Decreased soil moisture due to warming drives phylogenetic diversity and community transitions in the tundra
Global warming leads to drastic changes in the diversity and structure of Arctic plant communities. Studies of functional diversity within the Arctic tundra biome have improved our understanding of plant responses to warming. However, these studies still show substantial unexplained variation in div...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
Language: | English |
Published: |
IOP Publishing
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10576/21421 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfe8a https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85107554225&origin=inward |
id |
ftqataruniv:oai:qspace.qu.edu.qa:10576/21421 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftqataruniv:oai:qspace.qu.edu.qa:10576/21421 2024-06-09T07:43:20+00:00 Decreased soil moisture due to warming drives phylogenetic diversity and community transitions in the tundra Scharn, Ruud Little, Chelsea J. Bacon, Christine D. Alatalo, Juha M. Antonelli, Alexandre Björkman, Mats P. Molau, Ulf Nilsson, R. Henrik Björk, Robert G. application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10576/21421 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfe8a https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85107554225&origin=inward en eng IOP Publishing http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfe8a 17489318 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85107554225&origin=inward http://hdl.handle.net/10576/21421 6 16 1748-9326 Arctic tundra biodiversity long-term warming phylogenetic diversity shrubification soil moisture vegetation change Other ftqataruniv https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfe8a 2024-05-16T06:45:54Z Global warming leads to drastic changes in the diversity and structure of Arctic plant communities. Studies of functional diversity within the Arctic tundra biome have improved our understanding of plant responses to warming. However, these studies still show substantial unexplained variation in diversity responses. Complementary to functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity has been useful in climate change studies, but has so far been understudied in the Arctic. Here, we use a 25 year warming experiment to disentangle community responses in Arctic plant phylogenetic β diversity across a soil moisture gradient. We found that responses varied over the soil moisture gradient, where meadow communities with intermediate to high soil moisture had a higher magnitude of response. Warming had a negative effect on soil moisture levels in all meadow communities, however meadows with intermediate moisture levels were more sensitive. In these communities, soil moisture loss was associated with earlier snowmelt, resulting in community turnover towards a more heath-like community. This process of 'heathification' in the intermediate moisture meadows was driven by the expansion of ericoid and Betula shrubs. In contrast, under a more consistent water supply Salix shrub abundance increased in wet meadows. Due to its lower stature, palatability and decomposability, the increase in heath relative to meadow vegetation can have several large scale effects on the local food web as well as climate. Our study highlights the importance of the hydrological cycle as a driver of vegetation turnover in response to Arctic climate change. The observed patterns in phylogenetic β diversity were often driven by contrasting responses of species of the same functional growth form, and could thus provide important complementary information. Thus, phylogenetic diversity is an important tool in disentangling tundra response to environmental change. This study was supported by The Swedish Research Council FORMAS (No. 942-2015-1382 to RGB and ... Other/Unknown Material Arctic Climate change Global warming Tundra Qatar University: QU Institutional Repository Arctic Environmental Research Letters 16 6 064031 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Qatar University: QU Institutional Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftqataruniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic tundra biodiversity long-term warming phylogenetic diversity shrubification soil moisture vegetation change |
spellingShingle |
Arctic tundra biodiversity long-term warming phylogenetic diversity shrubification soil moisture vegetation change Scharn, Ruud Little, Chelsea J. Bacon, Christine D. Alatalo, Juha M. Antonelli, Alexandre Björkman, Mats P. Molau, Ulf Nilsson, R. Henrik Björk, Robert G. Decreased soil moisture due to warming drives phylogenetic diversity and community transitions in the tundra |
topic_facet |
Arctic tundra biodiversity long-term warming phylogenetic diversity shrubification soil moisture vegetation change |
description |
Global warming leads to drastic changes in the diversity and structure of Arctic plant communities. Studies of functional diversity within the Arctic tundra biome have improved our understanding of plant responses to warming. However, these studies still show substantial unexplained variation in diversity responses. Complementary to functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity has been useful in climate change studies, but has so far been understudied in the Arctic. Here, we use a 25 year warming experiment to disentangle community responses in Arctic plant phylogenetic β diversity across a soil moisture gradient. We found that responses varied over the soil moisture gradient, where meadow communities with intermediate to high soil moisture had a higher magnitude of response. Warming had a negative effect on soil moisture levels in all meadow communities, however meadows with intermediate moisture levels were more sensitive. In these communities, soil moisture loss was associated with earlier snowmelt, resulting in community turnover towards a more heath-like community. This process of 'heathification' in the intermediate moisture meadows was driven by the expansion of ericoid and Betula shrubs. In contrast, under a more consistent water supply Salix shrub abundance increased in wet meadows. Due to its lower stature, palatability and decomposability, the increase in heath relative to meadow vegetation can have several large scale effects on the local food web as well as climate. Our study highlights the importance of the hydrological cycle as a driver of vegetation turnover in response to Arctic climate change. The observed patterns in phylogenetic β diversity were often driven by contrasting responses of species of the same functional growth form, and could thus provide important complementary information. Thus, phylogenetic diversity is an important tool in disentangling tundra response to environmental change. This study was supported by The Swedish Research Council FORMAS (No. 942-2015-1382 to RGB and ... |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Scharn, Ruud Little, Chelsea J. Bacon, Christine D. Alatalo, Juha M. Antonelli, Alexandre Björkman, Mats P. Molau, Ulf Nilsson, R. Henrik Björk, Robert G. |
author_facet |
Scharn, Ruud Little, Chelsea J. Bacon, Christine D. Alatalo, Juha M. Antonelli, Alexandre Björkman, Mats P. Molau, Ulf Nilsson, R. Henrik Björk, Robert G. |
author_sort |
Scharn, Ruud |
title |
Decreased soil moisture due to warming drives phylogenetic diversity and community transitions in the tundra |
title_short |
Decreased soil moisture due to warming drives phylogenetic diversity and community transitions in the tundra |
title_full |
Decreased soil moisture due to warming drives phylogenetic diversity and community transitions in the tundra |
title_fullStr |
Decreased soil moisture due to warming drives phylogenetic diversity and community transitions in the tundra |
title_full_unstemmed |
Decreased soil moisture due to warming drives phylogenetic diversity and community transitions in the tundra |
title_sort |
decreased soil moisture due to warming drives phylogenetic diversity and community transitions in the tundra |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10576/21421 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfe8a https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85107554225&origin=inward |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Global warming Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Global warming Tundra |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfe8a 17489318 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85107554225&origin=inward http://hdl.handle.net/10576/21421 6 16 1748-9326 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abfe8a |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
064031 |
_version_ |
1801372098779676672 |