Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities
The trait composition and trait diversity of plant communities are globally applicable predictors of ecosystem functioning. Yet, it is unclear how plant traits influence carbon cycling. This is an important question in the tundra where vegetation shifts are occurring across the entire biome, and whe...
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/342074 2024-01-07T09:45:29+01:00 Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities Happonen, Konsta Virkkala, Anna-Maria Kemppinen, Julia Niittynen, Pekka Luoto, Miska Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) Department of Geosciences and Geography BioGeoClimate Modelling Lab 2022-03-28T06:11:01Z 17 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/342074 eng eng Wiley 10.1111/1365-2745.13832 Maa-ja vesitekniikan tuki ry; Alfred Kordelinin Saatio; Tiina ja Antti Herlinin saatio; Suomen Kulttuurirahasto; Vaisala fund; Societas Pro Fauna et Flora Fennica; Otto Malm foundation; Nordenskiold-samfundet; Academy of Finland, Grant/Award Number: 286950 Happonen , K , Virkkala , A-M , Kemppinen , J , Niittynen , P & Luoto , M 2022 , ' Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities ' , Journal of Ecology , vol. 110 , no. 3 , pp. 700-716 . https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13832 ORCID: /0000-0001-6203-5143/work/110874228 ORCID: /0000-0003-4877-2918/work/110878658 ORCID: /0000-0002-7290-029X/work/110878684 ORCID: /0000-0001-7521-7229/work/110878941 85123730790 1a813e43-d441-4cbf-a945-24ae71371c98 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/342074 000747302900001 cc_by openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess 1172 Environmental sciences Article publishedVersion 2022 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:02:17Z The trait composition and trait diversity of plant communities are globally applicable predictors of ecosystem functioning. Yet, it is unclear how plant traits influence carbon cycling. This is an important question in the tundra where vegetation shifts are occurring across the entire biome, and where soil organic carbon stocks are large and vulnerable to environmental change. To study how plant traits affect carbon cycling in the tundra, we built a model that explained carbon cycling (above-ground and soil organic carbon stocks, and photosynthetic and respiratory fluxes) with abiotic conditions (air temperature and soil moisture), and the averages and within-community variabilities of three above-ground traits: plant height, leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and SLA. These functional parameters were represented by abundance-weighted means and standard deviations of species traits. The data were collected from an observational study setting from northern Finland. The explanatory power of the models was relatively high, but a large part of variation in soil organic carbon stocks remained unexplained. Average plant height was the strongest predictor of all carbon cycling variables except soil carbon stocks. Communities of larger plants were associated with larger CO2 fluxes and above-ground carbon stocks. Communities with fast leaf economics (i.e. high SLA and low LDMC) had higher photosynthesis, ecosystem respiration and soil organic carbon stocks. Within-community variability in plant height, SLA and LDMC affected ecosystem functions differently. Variability in SLA and LDMC increased CO2 fluxes and soil organic carbon stocks, while variability in height increased the above-ground carbon stock. The contributions of within-community trait variability metrics to ecosystem functioning within the study area were about as important as those of average SLA and LDMC. Synthesis. Plant height, SLA and LDMC have clear effects on tundra carbon cycling. The importance of within-community trait variability highlights a ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Finland Tundra HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Journal of Ecology 110 3 700 716 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
1172 Environmental sciences |
spellingShingle |
1172 Environmental sciences Happonen, Konsta Virkkala, Anna-Maria Kemppinen, Julia Niittynen, Pekka Luoto, Miska Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities |
topic_facet |
1172 Environmental sciences |
description |
The trait composition and trait diversity of plant communities are globally applicable predictors of ecosystem functioning. Yet, it is unclear how plant traits influence carbon cycling. This is an important question in the tundra where vegetation shifts are occurring across the entire biome, and where soil organic carbon stocks are large and vulnerable to environmental change. To study how plant traits affect carbon cycling in the tundra, we built a model that explained carbon cycling (above-ground and soil organic carbon stocks, and photosynthetic and respiratory fluxes) with abiotic conditions (air temperature and soil moisture), and the averages and within-community variabilities of three above-ground traits: plant height, leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and SLA. These functional parameters were represented by abundance-weighted means and standard deviations of species traits. The data were collected from an observational study setting from northern Finland. The explanatory power of the models was relatively high, but a large part of variation in soil organic carbon stocks remained unexplained. Average plant height was the strongest predictor of all carbon cycling variables except soil carbon stocks. Communities of larger plants were associated with larger CO2 fluxes and above-ground carbon stocks. Communities with fast leaf economics (i.e. high SLA and low LDMC) had higher photosynthesis, ecosystem respiration and soil organic carbon stocks. Within-community variability in plant height, SLA and LDMC affected ecosystem functions differently. Variability in SLA and LDMC increased CO2 fluxes and soil organic carbon stocks, while variability in height increased the above-ground carbon stock. The contributions of within-community trait variability metrics to ecosystem functioning within the study area were about as important as those of average SLA and LDMC. Synthesis. Plant height, SLA and LDMC have clear effects on tundra carbon cycling. The importance of within-community trait variability highlights a ... |
author2 |
Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) Department of Geosciences and Geography BioGeoClimate Modelling Lab |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Happonen, Konsta Virkkala, Anna-Maria Kemppinen, Julia Niittynen, Pekka Luoto, Miska |
author_facet |
Happonen, Konsta Virkkala, Anna-Maria Kemppinen, Julia Niittynen, Pekka Luoto, Miska |
author_sort |
Happonen, Konsta |
title |
Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities |
title_short |
Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities |
title_full |
Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities |
title_fullStr |
Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities |
title_sort |
relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/342074 |
genre |
Northern Finland Tundra |
genre_facet |
Northern Finland Tundra |
op_relation |
10.1111/1365-2745.13832 Maa-ja vesitekniikan tuki ry; Alfred Kordelinin Saatio; Tiina ja Antti Herlinin saatio; Suomen Kulttuurirahasto; Vaisala fund; Societas Pro Fauna et Flora Fennica; Otto Malm foundation; Nordenskiold-samfundet; Academy of Finland, Grant/Award Number: 286950 Happonen , K , Virkkala , A-M , Kemppinen , J , Niittynen , P & Luoto , M 2022 , ' Relationships between above-ground plant traits and carbon cycling in tundra plant communities ' , Journal of Ecology , vol. 110 , no. 3 , pp. 700-716 . https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13832 ORCID: /0000-0001-6203-5143/work/110874228 ORCID: /0000-0003-4877-2918/work/110878658 ORCID: /0000-0002-7290-029X/work/110878684 ORCID: /0000-0001-7521-7229/work/110878941 85123730790 1a813e43-d441-4cbf-a945-24ae71371c98 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/342074 000747302900001 |
op_rights |
cc_by openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Journal of Ecology |
container_volume |
110 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
700 |
op_container_end_page |
716 |
_version_ |
1787427032614830080 |