Last-century vegetational changes in northern Europe. Characterisation, causes, and consequences

• Published in: Journal of Ecology
• Main Author: Kapfer, Jutta
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Bergen 2011
• Subjects: VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Vegetation history: 495; Arctic; Jan Mayen; Norway; Jan Mayen Island
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1956/5186

In the face of recent changes in environmental conditions and climate, longterm studies provide important insights into patterns and processes of vegetational change. In northern Europe, however, long-term studies are rare for many ecosystems. This thesis uses a new approach that uses historical phytosociological data-sets to study changes in the vegetation of alpine, mire, and arctic habitats and regions across northern Europe over the past decades. Because plot relocation due to the use of non-permanent plots may bias the detection of change, the thesis investigates if observed changes are larger than what is expected by chance. Furthermore, to find out if observed changes in vegetation are consistent between different habitats and regions in northern Europe, a meta-analysis of 15 data sets from arctic, alpine, and mire sites is presented. The results of the resurvey conducted in alpine Sikkilsdal, Central Norway, show that most species have shifted their distributional range upwards along the elevational gradient since the first sampling in the 1920s. These upward shifts were found to be independent of whether upper, lower, or optimum elevation were considered. As the largest shifts were found for species growing in snow-bed habitats, the results suggest climate warming and alterations in snow-cover duration to be important drivers of the observed range shifts. In the Åkhult mire (South Sweden), changes over a period of 54 years were found predominantly for species of dwarf-shrubs and trees, whereas several typical mire species have decreased or disappeared from the study site. Drier mire surface and higher nutrient availability due to a warmer climate are identified as the most plausible drivers explaining the observed turnover in species composition. On Jan Mayen Island, similar changes in vegetation were found during time periods of 19 and 80 years. Over both time-scales, graminoid and woody species were found to have increased, whereas several snow-bed related species have decreased. However, whereas the ...