Coupled long-term summer warming and deeper snow alters species composition and stimulates gross primary productivity in tussock tundra

Oecologia

Volumn 181, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 287-297

  Leffler, A Joshua ^a,c   Klein, Eric S ^a   Oberbauer, Steven F ^b   Welker, Jeffrey M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE   (United States)

^b FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Arctic; Carbon flux; Climate change; Precipitation; Temperature

Indexed keywords

ACTIVE LAYER; BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE; CARBON FLUX; CLIMATE CHANGE; COMMUNITY COMPOSITION; GRASS; MOISTURE CONTENT; NITROGEN; PHOTOSYNTHESIS; PLANT COMMUNITY; PRECIPITATION (CLIMATOLOGY); SEDGE; SHRUB; SOIL MOISTURE; TEMPERATURE PROFILE; TUNDRA;

ALASKA; ARCTIC; TOOLIK LAKE; UNITED STATES;

BETULA NANA; ERIOPHORUM VAGINATUM; SALIX PULCHRA;

NITROGEN; SNOW;

ALASKA; BIODIVERSITY; BIRCH; CARBON CYCLE; CLIMATE CHANGE; METABOLISM; PLANT LEAF; SEASON; TUNDRA; WILLOW;

ALASKA; BETULA; BIODIVERSITY; CARBON CYCLE; CLIMATE CHANGE; NITROGEN; PLANT LEAVES; SALIX; SEASONS; SNOW; TUNDRA;

EID: 84953378565     PISSN: 00298549     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s00442-015-3543-8     Document Type: Article

References (81)

