Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage
The climate-driven encroachment of shrubs into the Arctic is accompanied by shifts in soil fungal communities that could contribute to a net release of carbon from tundra soils. At the same time, arctic grazers are known to prevent the establishment of deciduous shrubs and, under certain conditions,...
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Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap
2021
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Online Access: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184911 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15722 |
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ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-184911 2023-10-09T21:48:44+02:00 Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage Ylänne, Henni Madsen, Rieke L. Castaño, Carles Metcalfe, Daniel B. Clemmensen, Karina E. 2021 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184911 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15722 eng eng Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden Uppsala BioCenter, Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden Global Change Biology, 1354-1013, 2021, 27:18, s. 4254-4268 orcid:0000-0001-8325-9269 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184911 doi:10.1111/gcb.15722 PMID 34028938 ISI:000661100400001 Scopus 2-s2.0-85107767272 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Arctic shrubification Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii fungal community grazing ITS2 Rangifer tarandus subarctic tundra tree-line Ecology Ekologi Article in journal info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2021 ftumeauniv https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15722 2023-09-22T13:54:57Z The climate-driven encroachment of shrubs into the Arctic is accompanied by shifts in soil fungal communities that could contribute to a net release of carbon from tundra soils. At the same time, arctic grazers are known to prevent the establishment of deciduous shrubs and, under certain conditions, promote the dominance of evergreen shrubs. As these different vegetation types associate with contrasting fungal communities, the belowground consequences of climate change could vary among grazing regimes. Yet, at present, the impact of grazing on soil fungal communities and their links to soil carbon have remained speculative. Here we tested how soil fungal community composition, diversity and function depend on tree vicinity and long-term reindeer grazing regime and assessed how the fungal communities relate to organic soil carbon stocks in an alpine treeline ecotone in Northern Scandinavia. We determined soil carbon stocks and characterized soil fungal communities directly underneath and >3 m away from mountain birches (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) in two adjacent 55-year-old grazing regimes with or without summer grazing by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). We show that the area exposed to year-round grazing dominated by evergreen dwarf shrubs had higher soil C:N ratio, higher fungal abundance and lower fungal diversity compared with the area with only winter grazing and higher abundance of mountain birch. Although soil carbon stocks did not differ between the grazing regimes, stocks were positively associated with root-associated ascomycetes, typical to the year-round grazing regime, and negatively associated with free-living saprotrophs, typical to the winter grazing regime. These findings suggest that when grazers promote dominance of evergreen dwarf shrubs, they induce shifts in soil fungal communities that increase soil carbon sequestration in the long term. Thus, to predict climate-driven changes in soil carbon, grazer-induced shifts in vegetation and soil fungal communities need to be accounted for. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Subarctic Tundra Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) Arctic Global Change Biology |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic shrubification Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii fungal community grazing ITS2 Rangifer tarandus subarctic tundra tree-line Ecology Ekologi |
spellingShingle |
Arctic shrubification Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii fungal community grazing ITS2 Rangifer tarandus subarctic tundra tree-line Ecology Ekologi Ylänne, Henni Madsen, Rieke L. Castaño, Carles Metcalfe, Daniel B. Clemmensen, Karina E. Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage |
topic_facet |
Arctic shrubification Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii fungal community grazing ITS2 Rangifer tarandus subarctic tundra tree-line Ecology Ekologi |
description |
The climate-driven encroachment of shrubs into the Arctic is accompanied by shifts in soil fungal communities that could contribute to a net release of carbon from tundra soils. At the same time, arctic grazers are known to prevent the establishment of deciduous shrubs and, under certain conditions, promote the dominance of evergreen shrubs. As these different vegetation types associate with contrasting fungal communities, the belowground consequences of climate change could vary among grazing regimes. Yet, at present, the impact of grazing on soil fungal communities and their links to soil carbon have remained speculative. Here we tested how soil fungal community composition, diversity and function depend on tree vicinity and long-term reindeer grazing regime and assessed how the fungal communities relate to organic soil carbon stocks in an alpine treeline ecotone in Northern Scandinavia. We determined soil carbon stocks and characterized soil fungal communities directly underneath and >3 m away from mountain birches (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) in two adjacent 55-year-old grazing regimes with or without summer grazing by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). We show that the area exposed to year-round grazing dominated by evergreen dwarf shrubs had higher soil C:N ratio, higher fungal abundance and lower fungal diversity compared with the area with only winter grazing and higher abundance of mountain birch. Although soil carbon stocks did not differ between the grazing regimes, stocks were positively associated with root-associated ascomycetes, typical to the year-round grazing regime, and negatively associated with free-living saprotrophs, typical to the winter grazing regime. These findings suggest that when grazers promote dominance of evergreen dwarf shrubs, they induce shifts in soil fungal communities that increase soil carbon sequestration in the long term. Thus, to predict climate-driven changes in soil carbon, grazer-induced shifts in vegetation and soil fungal communities need to be accounted for. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ylänne, Henni Madsen, Rieke L. Castaño, Carles Metcalfe, Daniel B. Clemmensen, Karina E. |
author_facet |
Ylänne, Henni Madsen, Rieke L. Castaño, Carles Metcalfe, Daniel B. Clemmensen, Karina E. |
author_sort |
Ylänne, Henni |
title |
Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage |
title_short |
Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage |
title_full |
Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage |
title_fullStr |
Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage |
title_sort |
reindeer control over subarctic treeline alters soil fungal communities with potential consequences for soil carbon storage |
publisher |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184911 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15722 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Subarctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Rangifer tarandus Subarctic Tundra |
op_relation |
Global Change Biology, 1354-1013, 2021, 27:18, s. 4254-4268 orcid:0000-0001-8325-9269 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184911 doi:10.1111/gcb.15722 PMID 34028938 ISI:000661100400001 Scopus 2-s2.0-85107767272 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15722 |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
_version_ |
1779311805361815552 |