(Table 1) Effects of experimental warming on plant cover and diversity indices in an evergreen shrub at Alexandra Fiord

• Main Authors: Hudson, James M G, Henry, Gregory HR
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2010
• Subjects: Alexandra_Fiord_sites; Bryophyta; DATE/TIME; Dissimilarity; standard deviation; Dissimilarity index; Ellesmere Island; Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Evenness of species; Forbs; Grass and sedges; HAND; Height; International Polar Year (2007-2008); IPY; Lichen; Open-top chamber (OTC) warming experiment; in situ; Sampling by hand; Shannon Diversity Index; Shrubs; Simpson index of diversity; Species richness; Treatment; Alexandra Fiord; Arctic; Arctic Archipelago; Climate change; International Polar Year; Nunavut; Tundra
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.811359; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.811359

1. Identifying plant communities that are resistant to climate change will be critical for developing accurate, wide-scale vegetation change predictions. Most northern plant communities, especially tundra, have shown strong responses to experimental and observed warming. 2. Experimental warming is a key tool for understanding vegetation responses to climate change. We used open-top chambers to passively warm an evergreen-shrub heath by 1.0-1.3 °C for 15 years at Alexandra Fiord, Nunavut, Canada (79 °N). In 1996, 2000 and 2007, we measured height, plant composition and abundance with a point-intercept method. 3. Experimental warming did not strongly affect vascular plant cover, canopy height or species diversity, but it did increase bryophyte cover by 6.3% and decrease lichen cover by 3.5%. Temporal changes in plant cover were more frequent and of greater magnitude than changes due to experimental warming. 4. Synthesis. This evergreen-shrub heath continues to exhibit community-level resistance to long-term experimental warming, in contrast to most Arctic plant communities. Our findings support the view that only substantial climatic changes will alter unproductive ecosystems.