Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra
The Arctic is one of the least human-impacted parts of the world, but, in turn, tundra biome is facing the most rapid climate change on Earth. These perturbations may cause major reshuffling of Arctic species compositions and functional trait profiles and diversity, thereby affecting ecosystem proce...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/320391 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001254117 |
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/320391 2023-05-15T14:27:46+02:00 Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra Niittynen, Pekka Heikkinen, Risto K. Luoto, Miska University of Helsinki, Department of Geosciences and Geography 2020-09-01 8 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/320391 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001254117 eng eng Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Niittynen , P , Heikkinen , R K & Luoto , M 2020 , ' Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra ' , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , vol. 117 , no. 35 , pp. 21480-21487 . https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001254117 0027-8424 PURE: 149246380 PURE UUID: fb30d491-e25a-427e-9a97-6bf592f4333a WOS: 000572974300013 ORCID: /0000-0001-6203-5143/work/82127809 ORCID: /0000-0002-7290-029X/work/82132130 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/320391 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001254117 remote sensing species distribution modeling microclimate winter ecology alpine mountain PLANT TRAITS COMMUNITY COMPOSITION SPECIES DISTRIBUTION BIODIVERSITY VEGETATION ECOLOGY PRODUCTIVITY FRAMEWORK DATABASE SHIFTS 1171 Geosciences Article info:eu-repo/semantics/other info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2020 ftunivhelsihelda https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001254117 2021-01-13T23:48:47Z The Arctic is one of the least human-impacted parts of the world, but, in turn, tundra biome is facing the most rapid climate change on Earth. These perturbations may cause major reshuffling of Arctic species compositions and functional trait profiles and diversity, thereby affecting ecosystem processes of the whole tundra region. Earlier research has detected important drivers of the change in plant functional traits under warming climate, but studies on one key factor, snow cover, are almost totally lacking. Here we integrate plot-scale vegetation data with detailed climate and snow information using machine learning methods to model the responsiveness of tundra communities to different scenarios of warming and snow cover duration. Our results show that decreasing snow cover, together with warming temperatures, can substantially modify biotic communities and their trait compositions, with future plant communities projected to be occupied by taller plants with larger leaves and faster resource acquisition strategies. As another finding, we show that, while the local functional diversity may increase, simultaneous biotic homogenization across tundra communities is likely to occur. The manifestation of climate warming on tundra vegetation is highly dependent on the evolution of snow conditions. Given this, realistic assessments of future ecosystem functioning require acknowledging the role of snow in tundra vegetation models. Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Climate change Tundra Helsingfors Universitet: HELDA – Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto Arctic Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 35 21480 21487 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Helsingfors Universitet: HELDA – Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
remote sensing species distribution modeling microclimate winter ecology alpine mountain PLANT TRAITS COMMUNITY COMPOSITION SPECIES DISTRIBUTION BIODIVERSITY VEGETATION ECOLOGY PRODUCTIVITY FRAMEWORK DATABASE SHIFTS 1171 Geosciences |
spellingShingle |
remote sensing species distribution modeling microclimate winter ecology alpine mountain PLANT TRAITS COMMUNITY COMPOSITION SPECIES DISTRIBUTION BIODIVERSITY VEGETATION ECOLOGY PRODUCTIVITY FRAMEWORK DATABASE SHIFTS 1171 Geosciences Niittynen, Pekka Heikkinen, Risto K. Luoto, Miska Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra |
topic_facet |
remote sensing species distribution modeling microclimate winter ecology alpine mountain PLANT TRAITS COMMUNITY COMPOSITION SPECIES DISTRIBUTION BIODIVERSITY VEGETATION ECOLOGY PRODUCTIVITY FRAMEWORK DATABASE SHIFTS 1171 Geosciences |
description |
The Arctic is one of the least human-impacted parts of the world, but, in turn, tundra biome is facing the most rapid climate change on Earth. These perturbations may cause major reshuffling of Arctic species compositions and functional trait profiles and diversity, thereby affecting ecosystem processes of the whole tundra region. Earlier research has detected important drivers of the change in plant functional traits under warming climate, but studies on one key factor, snow cover, are almost totally lacking. Here we integrate plot-scale vegetation data with detailed climate and snow information using machine learning methods to model the responsiveness of tundra communities to different scenarios of warming and snow cover duration. Our results show that decreasing snow cover, together with warming temperatures, can substantially modify biotic communities and their trait compositions, with future plant communities projected to be occupied by taller plants with larger leaves and faster resource acquisition strategies. As another finding, we show that, while the local functional diversity may increase, simultaneous biotic homogenization across tundra communities is likely to occur. The manifestation of climate warming on tundra vegetation is highly dependent on the evolution of snow conditions. Given this, realistic assessments of future ecosystem functioning require acknowledging the role of snow in tundra vegetation models. Peer reviewed |
author2 |
University of Helsinki, Department of Geosciences and Geography |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Niittynen, Pekka Heikkinen, Risto K. Luoto, Miska |
author_facet |
Niittynen, Pekka Heikkinen, Risto K. Luoto, Miska |
author_sort |
Niittynen, Pekka |
title |
Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra |
title_short |
Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra |
title_full |
Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra |
title_fullStr |
Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra |
title_full_unstemmed |
Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra |
title_sort |
decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of arctic tundra |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/320391 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001254117 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Climate change Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Climate change Tundra |
op_relation |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Niittynen , P , Heikkinen , R K & Luoto , M 2020 , ' Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra ' , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , vol. 117 , no. 35 , pp. 21480-21487 . https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001254117 0027-8424 PURE: 149246380 PURE UUID: fb30d491-e25a-427e-9a97-6bf592f4333a WOS: 000572974300013 ORCID: /0000-0001-6203-5143/work/82127809 ORCID: /0000-0002-7290-029X/work/82132130 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/320391 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001254117 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001254117 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
container_volume |
117 |
container_issue |
35 |
container_start_page |
21480 |
op_container_end_page |
21487 |
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1766301670230196224 |