Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome
Open accessAbstract
Recent observations of changes in some tundra ecosystems appear to be responses to a warming climate. Several experimental studies have shown that tundra plants and ecosystems can respond strongly to environmental change, including warming; however, most studies were limited to a single location and were of short duration and based on a variety of experimental designs. In addition, comparisons among studies are difficult because a variety of techniques have been used to achieve experimental warming and different measurements have been used to assess responses. We used metaanalysis on plant community measurements from standardized warming experiments at 11 locations across the tundra biome involved in the International Tundra Experiment. The passive warming treatment increased plant-level air temperature by 1-3°C, which is in the range of predicted and observed warming for tundra regions. Responses were rapid and detected in whole plant communities after only two growing seasons. Overall, warming increased height and cover of deciduous shrubs and graminoids, decreased cover of mosses and lichens, and decreased species diversity and evenness. These results predict that warming will cause a decline in biodiversity across a wide variety of tundra, at least in the short term. They also provide rigorous experimental evidence that recently observed increases in shrub cover in many tundra regions are in response to climate warming. These changes have important implications for processes and interactions within tundra ecosystems and between tundra and the atmosphere.
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Changing vegetation diversity, abundance, composition, and phenology in the Arctic are well documented.
“Changing vegetation diversity, abundance, composition, and phenology in the Arctic are all well documented (Sturm et al. 2001; Walker et al. 2006; Bjørkman et al. 2020).”
From Muskox status, recent variation, and uncertain future (2020) · cites this paper as Walker et al. 2006
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- Authors
- Walker, M. D., Wahren, C. H., Hollister, R. D., Henry, G. H. R., Ahlquist, L. E., Alatalo, J. M., Bret-Harte, M. S., Calef, M. P., Callaghan, T. V., Carroll, A. B., Epstein, H. E., Jónsdóttir, I. S., Klein, J. A., Magnússon, B., Molau, U., Oberbauer, S. F., Rewa, S. P., Robinson, C. H., Shaver, G. R., Suding, K. N., Thompson, C. C., Tolvanen, A., Totland, Ø., Turner, P. L., Tweedie, C. E., Webber, P. J., & Wookey, P. A.
- Affiliations
- US Forest Service (US)
- Corresponding author
- Henry, Greg H. R.
- ORCID
- Hollister, Robert D.
- Henry, Greg H. R.
- Alatalo, Juha M.
- Bret-Harte, M. Syndonia
- Calef, Monika P.
- Callaghan, Terry V.
- Epstein, Howard E.
- Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg S.
- Klein, Julia A.
- Molau, Ulf
- Oberbauer, Steven F.
- Robinson, Clare H.
- Shaver, Gaius R.
- Suding, Katharine N.
- Tolvanen, Anne
- Tweedie, Craig E.
- Wookey, Philip A.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2006-01-20
- Volume
- 103
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1342-1346
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC1360515
- OpenAlex
- W2167746920
- Cited by
- 1,310
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 57 · 2021: 85 · 2020: 76 · 2019: 66 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 77 · 2016: 83 · 2015: 74 · 2014: 88 · 2013: 93 · 2012: 90
- FWCI
- 31.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion)
- ScholarWorks - GVSU (Grand Valley State University) (submittedVersion)
- Open Access Server of the Woods Hole Scientific Community (Woods Hole Scientific Community) (submittedVersion)
- Jukuri (Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)) (submittedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Academy of Finland
- Norges Forskningsråd
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Climate change and permafrost
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Polar Research and Ecology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Keywords
- tundra, experimental warming, global warming, plant community response, shrub expansion, deciduous shrubs, graminoids, mosses and lichens, species diversity, species evenness, International Tundra Experiment, passive warming
- MeSH terms
- Arctic Regions, Climate, Conservation of Natural Resources, Environment, Environmental Monitoring, Hot Temperature, Models, Theoretical, Plants, Software, Temperature, Genetic Variation, Greenhouse Effect, Ecosystem, Plant Physiological Phenomena, Biomass, Biodiversity
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