Shrub canopies influence soil temperatures but not nutrient dynamics: An experimental test of tundra snow–shrub interactions
Shrubs are the largest plant life form in tundra ecosystems; therefore, any changes in the abundance of shrubs will feedback to influence biodiversity, ecosystem function, and climate. The snow–shrub hypothesis asserts that shrub canopies trap snow and insulate soils in winter, increasing the rates...
Published in: | Ecology and Evolution |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
2013
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810868 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.710 |
id |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3810868 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3810868 2023-05-15T18:39:52+02:00 Shrub canopies influence soil temperatures but not nutrient dynamics: An experimental test of tundra snow–shrub interactions Myers-Smith, Isla H Hik, David S 2013-10 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810868 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.710 en eng Blackwell Publishing Ltd http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810868 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.710 © 2013 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation. CC-BY Original Research Text 2013 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.710 2013-11-10T01:35:27Z Shrubs are the largest plant life form in tundra ecosystems; therefore, any changes in the abundance of shrubs will feedback to influence biodiversity, ecosystem function, and climate. The snow–shrub hypothesis asserts that shrub canopies trap snow and insulate soils in winter, increasing the rates of nutrient cycling to create a positive feedback to shrub expansion. However, previous work has not been able to separate the abiotic from the biotic influences of shrub canopies. We conducted a 3-year factorial experiment to determine the influences of canopies on soil temperatures and nutrient cycling parameters by removing ∼0.5 m high willow (Salix spp.) and birch (Betula glandulosa) shrubs, creating artificial shrub canopies and comparing these manipulations to nearby open tundra and shrub patches. Soil temperatures were 4–5°C warmer in January, and 2°C cooler in July under shrub cover. Natural shrub plots had 14–33 cm more snow in January than adjacent open tundra plots. Snow cover and soil temperatures were similar in the manipulated plots when compared with the respective unmanipulated treatments, indicating that shrub canopy cover was a dominant factor influencing the soil thermal regime. Conversely, we found no strong evidence of increased soil decomposition, CO2 fluxes, or nitrate or ammonia adsorbtion under artificial shrub canopy treatments when compared with unmanipulated open tundra. Our results suggest that the abiotic influences of shrub canopy cover alone on nutrient dynamics are weaker than previously asserted. Text Tundra PubMed Central (PMC) Ecology and Evolution 3 11 3683 3700 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Original Research |
spellingShingle |
Original Research Myers-Smith, Isla H Hik, David S Shrub canopies influence soil temperatures but not nutrient dynamics: An experimental test of tundra snow–shrub interactions |
topic_facet |
Original Research |
description |
Shrubs are the largest plant life form in tundra ecosystems; therefore, any changes in the abundance of shrubs will feedback to influence biodiversity, ecosystem function, and climate. The snow–shrub hypothesis asserts that shrub canopies trap snow and insulate soils in winter, increasing the rates of nutrient cycling to create a positive feedback to shrub expansion. However, previous work has not been able to separate the abiotic from the biotic influences of shrub canopies. We conducted a 3-year factorial experiment to determine the influences of canopies on soil temperatures and nutrient cycling parameters by removing ∼0.5 m high willow (Salix spp.) and birch (Betula glandulosa) shrubs, creating artificial shrub canopies and comparing these manipulations to nearby open tundra and shrub patches. Soil temperatures were 4–5°C warmer in January, and 2°C cooler in July under shrub cover. Natural shrub plots had 14–33 cm more snow in January than adjacent open tundra plots. Snow cover and soil temperatures were similar in the manipulated plots when compared with the respective unmanipulated treatments, indicating that shrub canopy cover was a dominant factor influencing the soil thermal regime. Conversely, we found no strong evidence of increased soil decomposition, CO2 fluxes, or nitrate or ammonia adsorbtion under artificial shrub canopy treatments when compared with unmanipulated open tundra. Our results suggest that the abiotic influences of shrub canopy cover alone on nutrient dynamics are weaker than previously asserted. |
format |
Text |
author |
Myers-Smith, Isla H Hik, David S |
author_facet |
Myers-Smith, Isla H Hik, David S |
author_sort |
Myers-Smith, Isla H |
title |
Shrub canopies influence soil temperatures but not nutrient dynamics: An experimental test of tundra snow–shrub interactions |
title_short |
Shrub canopies influence soil temperatures but not nutrient dynamics: An experimental test of tundra snow–shrub interactions |
title_full |
Shrub canopies influence soil temperatures but not nutrient dynamics: An experimental test of tundra snow–shrub interactions |
title_fullStr |
Shrub canopies influence soil temperatures but not nutrient dynamics: An experimental test of tundra snow–shrub interactions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shrub canopies influence soil temperatures but not nutrient dynamics: An experimental test of tundra snow–shrub interactions |
title_sort |
shrub canopies influence soil temperatures but not nutrient dynamics: an experimental test of tundra snow–shrub interactions |
publisher |
Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810868 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.710 |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810868 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.710 |
op_rights |
© 2013 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ Re-use of this article is permitted in accordance with the Creative Commons Deed, Attribution 2.5, which does not permit commercial exploitation. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.710 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
3683 |
op_container_end_page |
3700 |
_version_ |
1766228897723056128 |