The application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions
Considering the recent widespread greening and browning trends associated with shrubs in arctic–alpine ecosystems, further understanding of how these shrubs respond in a rapidly changing environment is of crucial importance. We here monitor shrub growth, using high-precision dendrometers to produce...
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Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1933-2022 https://doaj.org/article/9a48a947d97e4c14b39d7f3036a6865a |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9a48a947d97e4c14b39d7f3036a6865a 2023-05-15T14:59:22+02:00 The application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions S. Dobbert R. Pape J. Löffler 2022-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1933-2022 https://doaj.org/article/9a48a947d97e4c14b39d7f3036a6865a EN eng Copernicus Publications https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/1933/2022/bg-19-1933-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-1933-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/9a48a947d97e4c14b39d7f3036a6865a Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 1933-1958 (2022) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1933-2022 2022-12-31T11:38:11Z Considering the recent widespread greening and browning trends associated with shrubs in arctic–alpine ecosystems, further understanding of how these shrubs respond in a rapidly changing environment is of crucial importance. We here monitor shrub growth, using high-precision dendrometers to produce fine-scale intra-annual growth patterns from hourly stem diameter variability in a widespread evergreen species ( Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum ). Measurements were taken at a micrometer scale for the period 2015 till 2018 on exposed and mostly snow-free ridge positions. With the same temporal resolution, we collected near-ground environmental data and identified on-site controls of growth behavior. We found high inter-plant variability in radial stem growth but strong similarities in response patterns to the local environment. Our results suggest that the evergreen species is highly adapted to the specific local conditions, remaining partly photosynthetically active during the snow-free winter, which facilitates carbohydrate accumulation for early-season physiological activities. Additionally, we discovered a phase of radial stem shrinkage during the winter months, which can be attributed to an active cell water reduction to protect the plant from frost damage. We conclude that soil moisture availability and winter snow conditions are the main drivers of radial stem growth of E. hermaphroditum in arctic and alpine regions and could negatively affect the species' distribution in a warming climate. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Empetrum nigrum Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Browning ENVELOPE(164.050,164.050,-74.617,-74.617) Biogeosciences 19 7 1933 1958 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 S. Dobbert R. Pape J. Löffler The application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Considering the recent widespread greening and browning trends associated with shrubs in arctic–alpine ecosystems, further understanding of how these shrubs respond in a rapidly changing environment is of crucial importance. We here monitor shrub growth, using high-precision dendrometers to produce fine-scale intra-annual growth patterns from hourly stem diameter variability in a widespread evergreen species ( Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum ). Measurements were taken at a micrometer scale for the period 2015 till 2018 on exposed and mostly snow-free ridge positions. With the same temporal resolution, we collected near-ground environmental data and identified on-site controls of growth behavior. We found high inter-plant variability in radial stem growth but strong similarities in response patterns to the local environment. Our results suggest that the evergreen species is highly adapted to the specific local conditions, remaining partly photosynthetically active during the snow-free winter, which facilitates carbohydrate accumulation for early-season physiological activities. Additionally, we discovered a phase of radial stem shrinkage during the winter months, which can be attributed to an active cell water reduction to protect the plant from frost damage. We conclude that soil moisture availability and winter snow conditions are the main drivers of radial stem growth of E. hermaphroditum in arctic and alpine regions and could negatively affect the species' distribution in a warming climate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
S. Dobbert R. Pape J. Löffler |
author_facet |
S. Dobbert R. Pape J. Löffler |
author_sort |
S. Dobbert |
title |
The application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions |
title_short |
The application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions |
title_full |
The application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions |
title_fullStr |
The application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions |
title_full_unstemmed |
The application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions |
title_sort |
application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1933-2022 https://doaj.org/article/9a48a947d97e4c14b39d7f3036a6865a |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(164.050,164.050,-74.617,-74.617) |
geographic |
Arctic Browning |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Browning |
genre |
Arctic Empetrum nigrum |
genre_facet |
Arctic Empetrum nigrum |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 19, Pp 1933-1958 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/19/1933/2022/bg-19-1933-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-19-1933-2022 1726-4170 1726-4189 https://doaj.org/article/9a48a947d97e4c14b39d7f3036a6865a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1933-2022 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
19 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1933 |
op_container_end_page |
1958 |
_version_ |
1766331480358780928 |