Decadal soil warming decreased vascular plant above and belowground production in a subarctic grassland by inducing nitrogen limitation

Below and aboveground vegetation dynamics are crucial in understanding how climate warming may affect terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling. In contrast to aboveground biomass, the response of belowground biomass to long-term warming has been poorly studied. Here, we characterized the impacts of deca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New Phytologist
Main Authors: Fang, Chao, Verbrigghe, Niel, Sigurdsson, Bjarni D., Ostonen, Ivika, Leblans, Niki I.W., Marañón-Jiménez, Sara, Fuchslueger, Lucia, Sigurðsson, Páll, Meeran, Kathiravan, Portillo-Estrada, Miguel, Verbruggen, Erik, Richter, Andreas, Sardans, Jordi, Peñuelas, Josep, Bahn, Michael, Vicca, Sara, Janssens, Ivan A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Umeå universitet 2023
Subjects:
biomass distribution
grasses
nitrogen limitation
temperature increase
vascular plants
Soil Science
Markvetenskap
Climate Research
Klimatforskning
Subarctic
Online Access:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-213037
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19177
Description
Summary:Below and aboveground vegetation dynamics are crucial in understanding how climate warming may affect terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling. In contrast to aboveground biomass, the response of belowground biomass to long-term warming has been poorly studied. Here, we characterized the impacts of decadal geothermal warming at two levels (on average +3.3°C and +7.9°C) on below and aboveground plant biomass stocks and production in a subarctic grassland. Soil warming did not change standing root biomass and even decreased fine root production and reduced aboveground biomass and production. Decadal soil warming also did not significantly alter the root–shoot ratio. The linear stepwise regression model suggested that following 10 yr of soil warming, temperature was no longer the direct driver of these responses, but losses of soil N were. Soil N losses, due to warming-induced decreases in organic matter and water retention capacity, were identified as key driver of the decreased above and belowground production. The reduction in fine root production was accompanied by thinner roots with increased specific root area. These results indicate that after a decade of soil warming, plant productivity in the studied subarctic grassland was affected by soil warming mainly by the reduction in soil N.

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