Times Cited: 0Pilon, R. Picon-Cochard, C. Bloor, J. M. G. Revaillot, S. Kuhn, E. Falcimagne, R. Balandier, P. Soussana, J. -F.[ 2 ] INRA, UR341, F-78350 Jouy En Josas, France[ 3 ] Irstea, Res Unit Forest Ecosyst EFNO, F-45290 Nogent Sur Vernisson, France[ 4 ] INRA, PIAF UMR547, F-63100 Clermont Ferrand, FranceWe examine how root system demography and morphology are affected by air warming and multiple, simultaneous climate change drivers. Using minirhizotrons, we studied root growth, morphology, median longevity, risk of mortality and standing root pool in the upper soil horizon of a temperate grassland ecosystem for 3 years. Grassland monoliths were subjected to four climate treatments in a replicated additive design: control (C); elevated temperature (T); combined T and summer precipitation reduction (TD); combined TD and elevated atmospheric CO2 (TDCO2). Air warming (C vs T) and the combined climate change treatment (C vs TDCO2) had a positive effect on root growth rate and standing root pool. However, root responses to climate treatment varied depending on diameter size class. For fine roots (<= 0.1 mm), new root length and mortality increased under warming but decreased in response to elevated CO2 (TD vs TDCO2); for coarse roots (> 0.2 mm), length and mortality increased under both elevated CO2 and combined climate change drivers. Our data suggest that the standing roots pool in our grassland system may increase under future climatic conditions. Contrasted behaviour of fine and coarse roots may correspond to differential root activity of these extreme diameter classes in future climate

Poleward and upward species range shifts are the most commonly anticipated and studied consequences of climate warming. However, these global responses to climate change obscure more complex distribution change patterns. We hypothesize that the spatial arrangement of mountain ranges and, consequently, climatic gradients in Europe, will result in range disjunctions. This hypothesis was investigated for submountainous forest plant species at two temporal and spatial scales: (i) under future climate change (between 1950-2000 and 2061-2080 periods) at the European scale and (ii) under contemporary climate change (between 1914-1987 and 1997-2013 periods) at the French scale. We selected 97 submountainous forest plant species occurring in France, among which distribution data across Europe are available for 25 species. By projecting future distribution changes for the 25 submountainous plant species across Europe, we demonstrated that range disjunction is a likely consequence of future climate change. To assess whether it is already taking place, we used a large forest vegetation-plot database covering the entire French territory over 100 years (1914-2013) and found an average decrease in frequency (-0.01 ± 0.004) in lowland areas for the 97 submountainous species - corresponding to a loss of 6% of their historical frequency - along with southward and upward range shifts, suggesting early signs of range disjunctions. Climate-induced range disjunctions should be considered more carefully since they could have dramatic consequences on population genetics and the ability of species to face future climate changes.

High rates of species extinction have been predicted for the next century as a consequence of climate change. Although species range shifts have been widely reported, evidence of changes in species frequency linked to recent climate change is scarce. Moreover, studies have mainly focused on mountainous ecosystems and species. There is thus a clear lack of understanding of the recent changes in species frequencies linked to climate change across their whole range. Using a large forest vegetation‐plot database, we investigated changes in cold and warm‐demanding forest plant species frequencies between the periods 1914–1987 and 1997–2013 in French lowlands and highlands. Changes in frequencies were assessed for 185 lowland (warm‐demanding), 135 sub‐montane (intermediate) and 104 montane (cold‐demanding) forest plant species. Observed changes were compared to predicted changes derived from species distribution model predictions. The frequency of montane and sub‐montane species strongly declined, whereas the frequency of lowland species remained steady in lowland areas. In highlands, the frequency of lowland, sub‐montane and montane species increased, remained steady and decreased, respectively. Predicted and observed trends of changes in the frequency of forest plant species were in agreement. These results clearly show that cold‐demanding species are currently declining in lowlands that correspond to their warm range margins, whereas warm‐demanding species are expanding in highlands that correspond to their cold range margins. These trends can be seen as early signs of future regional extinction and reshuffling of the spatial presence of species due to climate warming.

Natura 2000 is a European network of sites dedicated to the conservation of vulnerable habitats. The definitions of Natura 2000 habitats are mainly based on plant communities. We investigated if the increase of the dominance of warm-adapted species observed in plant communities, described as thermophilization, had already led to measurable changes in Natura 2000 forest habitats.We created 5,701 pairs of neighboring forest plots by gathering plots surveyed before 1987 and after 1997 to reflect historical and recent climatic conditions. A Natura 2000 habitat type was assigned to each vegetation plot using an automatic classification program. We calculated a temperature index that synthesized the temperature range of each habitat, and compared the habitat temperature indexes of the recent and historical plots of each pair.We highlighted a significant overall shift of 4.8% ± 1.78 (CI 95%) of the pairs toward warmer habitats over the studied period. While the shift was not significant in lowlands, 11.1% ± 3.0 (CI 95%) of the pairs evolved toward warmer habitats in highlands.The excess of pairs with a warmer habitat in the recent period was interpreted as thermophilization of Natura 2000 forest habitats. Therefore, global warming has been strong enough to induce actual changes at the coarse-grained habitat resolution specifically targeted by public policies. The absence of significant results in lowlands suggests the existence of unrealized potential habitat changes, which can be considered as a climatic debt. These results call for differential prioritization levels and implementations of public policies for nature conservation in lowlands and highlands.