The impact of climate change on ecosystem carbon dynamics at the scandinavian mountain birch forest-tundra heath ecotone

Ambio

Volumn 38, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 2-10

  Sjögersten, Sofie ^a   Wookey, Philip A ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CARBON; CARBON DIOXIDE; METHANE;

CARBON FLUX; CARBON SEQUESTRATION; CLIMATE CHANGE; CLIMATE EFFECT; DECIDUOUS FOREST; DECOMPOSITION; ECOSYSTEM HEALTH; ECOTONE; FOREST SOIL; METHANE; MONTANE FOREST; ORGANIC MATTER; PHOTOSYNTHESIS; TUNDRA; VEGETATION DYNAMICS;

ARTICLE; BIRCH; ECOSYSTEM; GEOGRAPHY; GREENHOUSE EFFECT; METABOLISM; PHOTOSYNTHESIS; SCANDINAVIA; SOIL; TEMPERATURE; TREE;

BETULA; CARBON; CARBON DIOXIDE; ECOSYSTEM; GEOGRAPHY; GREENHOUSE EFFECT; METHANE; PHOTOSYNTHESIS; SCANDINAVIA; SOIL; TEMPERATURE; TREES;

EURASIA; EUROPE; NORTHERN EUROPE; SCANDINAVIA;

BETULA PUBESCENS SUBSP. TORTUOSA;

