Changes in the understory plant community and ecosystem properties along a shrub density gradient
Climate warming is projected to alter the vegetation community composition of arctic and alpine ecosystems including an increase in the relative abundance and cover of deciduous shrubs. This change in plant functional group dominance will likely alter tundra ecosystem structure and function. We cond...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2018
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0026 https://doaj.org/article/2db9c9f8f3524b9696e0fbdb4f9cebf4 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2db9c9f8f3524b9696e0fbdb4f9cebf4 2023-05-15T14:23:37+02:00 Changes in the understory plant community and ecosystem properties along a shrub density gradient Anna L. Crofts Dennise O. Drury Jennie R. McLaren 2018-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0026 https://doaj.org/article/2db9c9f8f3524b9696e0fbdb4f9cebf4 EN FR eng fre Canadian Science Publishing https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0026 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2017-0026 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/2db9c9f8f3524b9696e0fbdb4f9cebf4 Arctic Science, Vol 4, Iss 4, Pp 485-498 (2018) deciduous shrubs alpine tundra ecosystem properties plant functional group abundance Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0026 2022-12-31T06:56:06Z Climate warming is projected to alter the vegetation community composition of arctic and alpine ecosystems including an increase in the relative abundance and cover of deciduous shrubs. This change in plant functional group dominance will likely alter tundra ecosystem structure and function. We conducted an observational study to quantify how the understory vegetation community and ecosystem properties varied along a shrub density and altitudinal gradient in a tundra alpine ecosystem in south-west Yukon. Although there was weak association between shrub density and species richness of understory community, there were large differences in functional group abundance between the different shrub densities; forb cover increased at lower elevations with higher shrub density at the expense of cryptogam and dwarf shrub cover. Litter mass, light interception, and soil carbon:nitrogen ratios all increased with shrub density. Sites with shrubs had higher summer soil temperatures, lower summer soil moisture, and lower percent soil nitrogen than the shrub-free site, although there was no difference in available nutrients among sites. This study presents findings from a nonmanipulated, model system where shrubification has been documented and suggests that direct and indirect effects of increasing shrub dominance are likely to affect the surrounding vegetation and abiotic environment controls. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Tundra Yukon Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Yukon Arctic Science 4 4 485 498 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English French |
topic |
deciduous shrubs alpine tundra ecosystem properties plant functional group abundance Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
spellingShingle |
deciduous shrubs alpine tundra ecosystem properties plant functional group abundance Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 Anna L. Crofts Dennise O. Drury Jennie R. McLaren Changes in the understory plant community and ecosystem properties along a shrub density gradient |
topic_facet |
deciduous shrubs alpine tundra ecosystem properties plant functional group abundance Environmental sciences GE1-350 Environmental engineering TA170-171 |
description |
Climate warming is projected to alter the vegetation community composition of arctic and alpine ecosystems including an increase in the relative abundance and cover of deciduous shrubs. This change in plant functional group dominance will likely alter tundra ecosystem structure and function. We conducted an observational study to quantify how the understory vegetation community and ecosystem properties varied along a shrub density and altitudinal gradient in a tundra alpine ecosystem in south-west Yukon. Although there was weak association between shrub density and species richness of understory community, there were large differences in functional group abundance between the different shrub densities; forb cover increased at lower elevations with higher shrub density at the expense of cryptogam and dwarf shrub cover. Litter mass, light interception, and soil carbon:nitrogen ratios all increased with shrub density. Sites with shrubs had higher summer soil temperatures, lower summer soil moisture, and lower percent soil nitrogen than the shrub-free site, although there was no difference in available nutrients among sites. This study presents findings from a nonmanipulated, model system where shrubification has been documented and suggests that direct and indirect effects of increasing shrub dominance are likely to affect the surrounding vegetation and abiotic environment controls. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Anna L. Crofts Dennise O. Drury Jennie R. McLaren |
author_facet |
Anna L. Crofts Dennise O. Drury Jennie R. McLaren |
author_sort |
Anna L. Crofts |
title |
Changes in the understory plant community and ecosystem properties along a shrub density gradient |
title_short |
Changes in the understory plant community and ecosystem properties along a shrub density gradient |
title_full |
Changes in the understory plant community and ecosystem properties along a shrub density gradient |
title_fullStr |
Changes in the understory plant community and ecosystem properties along a shrub density gradient |
title_full_unstemmed |
Changes in the understory plant community and ecosystem properties along a shrub density gradient |
title_sort |
changes in the understory plant community and ecosystem properties along a shrub density gradient |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0026 https://doaj.org/article/2db9c9f8f3524b9696e0fbdb4f9cebf4 |
geographic |
Arctic Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Yukon |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Tundra Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Tundra Yukon |
op_source |
Arctic Science, Vol 4, Iss 4, Pp 485-498 (2018) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0026 https://doaj.org/toc/2368-7460 doi:10.1139/as-2017-0026 2368-7460 https://doaj.org/article/2db9c9f8f3524b9696e0fbdb4f9cebf4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2017-0026 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
container_volume |
4 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
485 |
op_container_end_page |
498 |
_version_ |
1766296127051661312 |