Shrub encroachment in Arctic tundra : Betula nana effects on above- and belowground litter decomposition
Author Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecology 98 (2017): 1361–1376, doi:10.1002/ecy.1790. Rapid arctic vegetation change as a...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8972 |
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ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/8972 2023-05-15T14:53:03+02:00 Shrub encroachment in Arctic tundra : Betula nana effects on above- and belowground litter decomposition McLaren, Jennie Buckeridge, Kate M. van de Weg, Martine J. Shaver, Gaius R. Schimel, Joshua P. Gough, Laura 2017-04-07 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8972 en_US eng John Wiley & Sons https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1790 Ecology 98 (2017): 1361–1376 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8972 doi:10.1002/ecy.1790 Ecology 98 (2017): 1361–1376 doi:10.1002/ecy.1790 Arctic shrub encroachment Exoenzyme activity Litter decomposition Microbial respiration Mixing effects Moist acidic tundra Root decomposition Winter decomposition Article 2017 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1790 2022-05-28T22:59:54Z Author Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecology 98 (2017): 1361–1376, doi:10.1002/ecy.1790. Rapid arctic vegetation change as a result of global warming includes an increase in the cover and biomass of deciduous shrubs. Increases in shrub abundance will result in a proportional increase of shrub litter in the litter community, potentially affecting carbon turnover rates in arctic ecosystems. We investigated the effects of leaf and root litter of a deciduous shrub, Betula nana, on decomposition, by examining species-specific decomposition patterns, as well as effects of Betula litter on the decomposition of other species. We conducted a 2-yr decomposition experiment in moist acidic tundra in northern Alaska, where we decomposed three tundra species (Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Rhododendron palustre, and Eriophorum vaginatum) alone and in combination with Betula litter. Decomposition patterns for leaf and root litter were determined using three different measures of decomposition (mass loss, respiration, extracellular enzyme activity). We report faster decomposition of Betula leaf litter compared to other species, with support for species differences coming from all three measures of decomposition. Mixing effects were less consistent among the measures, with negative mixing effects shown only for mass loss. In contrast, there were few species differences or mixing effects for root decomposition. Overall, we attribute longer-term litter mass loss patterns to patterns created by early decomposition processes in the first winter. We note numerous differences for species patterns between leaf and root decomposition, indicating that conclusions from leaf litter experiments should not be extrapolated to below-ground decomposition. The high decomposition rates of Betula leaf litter aboveground, and relatively similar decomposition rates of multiple ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Betula nana Eriophorum Global warming Tundra Alaska Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Arctic Ecology 98 5 1361 1376 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
op_collection_id |
ftwhoas |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic shrub encroachment Exoenzyme activity Litter decomposition Microbial respiration Mixing effects Moist acidic tundra Root decomposition Winter decomposition |
spellingShingle |
Arctic shrub encroachment Exoenzyme activity Litter decomposition Microbial respiration Mixing effects Moist acidic tundra Root decomposition Winter decomposition McLaren, Jennie Buckeridge, Kate M. van de Weg, Martine J. Shaver, Gaius R. Schimel, Joshua P. Gough, Laura Shrub encroachment in Arctic tundra : Betula nana effects on above- and belowground litter decomposition |
topic_facet |
Arctic shrub encroachment Exoenzyme activity Litter decomposition Microbial respiration Mixing effects Moist acidic tundra Root decomposition Winter decomposition |
description |
Author Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecology 98 (2017): 1361–1376, doi:10.1002/ecy.1790. Rapid arctic vegetation change as a result of global warming includes an increase in the cover and biomass of deciduous shrubs. Increases in shrub abundance will result in a proportional increase of shrub litter in the litter community, potentially affecting carbon turnover rates in arctic ecosystems. We investigated the effects of leaf and root litter of a deciduous shrub, Betula nana, on decomposition, by examining species-specific decomposition patterns, as well as effects of Betula litter on the decomposition of other species. We conducted a 2-yr decomposition experiment in moist acidic tundra in northern Alaska, where we decomposed three tundra species (Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Rhododendron palustre, and Eriophorum vaginatum) alone and in combination with Betula litter. Decomposition patterns for leaf and root litter were determined using three different measures of decomposition (mass loss, respiration, extracellular enzyme activity). We report faster decomposition of Betula leaf litter compared to other species, with support for species differences coming from all three measures of decomposition. Mixing effects were less consistent among the measures, with negative mixing effects shown only for mass loss. In contrast, there were few species differences or mixing effects for root decomposition. Overall, we attribute longer-term litter mass loss patterns to patterns created by early decomposition processes in the first winter. We note numerous differences for species patterns between leaf and root decomposition, indicating that conclusions from leaf litter experiments should not be extrapolated to below-ground decomposition. The high decomposition rates of Betula leaf litter aboveground, and relatively similar decomposition rates of multiple ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
McLaren, Jennie Buckeridge, Kate M. van de Weg, Martine J. Shaver, Gaius R. Schimel, Joshua P. Gough, Laura |
author_facet |
McLaren, Jennie Buckeridge, Kate M. van de Weg, Martine J. Shaver, Gaius R. Schimel, Joshua P. Gough, Laura |
author_sort |
McLaren, Jennie |
title |
Shrub encroachment in Arctic tundra : Betula nana effects on above- and belowground litter decomposition |
title_short |
Shrub encroachment in Arctic tundra : Betula nana effects on above- and belowground litter decomposition |
title_full |
Shrub encroachment in Arctic tundra : Betula nana effects on above- and belowground litter decomposition |
title_fullStr |
Shrub encroachment in Arctic tundra : Betula nana effects on above- and belowground litter decomposition |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shrub encroachment in Arctic tundra : Betula nana effects on above- and belowground litter decomposition |
title_sort |
shrub encroachment in arctic tundra : betula nana effects on above- and belowground litter decomposition |
publisher |
John Wiley & Sons |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8972 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Betula nana Eriophorum Global warming Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Betula nana Eriophorum Global warming Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
Ecology 98 (2017): 1361–1376 doi:10.1002/ecy.1790 |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1790 Ecology 98 (2017): 1361–1376 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8972 doi:10.1002/ecy.1790 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1790 |
container_title |
Ecology |
container_volume |
98 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1361 |
op_container_end_page |
1376 |
_version_ |
1766324478047944704 |