EID: 61449201873     PISSN: 00447447     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1579/0044-7447-38.1.2     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. Prentice, I., Farquhar, G., Fasham, M., Goulden, M., Heimann, M., Jaramillo, V., Kheshgi, H., Quéré, C.L., et al. 2001. The Carbon cycle and atmospheric carbon dioxide. In: Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Houghton, J., Ding, Y., Griggs, D., Noguer, M., Linden, P.v.d., Da, X., Maskell, K. and Johnson, C. (eds). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 185-225.
2. Gorham, E. 1991. Northern peatlands-role in the carbon-cycle and probable responses to climatic warming. Ecol. Appl. 1, 182-195.
3. Schlesinger, W. 1997. Biogeochemistry-An Analysis of Global Change. Academic Press, San Diego, 588 pp.
4. Lloyd, J. and Taylor, J.A. 1994. On the temperature-dependence of soil respiration. Fund. Ecol. 8, 315-323.
5. Jonasson, S., Michelsen, A., Schmidt, I.K. and Nielsen. E.V. 1999. Responses in microbes and plants to changed temperature, nutrient, and light regimes in the arctic. Ecology 80, 1828-1843.
6. Kirschbaum, M.U.F. 2000. Will changes in soil organic carbon act as a positive or negative feedback on global warming? Biogeochemistry 48, 21-51.
7. Rustad, L.E., Campbell, J.L., Marion, G.M., Norby, R.J., Mitchell, M.J., Hartley, A.E., Cornelissen, J.H.C. and Gurevitch, J. 2001. A meta-analysis of the response of soil respiration, net nitrogen mineralization, and aboveground plant growth to experimental ecosystem warming. Oecologia 126, 543-562.
8. Nadelhoffer, K.J., Giblin, A.E., Shaver, G.R. and Laundre, J.A. 1991. Effects of temperature and substrate quality on element mineralization in 6 arctic soils. Ecology 72, 242-253.
9. Press, M.C., Potter, J.A., Burke, M.J.W., Callaghan, T.V. and Lee. J.A. 1998. Responses of a subarctic dwarf shrub heath community to simulated environmental change. J. Ecology 86, 315-327.
10. Arft, A.M., Walker, M.D., Gurevitch, J., Alatalo, J.M., Bret-Harte, M.S., Dale, M., Diemer, M., Gugerli, F., et. al. 1999. Responses of tundra plants to experimental warming: meta-analysis of the international tundra experiment. Ecol. Monogr. 69, 491-511.
11. Jonasson, S. and Shaver, G.R. 1999. Within-stand nutrient cycling in arctic and boreal wetlands. Ecol 80, 2139-2150.
12. Hobbie, S.E., Nadelhoffer, K.J. and Hogberg, P. 2002. A synthesis: the role of nutrients as constraints on carbon balances in boreal and arctic regions. Plant Soil 242, 163-170.
13. Rosswall, T., Veum, A. and Kärenlampi, L. 1975. Plant litter decomposition at Fennoscandian tundra sites. In: Fennoscandian tundra Ecosystems, Part 1, Plants and Microorganisms. Wielgolaski. F.E. (ed). Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 268-278.
14. Robinson, C.H., Wookey, P.A., Parsons, A.N., Potter, J.A., Callaghan, T.V., Lee. J.A., Press, M.C. and Welker, J.M. 1995. Responses of plant litter decomposition and nitrogen mineralisation to simulated environmental change in a high arctic polar semi-desert and a subarctic dwarf shrub heath. Oikos 74, 503-512.
15. Latter, P.M., Howson, G., Howard, D.M. and Scott, W.A. 1998. Long-term study of litter decomposition on a Pennine neat bog: which regression? Oecologia 113, 94-103.
16. 2 exchange in a subarctic heath ecosystem. Biogeochemistry 70, 315-330.
17. Sjögersten, S. and Wookey, P.A. 2002. Spatio-temporal variability and environmental controls of methane fluxes at the forest-tundra ecotone in the Fennoscandian mountains. Glob. Chang. Biol. 8, 885-894.
18. Emanuel, W.R., Shugart, H.H. and Stevenson, M.P. 1985. Climatic-change and the broad-scale distribution of terrestrial ecosystem complexes. Clim. Chang. 7, 29-43.
19. Kittel, T.G.F., Steffen, W.L. and Chapin, F.S. 2000. Global and regional modelling of Arctic-boreal vegetation distribution and its sensitivity to altered forcing. Glob. Chang. Biol, 6, 1-18.
20. White, A., Cannell, M.G.R. and Friend, A.D. 2000. The high-latitude terrestrial carbon sink: a model analysis. Glob. Chang. Biol. 6, 227-245.
21. Holtmeier, F.K. and Broil, G. 2005. Sensitivity and response of northern hemisphere altitudinal and polar treelines to environmental change at landscape and local scales. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 14, 395-410.
