Microscale is key to model current and future Maritime Antarctic vegetation.
Despite being one of the most pristine regions in the world, Antarctica is currently also one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Antarctic vegetation comprises mostly lichens and bryophytes, complemented in some milder regions of Maritime Antarctica by two vascular plant species. Shifts in th...
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ftpubmed:38917897 2024-09-15T17:48:35+00:00 Microscale is key to model current and future Maritime Antarctic vegetation. Matos, Paula Rocha, Bernardo Pinho, Pedro Miranda, Vasco Pina, Pedro Goyanes, Gabriel Vieira, Gonçalo 2024 Oct 10 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174171 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38917897 eng eng Elsevier Science https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174171 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38917897 Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Sci Total Environ ISSN:1879-1026 Volume:946 Climate change Non-climatic microscale drivers Vegetation patterns Journal Article 2024 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174171 2024-07-20T16:02:00Z Despite being one of the most pristine regions in the world, Antarctica is currently also one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Antarctic vegetation comprises mostly lichens and bryophytes, complemented in some milder regions of Maritime Antarctica by two vascular plant species. Shifts in the spatial patterns of these three main vegetation groups have already been observed in response to climate change, highlighting the urgent need for the development of comprehensive large-scale ecological models of the effects of climate change. Besides climate, Antarctic terrestrial vegetation is also strongly influenced by non-climatic microscale conditions related to abiotic and biotic factors. Nevertheless, the quantification of their importance in determining vegetation patterns remains unclear. The objective of this work was to quantify the importance of abiotic and biotic microscale conditions in determining the spatial cover patterns of the major functional types, lichens, vascular plants and bryophytes, explicitly determining the likely confinement of each functional type to the microscale conditions, i.e., their ecological niche. Microscale explained >60 % of the spatial variation of lichens and bryophytes and 30 % of vascular plants, with the niche analysis suggesting that each of the three functional types may be likely confined to specific microscale conditions in the studied gradient. Models indicate that the main microscale ecological filters are abiotic but show the potential benefits of including biotic variables and point to the need for further clarification of vegetation biotic interactions' role in these ecosystems. Altogether, these results point to the need for the inclusion of microscale drivers in ecological models to track and forecast climate change effects, as they are crucial to explain present vegetation patterns in response to climate, and for the interpretation of ecological model results under a climate change perspective. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica PubMed Central (PMC) Science of The Total Environment 946 174171 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Climate change Non-climatic microscale drivers Vegetation patterns |
spellingShingle |
Climate change Non-climatic microscale drivers Vegetation patterns Matos, Paula Rocha, Bernardo Pinho, Pedro Miranda, Vasco Pina, Pedro Goyanes, Gabriel Vieira, Gonçalo Microscale is key to model current and future Maritime Antarctic vegetation. |
topic_facet |
Climate change Non-climatic microscale drivers Vegetation patterns |
description |
Despite being one of the most pristine regions in the world, Antarctica is currently also one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Antarctic vegetation comprises mostly lichens and bryophytes, complemented in some milder regions of Maritime Antarctica by two vascular plant species. Shifts in the spatial patterns of these three main vegetation groups have already been observed in response to climate change, highlighting the urgent need for the development of comprehensive large-scale ecological models of the effects of climate change. Besides climate, Antarctic terrestrial vegetation is also strongly influenced by non-climatic microscale conditions related to abiotic and biotic factors. Nevertheless, the quantification of their importance in determining vegetation patterns remains unclear. The objective of this work was to quantify the importance of abiotic and biotic microscale conditions in determining the spatial cover patterns of the major functional types, lichens, vascular plants and bryophytes, explicitly determining the likely confinement of each functional type to the microscale conditions, i.e., their ecological niche. Microscale explained >60 % of the spatial variation of lichens and bryophytes and 30 % of vascular plants, with the niche analysis suggesting that each of the three functional types may be likely confined to specific microscale conditions in the studied gradient. Models indicate that the main microscale ecological filters are abiotic but show the potential benefits of including biotic variables and point to the need for further clarification of vegetation biotic interactions' role in these ecosystems. Altogether, these results point to the need for the inclusion of microscale drivers in ecological models to track and forecast climate change effects, as they are crucial to explain present vegetation patterns in response to climate, and for the interpretation of ecological model results under a climate change perspective. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Matos, Paula Rocha, Bernardo Pinho, Pedro Miranda, Vasco Pina, Pedro Goyanes, Gabriel Vieira, Gonçalo |
author_facet |
Matos, Paula Rocha, Bernardo Pinho, Pedro Miranda, Vasco Pina, Pedro Goyanes, Gabriel Vieira, Gonçalo |
author_sort |
Matos, Paula |
title |
Microscale is key to model current and future Maritime Antarctic vegetation. |
title_short |
Microscale is key to model current and future Maritime Antarctic vegetation. |
title_full |
Microscale is key to model current and future Maritime Antarctic vegetation. |
title_fullStr |
Microscale is key to model current and future Maritime Antarctic vegetation. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Microscale is key to model current and future Maritime Antarctic vegetation. |
title_sort |
microscale is key to model current and future maritime antarctic vegetation. |
publisher |
Elsevier Science |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174171 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38917897 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_source |
Sci Total Environ ISSN:1879-1026 Volume:946 |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174171 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38917897 |
op_rights |
Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174171 |
container_title |
Science of The Total Environment |
container_volume |
946 |
container_start_page |
174171 |
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1810289977085394944 |