Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline
Climate warming enables tree seedling establishment beyond the current alpine treeline, but to achieve this, seedlings have to establish within existing tundra vegetation. In tundra, mosses are a prominent feature, known to regulate soil temperature and moisture through their physical structure and...
Published in: | Global Change Biology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap
2020
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Online Access: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-173910 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15256 |
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ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-173910 2023-10-09T21:48:55+02:00 Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline Lett, Signe Teuber, Laurenz M. Krab, Eveline J Michelsen, Anders Olofsson, Johan Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte Wardle, David A. Dorrepaal, Ellen 2020 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-173910 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15256 eng eng Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap Department of Biology, Terrestrial Ecology Section, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Experimental Plant Ecology, Institute for Botany and Landscape Ecology, University of Greifswald, Germany Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish Agricultural University, Uppsala, Sweden Global Change Biology, 1354-1013, 2020, 26:10, s. 5754-5766 orcid:0000-0002-9541-8658 orcid:0000-0002-6943-1218 orcid:0000-0002-0476-7335 orcid:0000-0002-0523-2471 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-173910 doi:10.1111/gcb.15256 PMID 32715578 ISI:000552351300001 Scopus 2-s2.0-85088481850 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Arctic Betula pubescens bryophytes climate change Pinus sylvestris plant interactions precipitation treeline expansion Ecology Ekologi Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2020 ftumeauniv https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15256 2023-09-22T13:53:23Z Climate warming enables tree seedling establishment beyond the current alpine treeline, but to achieve this, seedlings have to establish within existing tundra vegetation. In tundra, mosses are a prominent feature, known to regulate soil temperature and moisture through their physical structure and associated water retention capacity. Moss presence and species identity might therefore modify the impact of increases in temperature and precipitation on tree seedling establishment at the arctic‐alpine treeline. We followed Betula pubescens and Pinus sylvestris seedling survival and growth during three growing seasons in the field. Tree seedlings were transplanted along a natural precipitation gradient at the subarctic‐alpine treeline in northern Sweden, into plots dominated by each of three common moss species and exposed to combinations of moss removal and experimental warming by open‐top chambers (OTCs). Independent of climate, the presence of feather moss, but not Sphagnum , strongly supressed survival of both tree species. Positive effects of warming and precipitation on survival and growth of B. pubescens seedlings occurred in the absence of mosses and as expected, this was partly dependent on moss species. P. sylvestris survival was greatest at high precipitation, and this effect was more pronounced in Sphagnum than in feather moss plots irrespective of whether the mosses had been removed or not. Moss presence did not reduce the effects of OTCs on soil temperature. Mosses therefore modified seedling response to climate through other mechanisms, such as altered competition or nutrient availability. We conclude that both moss presence and species identity pose a strong control on seedling establishment at the alpine treeline, and that in some cases mosses weaken climate‐change effects on seedling establishment. Changes in moss abundance and species composition therefore have the potential to hamper treeline expansion induced by climate warming. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Northern Sweden Subarctic Tundra Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) Arctic Global Change Biology 26 10 5754 5766 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic Betula pubescens bryophytes climate change Pinus sylvestris plant interactions precipitation treeline expansion Ecology Ekologi |
spellingShingle |
Arctic Betula pubescens bryophytes climate change Pinus sylvestris plant interactions precipitation treeline expansion Ecology Ekologi Lett, Signe Teuber, Laurenz M. Krab, Eveline J Michelsen, Anders Olofsson, Johan Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte Wardle, David A. Dorrepaal, Ellen Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline |
topic_facet |
Arctic Betula pubescens bryophytes climate change Pinus sylvestris plant interactions precipitation treeline expansion Ecology Ekologi |
description |
Climate warming enables tree seedling establishment beyond the current alpine treeline, but to achieve this, seedlings have to establish within existing tundra vegetation. In tundra, mosses are a prominent feature, known to regulate soil temperature and moisture through their physical structure and associated water retention capacity. Moss presence and species identity might therefore modify the impact of increases in temperature and precipitation on tree seedling establishment at the arctic‐alpine treeline. We followed Betula pubescens and Pinus sylvestris seedling survival and growth during three growing seasons in the field. Tree seedlings were transplanted along a natural precipitation gradient at the subarctic‐alpine treeline in northern Sweden, into plots dominated by each of three common moss species and exposed to combinations of moss removal and experimental warming by open‐top chambers (OTCs). Independent of climate, the presence of feather moss, but not Sphagnum , strongly supressed survival of both tree species. Positive effects of warming and precipitation on survival and growth of B. pubescens seedlings occurred in the absence of mosses and as expected, this was partly dependent on moss species. P. sylvestris survival was greatest at high precipitation, and this effect was more pronounced in Sphagnum than in feather moss plots irrespective of whether the mosses had been removed or not. Moss presence did not reduce the effects of OTCs on soil temperature. Mosses therefore modified seedling response to climate through other mechanisms, such as altered competition or nutrient availability. We conclude that both moss presence and species identity pose a strong control on seedling establishment at the alpine treeline, and that in some cases mosses weaken climate‐change effects on seedling establishment. Changes in moss abundance and species composition therefore have the potential to hamper treeline expansion induced by climate warming. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lett, Signe Teuber, Laurenz M. Krab, Eveline J Michelsen, Anders Olofsson, Johan Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte Wardle, David A. Dorrepaal, Ellen |
author_facet |
Lett, Signe Teuber, Laurenz M. Krab, Eveline J Michelsen, Anders Olofsson, Johan Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte Wardle, David A. Dorrepaal, Ellen |
author_sort |
Lett, Signe |
title |
Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline |
title_short |
Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline |
title_full |
Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline |
title_fullStr |
Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline |
title_sort |
mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline |
publisher |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-173910 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15256 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Northern Sweden Subarctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Northern Sweden Subarctic Tundra |
op_relation |
Global Change Biology, 1354-1013, 2020, 26:10, s. 5754-5766 orcid:0000-0002-9541-8658 orcid:0000-0002-6943-1218 orcid:0000-0002-0476-7335 orcid:0000-0002-0523-2471 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-173910 doi:10.1111/gcb.15256 PMID 32715578 ISI:000552351300001 Scopus 2-s2.0-85088481850 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15256 |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
5754 |
op_container_end_page |
5766 |
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1779311980093374464 |