected by satellite-based remote-sensing and repeat-photography studies. These types of ground-level observations are critical tools for detecting and projecting long-term community-level responses to warming. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Ellesmere Island Nunavut Tundra DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Arctic Canada Ellesmere Island Nunavut |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftdatacite |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Environmental Science Ecology FOS Biological sciences |
spellingShingle |
Environmental Science Ecology FOS Biological sciences J. M. G. Hudson G. H. R. Henry Increased plant biomass in a High Arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008 |
topic_facet |
Environmental Science Ecology FOS Biological sciences |
description |
The Canadian High Arctic has been warming for several decades. Over this period, tundra plant communities have been influenced by regional climate change, as well as other disturbances. At a site on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, we measured biomass and composition changes in a heath community over 13 years using a point-intercept method in permanent plots (1995–2007) and over 27 years using a biomass harvest comparison (1981–2008). Results from both methods indicate that the community became more productive over time, suggesting that this ecosystem is currently in transition. Bryophyte and evergreen shrub abundances increased, while deciduous shrub, forb, graminoid, and lichen cover did not change. Species diversity also remained unchanged. Because of the greater evergreen shrub cover, canopy height increased. From 1995 to 2007, mean annual temperature and growing season length increased at the site. Maximum thaw depth increased, while soil water content did not change. We attribute the increased productivity of this community to regional warming over the past 30–50 years. This study provides the first plot-based evidence for the recent pan-Arctic increase in tundra productivity detected by satellite-based remote-sensing and repeat-photography studies. These types of ground-level observations are critical tools for detecting and projecting long-term community-level responses to warming. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. M. G. Hudson G. H. R. Henry |
author_facet |
J. M. G. Hudson G. H. R. Henry |
author_sort |
J. M. G. Hudson |
title |
Increased plant biomass in a High Arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008 |
title_short |
Increased plant biomass in a High Arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008 |
title_full |
Increased plant biomass in a High Arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008 |
title_fullStr |
Increased plant biomass in a High Arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Increased plant biomass in a High Arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008 |
title_sort |
increased plant biomass in a high arctic heath community from 1981 to 2008 |
publisher |
Figshare |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3301277 https://figshare.com/collections/Increased_plant_biomass_in_a_High_Arctic_heath_community_from_1981_to_2008/3301277 |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Ellesmere Island Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Ellesmere Island Nunavut |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Ellesmere Island Nunavut Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Ellesmere Island Nunavut Tundra |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.1890/09-0102.1 |
op_rights |
CC-BY http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3301277 https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0102.1 |
_version_ |
1766325228853526528 |