22. Kaplan, J.O. and New, M. 2006. Arctic climate change with a 2 degrees C global warming: timing, climate patterns and vegetation change. Clim. Chang. 79, 213-241.
23. Kullman, L. 2007. Tree line population monitoring of Pinus sylvestris in the Swedish Scandes, 1973-2005: implications for tree line theory and climate change ecology. J. Ecol. 95, 41-52.
24. Koca, D., Smith, B. and Sykes, M.T. 2006. Modelling regional climate change effects on potential natural ecosystems in Sweden. Clim. Chang. 78. 381-406.
25. Krosshavn, M., Southon. T.E. and Steinnes, E. 1992. The influence of vegetational origin and degree of humification of organic soils on their chemical-composition, determined by solid-state C-13 nmr. J. Soil Sci. 43, 485-493.
26. Raich, J.W. and Schlesinger. W.H. 1992. The global carbon-dioxide flux in soil respiration and its relationship to vegetation and climate. Tellus Series B-Chem. Phys. Meteorol. 44, 81-99.
27. Couteaux, M.M., Bottner, P. and Berg, B. 1995. Litter decomposition, climate and litter quality. Trends Ecol. Evol. 10, 63-66.
28. Korner, C. 1998. A re-assessment of high elevation treeline positions and their explanation. Oecologia 115, 445-459.
29. Callaghan, T.V., Werkman, B.R. and Crawford, R.M.M. 2002. The tundra-taiga interface and its dynamics: concepts and applications. Ambio 12 (Spec. Iss.). 6-14.
30. Weih, M. and Karlsson, P.S. 2001. Growth response of Mountain birch to air and soil temperature: is increasing leaf-nitrogen content an acclimation to lower air temperature? New Phytol. 150, 147-155.
31. Korner, C. and Paulsen, J. 2004. A world-wide study of high altitude treeline temperatures. J. Biogeogr. 31, 713-732.
32. Skre, O., Baxter, R., Crawford, R.M.M., Callaghan, T.V. and Fedorkov, A. 2002. How will the tundra-taiga interface respond to climate change? Ambio 12 (Spec. Iss.), 37-46.
33. Olofsson, J. 2006. Short- and long-term effects of changes in reindeer grazing pressure on tundra heath vegetation. J. Ecol. 94, 431-440.
34. Holmgren, B. and Tjus, M. 1996. Summer air temperatures and treeline dynamics at Abisko. Ecol. Bull. 45, 159-169.
35. Barnekow, L. and Sandgren, P. 2001. Palaeoclimate and tree-line changes during the Holocene based on pollen and plant macrofossil records from six lakes at different altitudes in northern Sweden. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 117, 109-118.
36. Kullman, L. 2001. 20th century climate warming and tree-limit rise in the southern Scandes of Sweden. Ambio 30, 72-80.
37. Kullman, L. 2002. Rapid recent range-margin rise of tree and shrub species in the Swedish Scandes. J. Ecol. 90, 68-77.
38. McGuire, A.D., Wirth, C, Apps, M., Beringer, J., Clein, J., Epstein, H., Kicklighter, D.W., Bhatti, J., et al. 2002. Environmental variation, vegetation distribution, carbon dynamics and water/energy exchange at high latitudes. J. Veg. Sci. 13, 301-314.
39. Berninger, F., Hari, P., Nikinmaa, E., Lindholm, M. and Merilainen, J. 2004. Use of modeled photosynthesis and decomposition to describe tree growth at the northern tree line. Tree Physiol. 24, 193-204.
40. Dynamic Response of the Forest-Tundra Ecotone to Environmental Change (DART). (http://www.dur.ac.uk/DART/)
41. Alexanderson, H., Karlstom, C. and Larsson-McCann, S. 1991. Temperature and precipitation in Sweden: 1961-1990. Referensnormaler. SMHI Meteorologi Report no. 81. SMHI (Sweden's Meteorological and Hydrological Institute), Norrkoping.
42. Marion, G.M., Henry, G.H.R., Freckman, D.W., Johnstone. J., Jones, G., Jones, M.H., Levesque, E., Molau, U., et al. 1997. Open-top designs for manipulating field temperature in high-latitude ecosystems. Glob. Chang. Biol. 3, 20-32.
43. Hollister, R.D. and Webber, P.J. 2000. Biotic validation of small open-top chambers in a tundra ecosystem. Glob. Chang. Biol. 6, 835-842.
44. Sjögersten, S. and Wookey, P.A. 2002. Climatic and resource quality controls on soil respiration across a forest-tundra ecotone in Swedish Lapland. Soil Biol. Biochem. 34, 1633-1646.
45. Sjögersten, S. and Wookey, P.A. 2004. Decomposition of mountain birch leaf litter at the forest-tundra ecotone in the Fennoscandian mountains in relation to climate and soil conditions. Plant Soil 262, 215-227.