1. Anderson MJ (2001) A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Aust Ecol 26:32–46
2. Bekryaev RV, Polyakov IV, Alexeev VA (2010) Role of polar amplification in long-term surface air temperature variations and modern Arctic warming. J Clim 23:3888–3906
3. Boelman NT et al (2003) Response of NDVI, biomass, and ecosystem gas exchange to long-term warming and fertilization in wet sedge tundra. Oecologia 135:414–421
4. Borner AP, Kielland K, Walker MD (2008) Effects of simulated climate change on plant phenology and nitrogen mineralization in Alaskan Arctic tundra. Arct Antarct Alp Res 40:27–38
5. Bowman WD, Theodose TA, Fisk MC (1995) Physiological and production responses of plant growth forms to increases in limiting resources in alpine tundra: implications for differential community response to environmental change. Oecologia 101:217–227
6. Bret-Harte MS et al (2001) Developmental plasticity allows Betula nana to dominate tundra subjected to an altered environment. Ecology 82:18–32
7. Bret-Harte MS, Shaver GR, Chapin FS III (2002) Primary and secondary stem growth in arctic shrubs: implications for community response to environmental change. J Ecol 90:251–267
8. Brooks PD, Williams MW (1999) Snowpack controls on nitrogen cycling and export in seasonally snow-covered catchments. Hydrol Process 13:2177–2190
9. Buckeridge KM, Grogan P (2008) Deepened snow alters soil microbial nutrient limitations in arctic birch hummock tundra. Appl Soil Ecol 39:210–222
10. Cahoon SMP, Sullivan PF, Welker JM, Post E (2012) Interactions among shrub cover and soil microclimate may determine future arctic carbon budgets. Ecol Lett 15:1415–1422
11. Chapin FS III, Shaver GR (1996) Physiological and growth responses of arctic plants to a field experiment simulating climate change. Ecology 77:822–840
12. Chapin FS III, McKendrick JD, Johnson DA (1986) Seasonal changes in carbon fractions in Alaskan tundra plants of differing growth form: implications for herbivory. J Ecol 74:707–731
13. Chapin FS III, Shaver GR, Giblin AE, Nadelhoffer KJ, Laundre JA (1995) Responses of arctic tundra to experimental and observed changes in climate. Ecology 76:694–711
14. Chapin FS III, Matson PA, Mooney HA (2002) Principles of terrestrial ecosystem ecology. Springer, New York
15. Cherry JE, Déry SJ, Cheng Y, Stieglitz M, Jacobs AS, Pan F (2014) Climate and hydrometerology of the Toolik Lake region and the Kuparuk River basin: past, present, and future. In: Hobbie J, Kling G (eds) Alaska’s changing arctic: ecological consequences for tundra, streams, and lakes. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 21–60
16. Clarke KR (1993) Non-parametric multivariate changes in community structure. Aust J Ecol 18:117–143
17. Cohen J et al (2013) Effect of reindeer grazing on snowmelt, albedo and energy balance based on satellite data analysis. Remote Sens Env 135:107–117
18. Cooper EJ (2014) Warmer shorter winters disrupt arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 45:271–295
19. Craine JM et al (2009) Global patterns of foliar nitrogen isotopes and their relationships with climate, mycorrhizal fungi, foliar nutrient concentrations, and nitrogen availability. New Phytol 183:980–992
20. Elmendorf SC et al (2012) Global assessment of experimental climate warming on tundra vegetation: heterogeneity over space and time. Ecol Lett 15:164–175
21. Euskirchen ES et al (2006) Importance of recent shifts in soil thermal dynamics on growing season length, productivity, and carbon sequestration in terrestrial high-latitude ecosystems. Glob Change Biol 12:731–750
22. 2 efflux from arctic soils: implications for annual carbon budgets. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 13:775–779
23. Fasham MJR (1977) A comparison of nonmetric multidimensional scaling, principal components and reciprocal averaging for the ordination of simulated coenoclines, and coenoplanes. Ecology 58:551–561
24. Goetz SJ, Bunnn AG, Fiske GJ, Houghton RA (2005) Satellite-observed photosynthetic trends across boreal North America associated with climate and fire disturbance. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:13521–13525
25. Held IM, Soden BJ (2006) Robust responses of the hydrological cycle to global warming. J Clim 19:5686–5699
26. Henry GHR, Molau U (1997) Tundra plants and climate change: the international tundra experiment. Glob Change Biol 3:1–9
