Future increases in temperature and cloud cover will alter plant growth and decomposition of the large carbon pools stored in Arctic soils. A better understanding of interactions between above- and belowground processes and communities of plants and microorganisms is essential for predicting Arctic ecosystem responses to climate change. We measured ecosystem CO fluxes during the growing season for seven years in a dwarf-shrub tundra in West Greenland manipulated with warming and shading and experiencing a natural larvae outbreak. Vegetation composition, soil fungal community composition, microbial activity, and nutrient availability were analyzed after six years of treatment. Warming and shading altered the plant community, reduced plant CO uptake, and changed fungal community composition. Ecosystem carbon accumulation decreased during the growing season by 61% in shaded plots and 51% in warmed plots. Also, plant recovery was reduced in both manipulations following the larvae outbreak during the fifth treatment year. The reduced plant recovery in manipulated plots following the larvae outbreak suggests that climate change may increase tundra ecosystem sensitivity to disturbances. Also, plant community changes mediated via reduced light and reduced water availability due to increased temperature can strongly lower the carbon sink strength of tundra ecosystems.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5700064 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-16007-y | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Adaptive significance of age- and light-related variation in needle structure, photochemistry, and pigments in evergreen coniferous trees.
Photosynth Res
February 2025
Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71E, 60-625, Poznan, Poland.
Article Synopsis
- Evergreen conifers adapt to tough environments by possessing multiple needle sets, which optimizes photosynthesis.
- The study examined how needle structure and age affect photosynthesis across different light conditions in three conifer species.
- Findings showed that older needles have reduced photosynthetic efficiency due to self-shading, but still maintain effective light capture, indicating a balance between needle age and photochemical performance.
Solar radiation is an important environmental variable for terrestrial animals, but its impact on the heat balance of large flying insects has been poorly studied. Desert bees are critical to ecosystem function through their pollination services and are exposed to high radiant loads. We assessed the role of solar radiation in the heat balance of flying desert Centris pallida bees by calculating heat budgets for individuals in a respirometer in shaded versus sunny conditions from 16 to 37 ˚C air temperatures, comparing the large and small male morphs and females.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhotosynthetic responses to temperature across the tropics: a meta-analytic approach.
Ann Bot
December 2024
School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Background And Aims: Tropical forests exchange more carbon dioxide (CO2) with the atmosphere than any other terrestrial biome. Yet, uncertainty in the projected carbon balance over the next century is roughly three-times greater for the tropics than other ecosystems. Our limited knowledge of tropical plant physiological responses, including photosynthetic, to climate change is a substantial source of uncertainty in our ability to forecast the global terrestrial carbon sink.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeat-induced kidney disease: Understanding the impact.
J Intern Med
January 2025
Department of Clinical Sciences and Technology, Department of Renal Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Research on Mesoamerican Nephropathy, chronic kidney disease of unknown cause and chronic kidney disease of nontraditional cause has been going on for more than 20 years. Thousands of manual workers, especially in agriculture, are affected. The disease has been reported in different countries and regions, not only from heat-stressed sugarcane cutters in Central America but also from other occupational groups with strenuous work in hot environments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNative arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi drive ecophysiology through phenotypic integration and functional plasticity under the Sonoran desert conditions.
Physiol Plant
September 2024
Food and Development Research Center, Hermosillo, Sonora, México.
Knowledge is scarce to what extent environmental drivers and native symbiotic fungi in soil induce abrupt (short-term), systemic (multiple traits), or specific (a subset of traits) shifts in C plants' ecophysiological/mycorrhizal responses. We cultivated an emblematic native C species (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum, "Chiltepín") to look at how the extreme heat of the Sonoran desert, sunlight regimes (low = 2, intermediate = 15, high = 46 mol m d) and density of native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in soil (low AMF = 1% v/v, high AMF = 100% v/v), drive shifts on mycorrhizal responses through multiple functional traits (106 traits).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!