Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Standard
Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline. / Lett, Signe; Teuber, Laurenz M.; Krab, Eveline J.; Michelsen, Anders; Olofsson, Johan; Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte; Wardle, David A.; Dorrepaal, Ellen.
I: Global Change Biology, Bind 26, Nr. 10, 2020, s. 5754-5766.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Mosses modify effects of warmer and wetter conditions on tree seedlings at the alpine treeline
AU - Lett, Signe
AU - Teuber, Laurenz M.
AU - Krab, Eveline J.
AU - Michelsen, Anders
AU - Olofsson, Johan
AU - Nilsson, Marie-Charlotte
AU - Wardle, David A.
AU - Dorrepaal, Ellen
N1 - CENPERMOA[2020]
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Climate warming enables tree seedling establishment beyond the current alpine treeline, but to achieve this, seedlings have to establish within existing tundra vegetation. In tundra, mosses are a prominent feature, known to regulate soil temperature and moisture through their physical structure and associated water retention capacity. Moss presence and species identity might therefore modify the impact of increases in temperature and precipitation on tree seedling establishment at the arctic-alpine treeline. We followedBetula pubescensandPinus sylvestrisseedling survival and growth during three growing seasons in the field. Tree seedlings were transplanted along a natural precipitation gradient at the subarctic-alpine treeline in northern Sweden, into plots dominated by each of three common moss species and exposed to combinations of moss removal and experimental warming by open-top chambers (OTCs). Independent of climate, the presence of feather moss, but notSphagnum, strongly supressed survival of both tree species. Positive effects of warming and precipitation on survival and growth ofB. pubescensseedlings occurred in the absence of mosses and as expected, this was partly dependent on moss species.P. sylvestrissurvival was greatest at high precipitation, and this effect was more pronounced inSphagnumthan in feather moss plots irrespective of whether the mosses had been removed or not. Moss presence did not reduce the effects of OTCs on soil temperature. Mosses therefore modified seedling response to climate through other mechanisms, such as altered competition or nutrient availability. We conclude that both moss presence and species identity pose a strong control on seedling establishment at the alpine treeline, and that in some cases mosses weaken climate-change effects on seedling establishment. Changes in moss abundance and species composition therefore have the potential to hamper treeline expansion induced by climate warming.
AB - Climate warming enables tree seedling establishment beyond the current alpine treeline, but to achieve this, seedlings have to establish within existing tundra vegetation. In tundra, mosses are a prominent feature, known to regulate soil temperature and moisture through their physical structure and associated water retention capacity. Moss presence and species identity might therefore modify the impact of increases in temperature and precipitation on tree seedling establishment at the arctic-alpine treeline. We followedBetula pubescensandPinus sylvestrisseedling survival and growth during three growing seasons in the field. Tree seedlings were transplanted along a natural precipitation gradient at the subarctic-alpine treeline in northern Sweden, into plots dominated by each of three common moss species and exposed to combinations of moss removal and experimental warming by open-top chambers (OTCs). Independent of climate, the presence of feather moss, but notSphagnum, strongly supressed survival of both tree species. Positive effects of warming and precipitation on survival and growth ofB. pubescensseedlings occurred in the absence of mosses and as expected, this was partly dependent on moss species.P. sylvestrissurvival was greatest at high precipitation, and this effect was more pronounced inSphagnumthan in feather moss plots irrespective of whether the mosses had been removed or not. Moss presence did not reduce the effects of OTCs on soil temperature. Mosses therefore modified seedling response to climate through other mechanisms, such as altered competition or nutrient availability. We conclude that both moss presence and species identity pose a strong control on seedling establishment at the alpine treeline, and that in some cases mosses weaken climate-change effects on seedling establishment. Changes in moss abundance and species composition therefore have the potential to hamper treeline expansion induced by climate warming.
KW - Arctic
KW - Betulapubescens
KW - bryophytes
KW - climate change
KW - Pinussylvestris
KW - plant interactions
KW - precipitation
KW - treeline expansion
KW - FUNCTIONAL-GROUP LOSS
KW - SUB-ARCTIC BRYOPHYTE
KW - LITTER DECOMPOSITION
KW - CARBON BALANCE
KW - CLIMATE-CHANGE
KW - VEGETATION
KW - RECRUITMENT
KW - RESPONSES
KW - TRAITS
KW - GROWTH
U2 - 10.1111/gcb.15256
DO - 10.1111/gcb.15256
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 32715578
VL - 26
SP - 5754
EP - 5766
JO - Global Change Biology
JF - Global Change Biology
SN - 1354-1013
IS - 10
ER -
ID: 246781469