High tolerance of a high-arctic willow and graminoid to simulated ice encasement
Climate change-induced snow thaw and subsequent accumulation of ice on the ground is a potential, major threat to snow-dominated ecosystems. While impacts of ground-ice on arctic wildlife are well explored, the impacts on tundra vegetation is far from understood. We therefore tested the vulnerabilit...
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/578396 2024-09-15T18:00:08+00:00 High tolerance of a high-arctic willow and graminoid to simulated ice encasement Bjerke, J.W. Elverland, E. Jaakola, L. Lund, L. Zagajewski, B. Bochenek, Z. Kłos, A. Tømmervik, H. 2024-06-27T13:45:04Z 329-338 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/578396 eng eng Boreal Environment Research Publishing Board Boreal Environment Research 1239-6095 1797-2469 23 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/578396 Suomen ympäristökeskus CC BY 4.0 openAccess Artikkeli lehdessä 2024 ftunivhelsihelda 2024-08-21T23:48:04Z Climate change-induced snow thaw and subsequent accumulation of ice on the ground is a potential, major threat to snow-dominated ecosystems. While impacts of ground-ice on arctic wildlife are well explored, the impacts on tundra vegetation is far from understood. We therefore tested the vulnerability of two high-arctic plants, the prostrate shrub Salix polaris and the graminoid Luzula confusa, to ice encasement for 60 days under full environmental control. Both species were tolerant, showing only minor negative responses to the treatment. Subsequent exposure to simulated late spring frost increased the amount of damaged tissue, particularly in S. polaris, compared to the pre-frost situation. Wilting shoot tips of S. polaris increased nearly tenfold, while the proportion of wilted leaves of L. confusa increased by 15%. During recovery, damaged plants of S. polaris responded by extensive compensatory growth of new leaves that were much smaller than leaves of non-damaged shoots. The results suggest that S. polaris and L. confusa are rather tolerant to arctic winter-spring climate change, and this may be part of the reason for their wide distribution range and abundance in the Arctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Boreal Environment Research Climate change Luzula confusa Salix polaris Tundra HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
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Open Polar |
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HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
description |
Climate change-induced snow thaw and subsequent accumulation of ice on the ground is a potential, major threat to snow-dominated ecosystems. While impacts of ground-ice on arctic wildlife are well explored, the impacts on tundra vegetation is far from understood. We therefore tested the vulnerability of two high-arctic plants, the prostrate shrub Salix polaris and the graminoid Luzula confusa, to ice encasement for 60 days under full environmental control. Both species were tolerant, showing only minor negative responses to the treatment. Subsequent exposure to simulated late spring frost increased the amount of damaged tissue, particularly in S. polaris, compared to the pre-frost situation. Wilting shoot tips of S. polaris increased nearly tenfold, while the proportion of wilted leaves of L. confusa increased by 15%. During recovery, damaged plants of S. polaris responded by extensive compensatory growth of new leaves that were much smaller than leaves of non-damaged shoots. The results suggest that S. polaris and L. confusa are rather tolerant to arctic winter-spring climate change, and this may be part of the reason for their wide distribution range and abundance in the Arctic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bjerke, J.W. Elverland, E. Jaakola, L. Lund, L. Zagajewski, B. Bochenek, Z. Kłos, A. Tømmervik, H. |
spellingShingle |
Bjerke, J.W. Elverland, E. Jaakola, L. Lund, L. Zagajewski, B. Bochenek, Z. Kłos, A. Tømmervik, H. High tolerance of a high-arctic willow and graminoid to simulated ice encasement |
author_facet |
Bjerke, J.W. Elverland, E. Jaakola, L. Lund, L. Zagajewski, B. Bochenek, Z. Kłos, A. Tømmervik, H. |
author_sort |
Bjerke, J.W. |
title |
High tolerance of a high-arctic willow and graminoid to simulated ice encasement |
title_short |
High tolerance of a high-arctic willow and graminoid to simulated ice encasement |
title_full |
High tolerance of a high-arctic willow and graminoid to simulated ice encasement |
title_fullStr |
High tolerance of a high-arctic willow and graminoid to simulated ice encasement |
title_full_unstemmed |
High tolerance of a high-arctic willow and graminoid to simulated ice encasement |
title_sort |
high tolerance of a high-arctic willow and graminoid to simulated ice encasement |
publisher |
Boreal Environment Research Publishing Board |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/578396 |
genre |
Boreal Environment Research Climate change Luzula confusa Salix polaris Tundra |
genre_facet |
Boreal Environment Research Climate change Luzula confusa Salix polaris Tundra |
op_relation |
Boreal Environment Research 1239-6095 1797-2469 23 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/578396 Suomen ympäristökeskus |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 openAccess |
_version_ |
1810437237395947520 |