46. Sjögersten, S., Turner, B.L., Mahieu, N., Condron, L.M. and Wookey, P.A. 2003. Soil organic matter biochemistry and potential susceptibility to climatic change across the forest-tundra ecotone in the Fennoscandian mountains. Glob. Chang. Biol. 9, 759-772.
47. Welker, J.M., Fahnestock, J.T., Sullivan, P.F. and Chimner, R.A. 2005. Leaf mineral nutrition of Arctic plants in response to warming and deeper snow in northern Alaska. Oikos 109, 167-177.
48. Patenaude, G., Hill, R.A., Milne, R., Gaveau, D.L.A., Briggs, B.B.J. and Dawson, T.P. 2004. Quantifying forest above ground carbon content using LiDAR remote sensing. Remote Sens. Environ. 93, 368-380.
49. Littell, R.C., Milliken, G.A., Stroup, W.W. and Wolfinger, R.D. 1996. SAS Systems for Mixed Models. SAS, Cary, 633 pp.
50. 2 fluxes in the high Arctic. Biogeochem. 80, 205-216.
51. Quested, H.M., Callaghan, T.V. and Cornelissen, J.H.C. 2005. The impact of hemiparasitic plant litter on decomposition: direct, seasonal and litter mixing effects J. Ecol. 93, 87-98.
52. Hanson, P.J., Edwards, N.T., Garten, C.T. and Andrews, J.A. 2000. Separating root and soil microbial respiration: a review of methods and observations. Biogeochem. 48, 115-146.
53. 2 efflux under experimental warming and clipping in a grassland ecosystem. Glob. Chang. Biol. 13, 761-775.
54. Olofsson, J., Hulme, P.E., Oksanen, L. and Suominen, O. 2004. Importance of large and small mammalian herbivores for the plant community structure in the forest tundra ecotone. OIKOS 106, 324-334.
55. Callesen, I., Liski, J., Raulund-Rasmussen, K., Olsson, M.T., Tau-Strand, L., Vesterdal, L. and Westman, C.J. 2003. Soil carbon stores in Nordic well-drained forest soils-relationships with climate and texture class. Glob. Chang. Biol. 9, 358-370.
56. Teng, H.Y., Buja, L.E. and Meehl, G.A. 2006. Twenty-first-century climate change commitment from a multi-model ensemble. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L07706. (doi:10.1029/2005GL024766)
57. Mikan, C.J., Schimel, J.P. and Doyle, A.P. 2002. Temperature controls of microbial respiration in arctic tundra soils above and below freezing. Soil Biol. Biochem. 34, 1785-1795.
58. Larsen, K. 2001. Winter Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Arctic Soils and Possible Impacts of Global Change. MSc Thesis, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen.
59. Grogan, P. and Jonasson, S. 2005. Temperature and substrate controls on intra-annual variation in ecosystem respiration in two subarctic vegetation types. Glob. Chang. Biol. 11, 465-475.
60. Selander, E. 2002. Soil Respiration in Sub-arctic Soils-Controlling Factors and Influence on Global Change. MSc Thesis, Uppsala University, Uppsala.
61. Melillo, J.M., Steudler, P.A., Aber, J.D., Newkirk, K., Lux, H., Bowles, F.P., Catricala, C, Magill, A., et al. 2002. Soil warming and carbon-cycle feedbacks to the climate system. Science 298, 2173-2176.
62. Christensen, T.R., Michelsen. A., Jonasson, S. and Schmidt, I.K. 1997. Carbon dioxide and methane exchange of a subarctic heath in response to climate change related environmental manipulations. Oikos 79, 34-44.
63. 4-oxidizer populations across sites? Soil Biol. Biochem. 29, 13-21.
64. +inhibition. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64, 4291-4298.
65. Whalen, S.C. 2000. Influence of N and non-N salts on atmospheric methane oxidation by upland boreal forest and tundra soils. Biol. Fertil. Soils 31, 279-287.
66. Sjögersten, S., Melander, E. and Wookey, P.A. 2007. Depth distribution of net methanotrophic activity at a mountain birch forest-tundra heath ecotone, northern Sweden. Arct., Antarct. Alp. Res. 39, 477-480.
67. 4 fluxes of a subarctic mire: Stordalen revisited after 20 years. Oikos 85, 22-30.
68. Nilsson, M., Mikkela, C., Sundh, I., Granberg, G., Svensson, B.H. and Ranneby, B. 2001. Methane emission from Swedish mires: national and regional budgets and dependence on mire vegetation. J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos. 106, 20847-20860.
