scholarly journals Roots in the tundra : relations between climate warming and root biomass and implications for vegetation change and carbon dynamics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Warming ◽  
Root Biomass ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Carbon Dynamics

Possible vegetation change in Mountain Altai under climate warming and compiling the prognosis maps

2000 ◽  
pp. 26-31
Author(s):  
E. I. Parfenova ◽  
N. M. Chebakova
Keyword(s):  
Climate Warming ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenario ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Vegetation Map ◽  
Climatic Indices ◽  
Bioclimatic Model ◽  
Open Woodland ◽  
Mountain Taiga

Global climate warming is expected to be a new factor influencing vegetation redistribution and productivity in the XXI century. In this paper possible vegetation change in Mountain Altai under global warming is evaluated. The attention is focused on forest vegetation being one of the most important natural resources for the regional economy. A bioclimatic model of correlation between vegetation and climate is used to predict vegetation change (Parfenova, Tchebakova 1998). In the model, a vegetation class — an altitudinal vegetation belt (mountain tundra, dark- coniferous subalpine open woodland, light-coniferous subgolets open woodland, dark-coniferous mountain taiga, light-coniferous mountain taiga, chern taiga, subtaiga and forest-steppe, mountain steppe) is predicted from a combination of July Temperature (JT) and Complex Moisture Index (CMI). Borders between vegetation classes are determined by certain values of these two climatic indices. Some bioclimatic regularities of vegetation distribution in Mountain Altai have been found: 1. Tundra is separated from taiga by the JT value of 8.5°C; 2. Dark- coniferous taiga is separated from light-coniferous taiga by the CMI value of 2.25; 3. Mountain steppe is separated from the forests by the CMI value of 4.0. 4. Within both dark-coniferous and light-coniferous taiga, vegetation classes are separated by the temperature factor. For the spatially model of vegetation distribution in Mountain Altai within the window 84 E — 90 E and 48 N — 52 N, the DEM (Digital Elevation Model) was used with a pixel of 1 km resolution. In a GIS Package IDRISI for Windows 2.0, climatic layers were developed based on DEM and multiple regressions relating climatic indices to physiography (elevation and latitude). Coupling the map of climatic indices with the authors' bioclimatic model resulted into a vegetation map for the region of interest. Visual comparison of the modelled vegetation map with the observed geobotanical map (Kuminova, 1960; Ogureeva, 1980) showed a good similarity between them. The new climatic indices map was developed under the climate change scenario with summer temperature increase 2°C and annual precipitation increase 20% (Menzhulin, 1998). For most mountains under such climate change scenario vegetation belts would rise 300—400 m on average. Under current climate, the dark-coniferous and light-coniferous mountain taiga forests dominate throughout Mountain Altai. The chern forests are the most productive and floristically rich and are also widely distributed. Under climate warming, light-coniferous mountain taiga may be expected to transform into subtaiga and forest-steppe and dark-coniferous taiga may be expected to transform partly into chern taiga. Other consequences of warming may happen such as the increase of forest productivity within the territories with sufficient rainfall and the increase of forest fire occurrence over territories with insufficient rainfall.

scholarly journals Effects of warming and fertilization interacting with intraspecific competition on fine root traits of Picea asperata

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan-Dan Li ◽  
Hong-Wei Nan ◽  
Chun-Zhang Zhao ◽  
Chun-Ying Yin ◽  
Qing Liu
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Tree Growth ◽  
Root Length ◽  
Root Biomass ◽  
Fine Root ◽  
Root Traits ◽  
Root Surface ◽  
Root Branching ◽  
Picea Asperata

Abstract Aims Competition, temperature, and nutrient are the most important determinants of tree growth in the cold climate on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Although many studies have reported their individual effects on tree growth, little is known about how the interactions of competition with fertilization and temperature affect root growth. We aim to test whether climate warming and fertilization promote competition and to explore the functional strategies of Picea asperata in response to the interactions of these factors. Methods We conducted a paired experiment including competition and non-competition treatments under elevated temperature (ET) and fertilization. We measured root traits, including the root tip number over the root surface (RTRS), the root branching events over the root surface (RBRS), the specific root length (SRL), the specific root area (SRA), the total fine root length and area (RL and RA), the root tips (RT) and root branching events (RB). These root traits are considered to be indicators of plant resource uptake capacity and root growth. The root biomass and the nutrient concentrations in the roots were also determined. Important Findings The results indicated that ET, fertilization and competition individually enhanced the nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) concentrations in fine roots, but they did not affect fine root biomass or root traits, including RL, RT, RA and RB. However, both temperature and fertilization, as well as their interaction, interacting with competition increased RL, RA, RT, RB, and nutrient uptake. In addition, the SRL, SRA, RTRS and RBRS decreased under fertilization, the interaction between temperature and competition decreased SRL and SRA, while the other parameters were not affected by temperature or competition. These results indicate that Picea asperata maintains a conservative nutrient strategy in response to competition, climate warming, fertilization, and their interactions. Our results improve our understanding of the physiological and ecological adaptability of trees to global change.