27. 14C. Glob Change Biol 19:649–661
28. Hinzman LD, Deal CJ, McGuire AD, Mernild SH, Polyakov IV, Walsh JE (2013) Trajectory of the Arctic as an integrated system. Ecol Appl 23:1837–1868
29. Hudson JMG, Henry GHR (2009) Increased plant biomass in a High Arctic heath community from 1981–2008. Ecology 90:2657–2663
30. IPCC (2013) Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker TF, Qin D, Plattner G-K, Tignor M, Allen SK, Boschung J, Nauels A, Xia Y, Bex V, Midgley PM (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, p 1535
31. Jia G, Epstein HE, Walker DA (2003) Greening of arctic Alaska, 1981–2001. Geophys Res Lett 30:GL018268
32. Jones MH, Bay C, Nordenhäll U (1997) Effects of experimental warming on arctic willows (Salix spp.): a comparison of responses from the Canadian High Arctic, Alaskan Arctic, and Swedish Subarctic. Glob Change Biol 3:55–60
33. Jones MH, Fahnestock JT, Walker DA, Welker JM (1998) Carbon dioxide fluxes in moist and dry arctic tundra during the snow-free season: responses to increases in summer temperature and winter snow accumulation. Arct Antarct Alp Res 30:373–380
34. Karlsson PS (1985) Photosynthetic characteristics and leaf carbon economy of a deciduous and evergreen dwarf shrub: Vaccinium uliginosum L. and V. vitis-idaea L. Holarct Ecol 8:9–17
35. Kohler J, Brandt O, Johansson M, Callaghan T (2006) A long-term arctic snow depth record from Abisko, northern Sweden, 1913–2004. Polar Res 25:91–113
36. Kruskal JB (1964) Nonmetric multidimensional scaling: a numerical method. Psychometrika 29:115–129
37. Kudo G, Nordenhäll U, Molau U (1999) Effects of snowmelt timing on leaf traits, leaf production, and shoot growth of alpine plants: comparisons along a snowmelt gradient in northern Sweden. Ecoscience 6:439–450
38. 2 exchange patterns in response to season length and soil warming manipulations in arctic Alaska. Remote Sens Env 109:225–236
39. Leffler AJ, Welker JM (2013) Long-term increases in snow pack elevate leaf N and photosynthesis in Salix arctica: responses to a snow fence experiment in the High Arctic of NW Greenland. Environ Res Lett 8:025023
40. Liston GE, McFadden JP, Sturm M, Pielke RA Sr (2002) Modeled changes in Arctic tundra snow, energy, and moisture fluxes due to increased shrubs. Glob Change Biol 9:17–32
41. Loranty MM, Berner LT, Goetz SJ, Jin Y, Randerson JT (2014) Vegetation controls on northern high latitude snow-albedo feedback: observations and CMIP5 model predictions. Glob Change Biol 20:594–606
42. Mårell A, Hofgaard A, Danell K (2006) Nutrient dynamics of reindeer forage species along snowmelt gradients at different ecological scales. Basic Appl Ecol 7:13–30
43. McBean G et al (2005) Arctic climate: past and present. Arctic climate impact assessment: scientific report. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
44. McCune B, Grace J (2002) Analysis of ecological communities. MJM Software Design, Glenden Beach
45. Min S-K, Zhang X, Zwiers F (2008) Human-induced arctic moistening. Science 320:518–520
46. Muraoka H, Noda H, Uchida M, Ohtsuka T, Koizumi H, Nakatsubo T (2008) Photosynthetic characteristics and biomass distribution of the dominant vascular plant species in a high Arctic tundra ecosystem, Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard: implications for their role in ecosystem carbon gain. J Plant Res 121:137–145
47. Natali SM, Schuur EAG, Rubin RL (2012) Increased plant productivity in Alaskan tundra as a result of experimental warming of soil and permafrost. J Ecol 100:488–498
48. Nowinski NS, Taneva L, Trumbore SE, Welker JM (2010) Decomposition of old organic matter as a result of deeper active layers in a snow depth manipulation experiment. Oecologia 163:785–792
49. 2 fluxes in response to experimental warming across latitudinal and moisture gradients. Ecol Monogr 77:221–238
50. Pattison RR, Welker JM (2014) Differential ecophysiological response of deciduous shrubs and a graminoid to long-term experimental snow reductions and additions in moist acidic tundra, Northern Alaska. Oecologia 174:339–350
51. Pattison RR, Jorgenson JC, Raynolds MK, Welker JM (2015) Trends in NDVI and tundra community composition in the Arctic of NE Alaska between 1984 and 2009. Ecosystems 18:707–719
52. Peterson BJ et al (2002) Increasing river discharge to the Arctic Ocean. Science 298:2171–2173
53. R Development Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing, reference index version 3.2.1. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna
54. 2 exchange to increasing levels of winter snow depth in the High Arctic of northwest Greenland. Arct Antarct Alp Res 43:95–106
55. Romanovsky VE, Smith SL, Christiansen HH (2010) Permafrost thermal state in the polar northern hemisphere during the International Polar Year 2007–2009: a synthesis. Permafr Periglac Process 21:106–116
56. Schaeffer SM, Sharp E, Schimel JP, Welker JM (2013) Soil-plant N processes in a High Arctic ecosystem, NW Greenland are altered by long-term experimental warming and higher rainfall. Glob Change Biol 19:3529–3539
57. Schimel JP, Bilbrough C, Welker JM (2004) Increased snow depth affects microbial activity and nitrogen mineralization in two Arctic tundra communities. Soil Biol Biochem 36:217–227
58. Sharp ED, Sullivan PF, Steltzer H, Csank AZ, Welker JM (2013) Complex carbon cycle responses to multi-level warming and supplemental summer rain in the high arctic. Glob Change Biol 19:1780–1792
59. Starr G, Oberbauer SF, Ahlquist LE (2008) The photosynthetic response of Alaskan tundra plants to increased season length and soil warming. Arct Antarct Alp Res 40:181–191
60. Sturm M, Racine C, Tape K (2001) Increasing shrub abundance in the Arctic. Nature 411:546–547
61. Sullivan PF, Arens SJT, Sveinbjoernsson B, Welker JM (2010) Modeling the seasonality of belowground respiration along an elevation gradient in the western Chugach Mountains, Alaska. Biogeochemistry 101:61–75
62. 18O) conceptual model. Oecologia 151:372–386
63. Tape K, Sturm M, Racine C (2006) The evidence for shrub expansion in northern Alaska and the pan-Arctic. Glob Change Biol 12:686–702
64. Tape KD, Verbyla D, Welker JM (2011) Twentieth century erosion in Arctic Alaska foothills: the influence of shrubs, runoff, and permafrost. J Geophys Res 116:G04024
65. Tape KD, Hallinger M, Welker JM, Ruess RW (2012) Landscape heterogenity of shrub expansion in Arctic Alaska. Ecosystems 15:711–724
66. van Wijk MT, Williams M, Shaver GR (2005) Tight coupling between leaf area index and foliage N content in arctic plant communities. Oecologia 142:421–427
67. Wahren C-HA, Walker MD, Bret-Harte MS (2005) Vegetation responses in Alaskan arctic tundra after 8 years of a summer warming and winter snow manipulation experiment. Glob Change Biol 11:537–552
68. Walker MD, Walker DA, Auerbach NA (1994) Plant communities of a tussock tundra landscape in the Brooks Range Foothills, Alaska. J Veg Sci 5:843–866
69. Walker MD et al (1999) Long-term experimental manipulation of winter snow regime and summer temperature in arctic and alpine tundra. Hydrol Process 13:2315–2330
70. Welker JM, Molau U, Parsons AN, Robinson C, Wookey PA (1997) Response of Dryas octopetala to ITEX manipulations: a synthesis with circumpolar comparisons. Glob Change Biol 3:61–73
71. 2 flux in arctic and alpine dry tundra: comparative field responses under ambient and experimentally warmed conditions. Arct Antarct Alp Res 31:272–277
72. 2 flux in dry and moist arctic tundra: field responses to increases in summer temperatures and winter snow depth. Clim Change 44:139–150
73. 2 exchange in three Canadian High Arctic ecosystems: response to long-term experimental warming. Glob Change Biol 10:1981–1995
74. Welker JM, Fahnestock JT, Sullivan PF, Chimner RA (2005) Leaf mineral nutrition of Arctic plants in response to warming and deeper snow in northern Alaska. Oikos 109:167–177
75. Williams M, Rastetter EB (1999) Vegetation characteristics and primary productivity along an arctic transect: implications for scaling-up. J Ecol 87:885–898
76. Williams M, Street LE, van Wijk MT, Shaver GR (2006) Identifying differences in carbon exchange among Arctic ecosystem types. Ecosystems 9:288–304
77. Wilson JB (2011) Cover plus: ways of measuring plant canopies and the terms used for them. J Veg Sci 22:197–206
78. Wipf S, Rixen C (2010) A review of snow manipulation experiments in Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems. Polar Res 29:95–109
79. Woolhouse HW (1967) Leaf age and mesophyll resistance as factors in the rate of photosynthesis. Hilger J11:7–12
80. Zhang X et al (2013) Enhanced poleward moisture transport and amplified northern high-latitude wetting trend. Nat Clim Change 3:47–51
81. Zurr A, Leno EN, Walker N, Saveliev AA, Smith GM (2009) Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R. Springer, New York