Plant functional trait change across a warming tundra biome
The tundra is warming more rapidly than any other biome on Earth, and the potential ramifications are far-reaching because of global feedback effects between vegetation and climate. A better understanding of how environmental factors shape plant structure and function is crucial for predicting the consequences of environmental change for ecosystem functioning. Here we explore the biome-wide relationships between temperature, moisture and seven key plant functional traits both across space and over three decades of warming at 117 tundra locations. Spatial temperature–trait relationships were generally strong but soil moisture had a marked influence on the strength and direction of these relationships, highlighting the potentially important influence of changes in water availability on future trait shifts in tundra plant communities. Community height increased with warming across all sites over the past three decades, but other traits lagged far behind predicted rates of change. Our findings highlight the challenge of using space-for-time substitution to predict the functional consequences of future warming and suggest that functions that are tied closely to plant height will experience the most rapid change. They also reveal the strength with which environmental factors shape biotic communities at the coldest extremes of the planet and will help to improve projections of functional changes in tundra ecosystems with climate warming.
BJORKMAN Anne;
MYERS-SMITH Isla H.;
GEORGES Damien;
THOMAS Haydn J. D.;
ANGERS-BLONDIN Sandra;
STREET Lorna E.;
NORMAND Signe;
BLACH-OVERGAARD Anne;
SCHOLER NIELSEN Sigrid;
TREIER Urs. A;
MANNING Peter;
ELMENDORF Sarah;
SUDING Katherine N.;
RUGER Nadja;
KATTGE Jens;
ESKELINEN Anu;
BECK Pieter;
BLOK Daan;
CORNELISSEN J. Hans C.;
FORBES Bruce;
GOETZ Scott J.;
BERNER Logan;
GUAY Kevin C.;
HENRY Gregory H. R.;
FREI Esther R.;
BOULANGER-LAPOINTE Noémie;
HILLERISLAMBERS Janneke;
HOLLISTER Robert D.;
KARGER Dirk;
PREVEY Janet S.;
RIXEN Christian;
WIPF Sonja;
JAROSZYNSKA Francesca;
KULONEN Aino;
SCHAEPMAN-STRUB Gabriela;
ITURRATE-GARCIA Maitane;
LITTLE Chelsea J.;
VELLEND Mark;
WILMKING Martin;
ANADON-ROSELL Alba;
SHETTI Rohan;
CARBOGNANI Michele;
PETRAGLIA Alessandro;
TOMASELLI Marcello;
HERMANUTZ Luise;
SIEGWART COLLIER Laura;
TRANT Andrew J;
LEVESQUE Esther;
LAMARQUE Laurent J.;
TREMBLAY Maxime;
MOLAU Ulf;
SOUDZILOVSKAIA Nadejda A.;
SPASOJEVIC Marko J.;
VOWLES Tage;
BJORK Robert G.;
ALATALO Juha M.;
ALEXANDER Heather D.;
NINOT Joseph M.;
TE BEEST Mariska;
KAARLEJARVI Elina;
OLOFSSON Johan;
BUCHWAL Agata;
BURAS Adam;
CHRISTIE Katherine;
COOPER Elisabeth J.;
SEMENCHUK Philipp;
DULLINGER Stefan;
HULBER Karl;
RUMPF Sabine B.;
ELBERLING Bo;
MICHELSEN Anders;
ESKELINEN Anu;
GRAU Oriol;
PENUELAS J.;
HALLINGER Martin;
HARPER Karen A.;
HEIJMANS Monique M. P. D.;
HUDSON James;
IVERSEN Colleen M.;
JAROSZYNSKA Francesca;
JOHNSTONE Jill F.;
KULEZA Sara;
JØRGENSEN Rasmus Halfdan;
KLADY Rebecca;
LANTZ Trevor;
SPEED James D. M.;
MILBAU Ann;
NABE-NIELSEN Jacob;
OBERBAUER Steven F.;
ONIPCHENKO Vladimir G.;
TAPE Ken D.;
VENN Susanna;
GOULD William A.;
HIK Davis S.;
HOFGAARD Annika;
JONSDOTTIR Ingibjorg S.;
JORGENSON Janet;
KLEIN Julia;
MAGNUSSON Borgthor;
TWEDDIE Craig;
WOOKEY Philip A.;
BAHN Michael;
BLONDER Benjamin;
VAN BODEGOM Peter;
BOND-LAMBERTY Benjamin;
CAMPETELLA Giandiego;
CERABOLINI Bruno E. L.;
CHAPIN III F. Stuart;
CORNWELL William K.;
CRAINE Joseph;
DAINESE Matteo;
DE VRIES Franciska T.;
DIAZ Sandra;
ENQUIST Brian J.;
GREEN Walton;
MILLA Ruben;
NIINEMETS Ulo;
ONODA Yusuke;
ORDONEZ Jenny C.;
OZINGA Wim A.;
POORTER Hendrik;
POSCHLOD Peter;
REICH Peter;
SANDEL Brody;
SCHAMP Brandon;
SHEREMETEV Serge;
WEIHER Evan;
2019-02-08
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
JRC107988
0028-0836 (online),
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0563-7,
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC107988,
10.1038/s41586-018-0563-7 (online),
Additional supporting files
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