Climate warming alters subsoil but not topsoil carbon dynamics in alpine grassland

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 4383-4393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Jia ◽  
Zhenjiao Cao ◽  
Chengzhu Liu ◽  
Zhenhua Zhang ◽  
Li Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Warming ◽  
Carbon Dynamics ◽  
Alpine Grassland

Links between spring snow cover and long-term alpine vegetation change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengwei Zong ◽  
Christian Rixen
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Alpine Vegetation ◽  
Alpine Ecosystems ◽  
Snow Cover Extent ◽  
The Relationship

<p><span>Snow is an important environmental factor determining distributions of plant species in alpine ecosystems. During the past decades, climate warming has resulted in significant reduction of snow cover extent globally, which led to remarkable alpine vegetation change. Alpine vegetation change is often caused by the combined effects of increasing air temperature and snow cover change, yet the relationship between snow cover and vegetation change is currently not fully understood. To detect changes in both snow cover and alpine vegetation, a relatively fine spatial scales over long temporal spans is necessary. In this study in alpine tundra of the Changbai Mountains, Northeast China, we (1) quantified spatiotemporal changes of spring snow cover area (SCA) during half a century by using multi-source remote sensing datasets; (2) detected long-term vegetation greening and browning trends at pixel level using Landsat archives of 30 m resolution, and (3) analyzed the relationship between spring SCA change and vegetation change. Results showed that spring SCA has decreased significantly during the last 50 years in line with climate warming. Changes in vegetation greening and browning trend were related to distributional range dynamics of a dominant indigenous evergreen shrub <em>Rhododendron aureum</em>, which extended at the leading edge and retracted at the trailing edge. Changes in <em>R. aureum</em> distribution were probably related to spring snow cover changes. Areas with decreasing <em>R. aureum</em> cover were often located in snow patches where probably herbs and grasses encroached from low elevations and adjacent communities. Our study highlights that spring SCA derived from multi-source remote sensing imagery can be used as a proxy to explore relationship between snow cover and vegetation change in alpine ecosystems. Alpine indigenous plant species may migrate upward following the reduction of snow-dominated environments in the context of climate warming and could be threatened by encroaching plants within snow bed habitats.</span></p>

Boreal Vegetation and Soil Carbon Dynamics in Response to a Changing Climate and Soil Variables

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Galbraith ◽  
Pavel Krasilnikov ◽  
Cornelia Rumpel
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Precipitation Amount ◽  
Carbon Dynamics ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Soil Variables ◽  
Air Temperatures

<p>Many soils in the Boreal forest regions of the Arctic store very large amounts of carbon in the active layer above permafrost, and store significant amounts of carbon within the permafrost. Soils that are well drained, high in rock fragments, shallow to rock or rubble, or covered with ice are exceptions. No other region on Earth stores more carbon on average than the Arctic regions, especially in wetlands. However, changes in vegetation and soil are expected under warming climates. Research questions have arisen about future changes in vegetation and net carbon flux as soil and air temperatures climb, as precipitation amount and type changes, and as the growing season lengthens. A review of recent literature will be conducted to look at effects of vegetation change and annual carbon dynamics in Boreal forest and wetland soils under warming climates. Environmental variables such as soil temperature, hydrology, microbial and higher plant growth, digestibility of young and old carbon, fire, location zone, extent and type of permafrost thaw slow vs sudden collapse), and N and P nutrient balances will affect carbon stocks in addition to changing climate.</p>

scholarly journals Four decades of plant community change along a continental gradient of warming

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Becker-Scarpitta ◽  
Steve Vissault ◽  
Mark Vellend
Keyword(s):  
Climate Warming ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Recent Warming ◽  
Temperature Indices ◽  
Distribution Shifts

AbstractMany studies of individual sites have revealed biotic changes consistent with climate warming (e.g., upward elevational distribution shifts), but our understanding of the tremendous variation among studies in the magnitude of such biotic changes is minimal. In this study we re-surveyed forest vegetation plots 40 years after the initial surveys in three protected areas along a west-to-east gradient of increasingly steep recent warming trends in eastern Canada (Québec). Consistent with the hypothesis that climate warming has been an important driver of vegetation change, we found an increasing magnitude of changes in species richness and composition from west to east among the three parks. For the two mountainous parks, we found no changes in elevational species’ distributions in the eastern most park where warming has been minimal (Forillon Park), and significant upward distribution shifts in the centrally located park where the recent warming trend has been marked (Mont-Mégantic). Community temperature indices (CTI), reflecting the average affinities of locally co-occurring to temperature conditions across their geographic ranges (“species temperature indices”), did not change over time as predicted. However, close examination of the underpinnings of CTI values suggested a high sensitivity to uncertainty in individual species’ temperature indices, and so a potentially limited responsiveness to warming. Overall, by testing a priori predictions concerning variation among parks in the direction and magnitude of vegetation changes, we have provided stronger evidence for a link between climate warming and biotic responses than otherwise possible, and provided a potential explanation for large variation among studies in warming-related biotic changes.

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