Plant functional trait change across a warming tundra biome

Anne D. Bjorkman (), Isla H. Myers-Smith, Sarah C. Elmendorf, Signe Normand, Nadja Rüger, Pieter S. A. Beck, Anne Blach-Overgaard, Daan Blok, J. Hans C. Cornelissen, Bruce C. Forbes, Damien Georges, Scott J. Goetz, Kevin C. Guay, Gregory H. R. Henry, Janneke HilleRisLambers, Robert D. Hollister, Dirk N. Karger, Jens Kattge, Peter Manning, Janet S. Prevéy, Christian Rixen, Gabriela Schaepman-Strub, Haydn J. D. Thomas, Mark Vellend, Martin Wilmking, Sonja Wipf, Michele Carbognani, Luise Hermanutz, Esther Lévesque, Ulf Molau, Alessandro Petraglia, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, Marko J. Spasojevic, Marcello Tomaselli, Tage Vowles, Juha M. Alatalo, Heather D. Alexander, Alba Anadon-Rosell, Sandra Angers-Blondin, Mariska te Beest, Logan Berner, Robert G. Björk, Agata Buchwal, Allan Buras, Katherine Christie, Elisabeth J. Cooper, Stefan Dullinger, Bo Elberling, Anu Eskelinen, Esther R. Frei, Oriol Grau, Paul Grogan, Martin Hallinger, Karen A. Harper, Monique M. P. D. Heijmans, James Hudson, Karl Hülber, Maitane Iturrate-Garcia, Colleen M. Iversen, Francesca Jaroszynska, Jill F. Johnstone, Rasmus Halfdan Jørgensen, Elina Kaarlejärvi, Rebecca Klady, Sara Kuleza, Aino Kulonen, Laurent J. Lamarque, Trevor Lantz, Chelsea J. Little, James D. M. Speed, Anders Michelsen, Ann Milbau, Jacob Nabe-Nielsen, Sigrid Schøler Nielsen, Josep M. Ninot, Steven F. Oberbauer, Johan Olofsson, Vladimir G. Onipchenko, Sabine B. Rumpf, Philipp Semenchuk, Rohan Shetti, Laura Siegwart Collier, Lorna E. Street, Katharine N. Suding, Ken D. Tape, Andrew Trant, Urs A. Treier, Jean-Pierre Tremblay, Maxime Tremblay, Susanna Venn, Stef Weijers, Tara Zamin, Noémie Boulanger-Lapointe, William A. Gould, David S. Hik, Annika Hofgaard, Ingibjörg S. Jónsdóttir, Janet Jorgenson, Julia Klein, Borgthor Magnusson, Craig Tweedie, Philip A. Wookey, Michael Bahn, Benjamin Blonder, Peter M. Bodegom, Benjamin Bond-Lamberty, Giandiego Campetella, Bruno E. L. Cerabolini, F. Stuart Chapin, William K. Cornwell, Joseph Craine, Matteo Dainese, Franciska T. Vries, Sandra Díaz, Brian J. Enquist, Walton Green, Ruben Milla, Ülo Niinemets, Yusuke Onoda, Jenny C. Ordoñez, Wim A. Ozinga, Josep Penuelas, Hendrik Poorter, Peter Poschlod, Peter B. Reich, Brody Sandel, Brandon Schamp, Serge Sheremetev and Evan Weiher
Additional contact information
Anne D. Bjorkman: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
Isla H. Myers-Smith: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
Sarah C. Elmendorf: University of Colorado
Signe Normand: Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University
Nadja Rüger: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Pieter S. A. Beck: Joint Research Centre, Directorate D — Sustainable Resources, Bio-Economy Unit
Anne Blach-Overgaard: Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University
Daan Blok: Lund University
J. Hans C. Cornelissen: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Bruce C. Forbes: Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
Damien Georges: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
Scott J. Goetz: Computing and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University
Kevin C. Guay: Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
Gregory H. R. Henry: University of British Columbia
Janneke HilleRisLambers: University of Washington
Robert D. Hollister: Grand Valley State University
Dirk N. Karger: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Jens Kattge: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Peter Manning: Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F)
Janet S. Prevéy: WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
Christian Rixen: WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
Gabriela Schaepman-Strub: University of Zurich
Haydn J. D. Thomas: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
Mark Vellend: Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke
Martin Wilmking: Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Greifswald University
Sonja Wipf: WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
Michele Carbognani: Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma
Luise Hermanutz: Memorial University
Esther Lévesque: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Ulf Molau: University of Gothenburg
Alessandro Petraglia: Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma
Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia: Leiden University
Marko J. Spasojevic: University of California Riverside
Marcello Tomaselli: Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma
Tage Vowles: University of Gothenburg
Juha M. Alatalo: Qatar University
Heather D. Alexander: Mississippi State University
Alba Anadon-Rosell: Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Greifswald University
Sandra Angers-Blondin: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
Mariska te Beest: Umeå University
Logan Berner: Computing and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University
Robert G. Björk: University of Gothenburg
Agata Buchwal: Adam Mickiewicz University
Allan Buras: Wageningen University and Research
