Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying
East Antarctica has shown little evidence of warming to date with no coherent picture of how climate change is affecting vegetation. In stark contrast, the Antarctic Peninsula experienced some of the most rapid warming on the planet at the end of the last century causing changes to the growth and di...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0280-0 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/130406 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:130406 2023-05-15T13:55:18+02:00 Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying Robinson, SA King, DH Bramley-Alves, J Waterman, MJ Ashcroft, MB Wasley, J Turnbull, JD Miller, RE Ryan-Colton, E Benny, T Mullany, K Clarke, LJ Barry, LA Hua, Q 2018 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0280-0 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/130406 en eng Nature Publishing Group http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0280-0 Robinson, SA and King, DH and Bramley-Alves, J and Waterman, MJ and Ashcroft, MB and Wasley, J and Turnbull, JD and Miller, RE and Ryan-Colton, E and Benny, T and Mullany, K and Clarke, LJ and Barry, LA and Hua, Q, Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying, Nature Climate Change, 8 pp. 879-884. ISSN 1758-678X (2018) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/130406 Environmental Sciences Ecological Applications Ecological Impacts of Climate Change Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0280-0 2019-12-13T22:28:29Z East Antarctica has shown little evidence of warming to date with no coherent picture of how climate change is affecting vegetation. In stark contrast, the Antarctic Peninsula experienced some of the most rapid warming on the planet at the end of the last century causing changes to the growth and distribution of plants. Here, we show that vegetation in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica is changing rapidly in response to a drying climate. This drying trend is evident across the region, as demonstrated by changes in isotopic signatures measured along moss shoots, moss community composition and declining health, as well as long-term observations of lake salinity and weather. The regional drying is possibly due to the more positive Southern Annular Mode in recent decades. The more positive Southern Annular Mode is a consequence of Antarctic ozone depletion and increased greenhouse gases, and causes strong westerly winds to circulate closer to the continent, maintaining colder temperatures in East Antarctica despite the increasing global average. Colder summers in this region probably result in reduced snow melt and increased aridity. We demonstrate that rapid vegetation change is occurring in East Antarctica and that its mosses provide potentially important proxies for monitoring coastal climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica East Antarctica Windmill Islands eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica Windmill Islands ENVELOPE(110.417,110.417,-66.350,-66.350) Nature Climate Change 8 10 879 884 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental Sciences Ecological Applications Ecological Impacts of Climate Change |
spellingShingle |
Environmental Sciences Ecological Applications Ecological Impacts of Climate Change Robinson, SA King, DH Bramley-Alves, J Waterman, MJ Ashcroft, MB Wasley, J Turnbull, JD Miller, RE Ryan-Colton, E Benny, T Mullany, K Clarke, LJ Barry, LA Hua, Q Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying |
topic_facet |
Environmental Sciences Ecological Applications Ecological Impacts of Climate Change |
description |
East Antarctica has shown little evidence of warming to date with no coherent picture of how climate change is affecting vegetation. In stark contrast, the Antarctic Peninsula experienced some of the most rapid warming on the planet at the end of the last century causing changes to the growth and distribution of plants. Here, we show that vegetation in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica is changing rapidly in response to a drying climate. This drying trend is evident across the region, as demonstrated by changes in isotopic signatures measured along moss shoots, moss community composition and declining health, as well as long-term observations of lake salinity and weather. The regional drying is possibly due to the more positive Southern Annular Mode in recent decades. The more positive Southern Annular Mode is a consequence of Antarctic ozone depletion and increased greenhouse gases, and causes strong westerly winds to circulate closer to the continent, maintaining colder temperatures in East Antarctica despite the increasing global average. Colder summers in this region probably result in reduced snow melt and increased aridity. We demonstrate that rapid vegetation change is occurring in East Antarctica and that its mosses provide potentially important proxies for monitoring coastal climate change. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Robinson, SA King, DH Bramley-Alves, J Waterman, MJ Ashcroft, MB Wasley, J Turnbull, JD Miller, RE Ryan-Colton, E Benny, T Mullany, K Clarke, LJ Barry, LA Hua, Q |
author_facet |
Robinson, SA King, DH Bramley-Alves, J Waterman, MJ Ashcroft, MB Wasley, J Turnbull, JD Miller, RE Ryan-Colton, E Benny, T Mullany, K Clarke, LJ Barry, LA Hua, Q |
author_sort |
Robinson, SA |
title |
Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying |
title_short |
Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying |
title_full |
Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying |
title_fullStr |
Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying |
title_sort |
rapid change in east antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0280-0 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/130406 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(110.417,110.417,-66.350,-66.350) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica Windmill Islands |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica Windmill Islands |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica East Antarctica Windmill Islands |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica East Antarctica Windmill Islands |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0280-0 Robinson, SA and King, DH and Bramley-Alves, J and Waterman, MJ and Ashcroft, MB and Wasley, J and Turnbull, JD and Miller, RE and Ryan-Colton, E and Benny, T and Mullany, K and Clarke, LJ and Barry, LA and Hua, Q, Rapid change in East Antarctic terrestrial vegetation in response to regional drying, Nature Climate Change, 8 pp. 879-884. ISSN 1758-678X (2018) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/130406 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0280-0 |
container_title |
Nature Climate Change |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
879 |
op_container_end_page |
884 |
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1766261690545995776 |