Language:

Shrub expansion in tundra ecosystems: dynamics, impacts and research priorities

Environmental research letters, 2011-12, Vol.6 (4), p.045509 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

Copyright IOP Publishing Dec 2011 ;info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ;Wageningen University & Research ;ISSN: 1748-9326 ;EISSN: 1748-9326 ;DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/045509

Digital Resources/Online E-Resources

Citations Cited by

Actions
1. Add to My Research
2. Remove from My Research
3. E-mail
4. Print
5. Permalink
6. Citation
7. EasyBib
8. EndNote
9. RefWorks
10. Delicious
11. Export RIS
12. Export BibTeX

Title:
Shrub expansion in tundra ecosystems: dynamics, impacts and research priorities
Author: Myers-Smith, Isla H ; Forbes, Bruce C ; Wilmking, Martin ; Hallinger, Martin ; Lantz, Trevor ; Blok, Daan ; Tape, Ken D ; Macias-Fauria, Marc ; Sass-Klaassen, Ute ; Lévesque, Esther ; Boudreau, Stéphane ; Ropars, Pascale ; Hermanutz, Luise ; Trant, Andrew ; Collier, Laura Siegwart ; Weijers, Stef ; Rozema, Jelte ; Rayback, Shelly A ; Schmidt, Niels Martin ; Schaepman-Strub, Gabriela ; Wipf, Sonja ; Rixen, Christian ; Ménard, Cécile B ; Venn, Susanna ; Goetz, Scott ; Andreu-Hayles, Laia ; Elmendorf, Sarah ; Ravolainen, Virve ; Welker, Jeffrey ; Grogan, Paul ; Epstein, Howard E ; Hik, David S
Subjects: Air temperature ; alpine vegetation ; Anthropogenic factors ; arctic tundra ; birch betula-glandulosa ; cassiope-tetragona ; Climate change ; Dendrochronology ; Disturbance ; dwarf shrub ; Ecological monitoring ; Ecology: 488 ; Ecosystems ; Environmental impact ; environmental-change ; Expansion ; experimental manipulation ; Fluxes ; Herbivory ; Human influences ; Latitude ; Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400 ; Mathematics and natural science: 400 ; Nutrients ; Permafrost ; Photography ; plant community responses ; Polar environments ; recent climate-change ; retrogressive thaw slumps ; Satellite observation ; Shrubs ; Snow cover ; Soil water ; Taiga & tundra ; Tundra ; VDP ; Vegetasjonshistorie: 495 ; Vegetation history: 495 ; Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 ; Zoology and botany: 480 ; Økologi: 488
Is Part Of: Environmental research letters, 2011-12, Vol.6 (4), p.045509
Description: Abstract Recent research using repeat photography, long-term ecological monitoring and dendrochronology has documented shrub expansion in arctic, high-latitude and alpine tundra ecosystems. Here, we (1) synthesize these findings, (2) present a conceptual framework that identifies mechanisms and constraints on shrub increase, (3) explore causes, feedbacks and implications of the increased shrub cover in tundra ecosystems, and (4) address potential lines of investigation for future research. Satellite observations from around the circumpolar Arctic, showing increased productivity, measured as changes in ‘greenness’, have coincided with a general rise in high-latitude air temperatures and have been partly attributed to increases in shrub cover. Studies indicate that warming temperatures, changes in snow cover, altered disturbance regimes as a result of permafrost thaw, tundra fires, and anthropogenic activities or changes in herbivory intensity are all contributing to observed changes in shrub abundance. A large-scale increase in shrub cover will change the structure of tundra ecosystems and alter energy fluxes, regional climate, soil–atmosphere exchange of water, carbon and nutrients, and ecological interactions between species. In order to project future rates of shrub expansion and understand the feedbacks to ecosystem and climate processes, future research should investigate the species or trait-specific responses of shrubs to climate change including: (1) the temperature sensitivity of shrub growth, (2) factors controlling the recruitment of new individuals, and (3) the relative influence of the positive and negative feedbacks involved in shrub expansion.
Publisher: Bristol: IOP Publishing
Language: English
Identifier: ISSN: 1748-9326
EISSN: 1748-9326
DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/045509
Source: Institute of Physics IOP eJournals Open Access

Back to results list


INSPIRE LIBRARY - TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY	(84-028) 37 755 057	Feedback
19 Nguyen Huu Tho St. Dist.7, HCM	thuvien@tdtu.edu.vn	Feedback

Shrub expansion in tundra ecosystems: dynamics, impacts and research priorities

Copyright IOP Publishing Dec 2011 ;info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ;Wageningen University & Research ;ISSN: 1748-9326 ;EISSN: 1748-9326 ;DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/045509

Searching Remote Databases, Please Wait