Competitive interaction between aspen and birch moderated by invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores and climate warming
Background: Considerable changes in vegetation structure and distribution are predicted in high latitude ecosystems as a result of amplified climate change. However, some documented plant community changes do not follow model predictions. Aim: We compared the growth of and the responses to climate v...
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ftunivgent:oai:archive.ugent.be:1056942 2023-10-01T03:49:57+02:00 Competitive interaction between aspen and birch moderated by invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores and climate warming Van Bogaert, Rik Jonasson, Christer De Dapper, Morgan Callaghan, Terry V 2009 application/pdf https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1056942 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-1056942 https://doi.org/10.1080/17550870903487456 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1056942/file/6743400 eng eng https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1056942 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-1056942 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17550870903487456 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1056942/file/6743400 No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess PLANT ECOLOGY & DIVERSITY ISSN: 1755-0874 Biology and Life Sciences SWEDISH LAPLAND NORTHERN SWEDEN ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGE EPIRRITA-AUTUMNATA SCANDES MOUNTAINS SHRUB EXPANSION EUROPEAN ASPEN DYNAMICS FOREST MOOSE journalArticle info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2009 ftunivgent https://doi.org/10.1080/17550870903487456 2023-09-06T22:23:43Z Background: Considerable changes in vegetation structure and distribution are predicted in high latitude ecosystems as a result of amplified climate change. However, some documented plant community changes do not follow model predictions. Aim: We compared the growth of and the responses to climate variation by the thermophilic aspen (Populus tremula) and its sub-Arctic competitor mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) over the past 100 years. Methods: Repeat photography, high-resolution vegetation transects, dendro-ecological analysis, and local climate record archives were used to study changes in vitality and distributional range of the two tree species in response to climate variability. Results: Aspen grew 45% faster and had seven times higher recruitment numbers than birch. However, no aspen stand expansion was observed, most likely because of browsing by moose (Alces alces). Birch, on the other hand, suffered from cyclic outbreaks of the autumnal moth (Epirrita autumnata). One-hundred-year-old birch trees experienced on average 9.0 years of reduced growth due to moth herbivory compared to 1.4 years for aspen. Moreover, these moth outbreaks on birch stimulated recruitment of aspen in birch stands. Conclusions: As the sub-Arctic continues to become warmer, the dynamics between aspen and birch in forest ecosystems will likely depend on the number of vertebrate browsers relative to the number of aspen recruits, while major moth outbreaks on birch may facilitate the spread of aspen by reducing competition. Our results suggest that alternating episodes of apparent species range stabilities (homeostasis) and abrupt non-linear shifts may characterise species migration patterns in this ecosystem. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Arctic Climate change Moose Northern Sweden Lapland Ghent University Academic Bibliography Arctic Plant Ecology & Diversity 2 3 221 232 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Ghent University Academic Bibliography |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgent |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology and Life Sciences SWEDISH LAPLAND NORTHERN SWEDEN ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGE EPIRRITA-AUTUMNATA SCANDES MOUNTAINS SHRUB EXPANSION EUROPEAN ASPEN DYNAMICS FOREST MOOSE |
spellingShingle |
Biology and Life Sciences SWEDISH LAPLAND NORTHERN SWEDEN ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGE EPIRRITA-AUTUMNATA SCANDES MOUNTAINS SHRUB EXPANSION EUROPEAN ASPEN DYNAMICS FOREST MOOSE Van Bogaert, Rik Jonasson, Christer De Dapper, Morgan Callaghan, Terry V Competitive interaction between aspen and birch moderated by invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores and climate warming |
topic_facet |
Biology and Life Sciences SWEDISH LAPLAND NORTHERN SWEDEN ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGE EPIRRITA-AUTUMNATA SCANDES MOUNTAINS SHRUB EXPANSION EUROPEAN ASPEN DYNAMICS FOREST MOOSE |
description |
Background: Considerable changes in vegetation structure and distribution are predicted in high latitude ecosystems as a result of amplified climate change. However, some documented plant community changes do not follow model predictions. Aim: We compared the growth of and the responses to climate variation by the thermophilic aspen (Populus tremula) and its sub-Arctic competitor mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) over the past 100 years. Methods: Repeat photography, high-resolution vegetation transects, dendro-ecological analysis, and local climate record archives were used to study changes in vitality and distributional range of the two tree species in response to climate variability. Results: Aspen grew 45% faster and had seven times higher recruitment numbers than birch. However, no aspen stand expansion was observed, most likely because of browsing by moose (Alces alces). Birch, on the other hand, suffered from cyclic outbreaks of the autumnal moth (Epirrita autumnata). One-hundred-year-old birch trees experienced on average 9.0 years of reduced growth due to moth herbivory compared to 1.4 years for aspen. Moreover, these moth outbreaks on birch stimulated recruitment of aspen in birch stands. Conclusions: As the sub-Arctic continues to become warmer, the dynamics between aspen and birch in forest ecosystems will likely depend on the number of vertebrate browsers relative to the number of aspen recruits, while major moth outbreaks on birch may facilitate the spread of aspen by reducing competition. Our results suggest that alternating episodes of apparent species range stabilities (homeostasis) and abrupt non-linear shifts may characterise species migration patterns in this ecosystem. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Van Bogaert, Rik Jonasson, Christer De Dapper, Morgan Callaghan, Terry V |
author_facet |
Van Bogaert, Rik Jonasson, Christer De Dapper, Morgan Callaghan, Terry V |
author_sort |
Van Bogaert, Rik |
title |
Competitive interaction between aspen and birch moderated by invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores and climate warming |
title_short |
Competitive interaction between aspen and birch moderated by invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores and climate warming |
title_full |
Competitive interaction between aspen and birch moderated by invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores and climate warming |
title_fullStr |
Competitive interaction between aspen and birch moderated by invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores and climate warming |
title_full_unstemmed |
Competitive interaction between aspen and birch moderated by invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores and climate warming |
title_sort |
competitive interaction between aspen and birch moderated by invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores and climate warming |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1056942 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-1056942 https://doi.org/10.1080/17550870903487456 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1056942/file/6743400 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Alces alces Arctic Climate change Moose Northern Sweden Lapland |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Arctic Climate change Moose Northern Sweden Lapland |
op_source |
PLANT ECOLOGY & DIVERSITY ISSN: 1755-0874 |
op_relation |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1056942 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-1056942 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17550870903487456 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/1056942/file/6743400 |
op_rights |
No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/17550870903487456 |
container_title |
Plant Ecology & Diversity |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
221 |
op_container_end_page |
232 |
_version_ |
1778517765036965888 |