Vegetation responses to 26 years of warming at Latnjajaure Field Station, northern Sweden Show others and affiliations
2022 (English) In: Arctic Science, E-ISSN 2368-7460, Vol. 8, no 3, p. 858-877Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Climate change is rapidly warming high latitude and high elevation regions influencing plant community composition. Changes in vegetation composition have motivated the coordination of ecological monitoring networks across the Arctic, including the International Tundra Experiment. We have established a long-term passive warming experiment using open-top chambers, which includes five distinct plant communities (Dry Heath; Tussock Tundra; and Dry, Mesic, and Wet Meadow). We measured changes in plant community composition based on relative abundance differences over 26 years. In addition, relative abundance changes in response to fertilization and warming treatments were analyzed based on a seven-year Community-Level Interaction Program experiment. The communities had distinct soil moisture conditions, leading to community-specific responses of the plant growth forms (deciduous shrubs, evergreen shrubs, forbs, and graminoids). Warming significantly affected growth forms, but the direction of the response was not consistent across the communities. Evidence of shrub expansion was found in nearly all communities, with soil moisture determining whether it was driven by deciduous or evergreen shrubs. Graminoids increased in relative abundance in the Dry Meadow due to warming. Growth form responses to warming are likely mediated by edaphic characteristics of the communities and their interactions with climate.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages Ottawa, ON: Canadian Science Publishing , 2022. Vol. 8, no 3, p. 858-877
Keywords [en]
International Tundra Experiment (ITEX), climate warming, Arctic, vegetation, Latnjajaure
National Category
Ecology
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-41545 DOI: 10.1139/as-2020-0042 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85139987120 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hig-41545 DiVA, id: diva2:1748207
Funder EU, Horizon 2020, 657627 Swedish Research Council Formas, 2016-01187 Swedish Research Council Formas, 942-2015-1382 Swedish Research Council, 2018-04202
Note Funding: BECC – Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate (MPB, HR), The European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 657627 (MPB), The Swedish Research Council FORMAS – future research leaders No. 2016-01187 (MPB), The Swedish Research Council FORMAS No. 942-2015-1382 (RGB), The Swedish Research Council No. 2018-04202 (RGB), Swedish National Space Board No. 136/15 (HR), Carl Tryggers stiftelse för vetenskaplig forskning (MPB, JMA), Qatar Petroleum (JMA), and Stiftelsen Oscar och Lilli Lamms Minne (JMA).
2022-04-042023-04-02 Bibliographically approved