Katherine Christie: The Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Elisabeth J. Cooper: Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, UiT—The Arctic University of Norway
Stefan Dullinger: University of Vienna
Bo Elberling: University of Copenhagen
Anu Eskelinen: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Esther R. Frei: University of British Columbia
Oriol Grau: Global Ecology Unit, CREAF-CSIC-UAB
Paul Grogan: Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston
Martin Hallinger: Biology Department, Swedish Agricultural University (SLU)
Karen A. Harper: Biology Department, Saint Mary’s University
Monique M. P. D. Heijmans: Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University and Research
James Hudson: British Columbia Public Service
Karl Hülber: University of Vienna
Maitane Iturrate-Garcia: University of Zurich
Colleen M. Iversen: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Francesca Jaroszynska: WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
Jill F. Johnstone: University of Saskatchewan
Rasmus Halfdan Jørgensen: University of Copenhagen
Elina Kaarlejärvi: Umeå University
Rebecca Klady: Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia
Sara Kuleza: University of Saskatchewan
Aino Kulonen: WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
Laurent J. Lamarque: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Trevor Lantz: School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria
Chelsea J. Little: University of Zurich
James D. M. Speed: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Anders Michelsen: University of Copenhagen
Ann Milbau: Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
Jacob Nabe-Nielsen: Aarhus University
Sigrid Schøler Nielsen: Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University
Josep M. Ninot: Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona
Steven F. Oberbauer: Florida International University
Johan Olofsson: Umeå University
Vladimir G. Onipchenko: Lomonosov Moscow State University
Sabine B. Rumpf: University of Vienna
Philipp Semenchuk: Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, UiT—The Arctic University of Norway
Rohan Shetti: Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Greifswald University
Laura Siegwart Collier: Memorial University
Lorna E. Street: School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
Katharine N. Suding: University of Colorado
Ken D. Tape: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Andrew Trant: Memorial University
Urs A. Treier: Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University
Jean-Pierre Tremblay: Centre d’études nordiques and Centre d’étude de la forêt, Université Laval
Maxime Tremblay: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Susanna Venn: Deakin University, Burwood
Stef Weijers: University of Bonn
Tara Zamin: Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston
Noémie Boulanger-Lapointe: University of British Columbia
William A. Gould: USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry
David S. Hik: Simon Fraser University
Annika Hofgaard: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
Ingibjörg S. Jónsdóttir: University of Iceland
Janet Jorgenson: US Fish and Wildlife Service
Julia Klein: Colorado State University
Borgthor Magnusson: Icelandic Institute of Natural History
Craig Tweedie: University of Texas at El Paso
Philip A. Wookey: University of Stirling
Michael Bahn: University of Innsbruck
Benjamin Blonder: University of Oxford
Peter M. Bodegom: Leiden University
Benjamin Bond-Lamberty: Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Giandiego Campetella: University of Camerino
Bruno E. L. Cerabolini: DiSTA, University of Insubria
F. Stuart Chapin: University of Alaska Fairbanks
William K. Cornwell: Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ecology and Evolution Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
Joseph Craine: Jonah Ventures
Matteo Dainese: Institute for Alpine Environment
Franciska T. Vries: The University of Manchester
Sandra Díaz: Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
Brian J. Enquist: University of Arizona
Walton Green: Harvard University
Ruben Milla: Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Ülo Niinemets: Estonian University of Life Sciences
Yusuke Onoda: Kyoto University
Jenny C. Ordoñez: World Agroforestry Centre — Latin America
Wim A. Ozinga: Wageningen Environmental Research (Alterra)
Josep Penuelas: CREAF
Hendrik Poorter: Plant Sciences (IBG-2), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
Peter Poschlod: University of Regensburg
Peter B. Reich: University of Minnesota
Brody Sandel: Santa Clara University
Brandon Schamp: Algoma University
Serge Sheremetev: Komarov Botanical Institute
Evan Weiher: University of Wisconsin — Eau Claire

Nature, 2018, vol. 562, issue 7725, 57-62

Abstract: Abstract 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.

Keywords: Trait Changes; Heights Community; Leaf Dry Matter Content (LDMC); Static Soil Moisture Estimates; Intraspecific Trait Variation (ITV) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0563-7

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