69. Nordenmark, G. 2002. Methane Fluxes from Well Drained, Subarctic Tundra to the Atmosphere-The Importance of Soil Moisture Content and Soil Chemical Properties. MSc Thesis, Uppsala University, Uppsala.
70. Chapin, F.S. and Ruess, R.W. 2001. Carbon cycle-The roots of the matter. Nature 411, 749-752.
71. Sveinbjornsson, B., Davis, J., Abadie, W. and Butler. A. 1995. Soil carbon rind nitrogen mineralization at different elevations in the Chugach Mountains of South-Central Alaska, USA. Arct. Alp. Res. 27, 29-37.
72. Weih, M. and Karlsson, P.S. 1999. Growth response of altitudinal ecotypes of mountain birch to temperature and fertilisation. Oecologia 119, 16-23.
73. Sveinbjornsson, J., Hofgaard, A. and Lloyd, A. 2002. Natural causes of the tundra-taiga boundary. Ambio 12 (Spec. Iss.), 23-29.
74. Beringer, J., Chapin, F.S., Thompson, C.C. and McGuire, A.D. 2005. Surface energy exchanges along a tundra-forest transition and feedbacks to climate. Agric. Forest Meteorol. 131, 143-161.
75. Sjögersten, S. and Wookey, P.A. 2005. The role of soil organic matter quality and physical environment for nitrogen mineralization at the forest-tundra ecotone in Fennoscandia. Arct., Antarct. Alp. Res. 37, 118-126.
76. Cornelissen, J.H.C., Quested, H.M., Gwynn-Jones, D., Van Logtestijn, R.S.P., De Beus, M.A.H., Kondratchuk, A., Callaghan, T.V. and Aerts, R. 2004. Leaf digestibility and litter decomposability are related in a wide range of subarctic plant species and types. Funct. Ecol. 18, 779-786.
77. 2 exchange in European Arctic ecosystems. Theor. Appl. Climat. 70, 183-201.
78. Weih, M. and Karlsson, P.S. 2002. Low winter soil temperature affects summertime nutrient uptake capacity and growth rate of mountain birch seedlings in the subarctic. Swedish lapland. Arct., Antarct. Alp. Res. 34, 434-439.
79. Karlsson, P.S., Tenow, O., Bylund, H., Hoogesteger, J. and Weih, M. 2004. Determinants of mountain birch growth in situ: effects of temperature and herbivory. Ecography 27, 659-667.
80. Dahlberg, U., Berge, T.W., Petersson, H. and Vencatasawmy, C.P. 2004. Modelling biomass and leaf area index in a sub-arctic Scandinavian mountain area. Stand. J. Forest Res. 19, 60-71.
81. Heiskanen, J. 2006. Estimating aboveground tree biomass and leaf area index in a mountain birch forest using ASTER satellite data. Int. J. Remote Sens. 27, 1135-1158.
82. Esseen, P. and Lofgren, P. 2004. Vegetation Map of the Scandes Mountains and National Inventory of the Landscape in Sweden (NILS) as a Basis for Natura 2000. Sveriges Lantbruks Universitet, Umeå, 43 pp.
83. Ohlemuller, R., Gritti, E.S., Sykes, M.T. and Thomas, C.D. 2006. Towards European climate risk surfaces: the extent and distribution of analogous and non-analogous climates 1931-2100. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 15, 395-405.
84. Grace, J., Berninger, F. and Nagy, L. 2002. Impacts of climate change on the tree line. Ann. Bot. 90, 537-544.
85. Gamache, I. and Payette, S. 2005. Latitudinal response of subarctic tree lines to recent climate change in eastern Canada. J. Biogeogr. 32, 849-862.
86. Olofsson, J., Hulme, P.E., Oksanen, L. and Suominen, O. 2005. Effects of mammalian herbivores on revegetation of disturbed areas in the forest-tundra ecotone in northern Fennoscandia. Landsc. Ecol. 20, 351-359.
87. Cairns, D.M. and Moen, J. 2004. Herbivory influences tree lines. J. Ecol. 92, 1019-1024.
88. Rouse, W.R., Bello, R.L., D'Souza, A., Griffis, T.J. and Lafleur, P.M. 2002. The annual carbon budget for fen and forest in a wetland at Arctic treeline. Arctic 55, 229-237.
89. Magnani, F., Mencuccini, M., Borghetti, M., Berbigier, P., Berninger, F., Delzon, S., Grelle, A., Hari, P., et al. 2007. The human footprint in the carbon cycle of temperate and boreal forests. Nature 447, 848-850.
90. We thank the European Commission IVth Environment and Climate Framework Programme, and the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, for funding this work. We are grateful for the assistance of the staff at the Abisko Scientific Research Station, as well as the field assistants who contributed to this project, and Dr. Bob Baxter for maintaining the TinyTag data loggers, and for downloading, collating, and synthesizing the data.
91. First submitted 9 January 2007. Accepted for publication 20 May 2008.