Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities

Vuorinen, Katariina; Austrheim, Gunnar; Mysterud, Atle; Gya, Ragnhild; Vandvik, Vigdis; Grytnes, John‐Arvid; Speed, James D. M.

doi:10.1002/ecs2.3887

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 93 publications

(120 reference statements)

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“…However, should these changes in traits of the species present also reflect changes in abundances, this increase in woody plants can cause a shift in overall ecosystem composition and functioning (Myers‐Smith et al 2019b, García Criado et al 2020). Shrubification and/or forest advancement may increase vegetation closedness and carbon storages, decrease albedo, enhance plant–plant competition and soil nutrient cycling, and modify hydrology and decomposition (Lavorel and Garnier 2002, Walker et al 2006, Cornwell et al 2008, Gottfried et al 2012, Bjorkman et al 2018b, Stewart et al 2018, Myers‐Smith et al 2019b, Vuorinen et al 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With ongoing global environmental changes, it is important to understand which drivers shape the functional composition of plant assemblages (Heilmeier 2019). In the boreal‐ and Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, global warming is expected to lead to increases in, for example, plant height and leaf area (Hudson et al 2011, Pauli et al 2012, Myers‐Smith et al 2015, Bjorkman et al 2018b, Vuorinen et al 2021). Precipitation can play a crucial role in shaping temperature responses (Bjorkman et al 2018b) and in driving hydraulic traits (Griffin‐Nolan et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate and land‐use drive the functional composition of vascular plant assemblages across Norway

Petersen

Vuorinen

Bendiksby

et al. 2022

Nordic Journal of Botany

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Traditionally, biogeography has described the distribution of species. But as plant functional traits and functional diversity underpin ecosystem dynamics, understanding drivers of functional diversity at biogeographical scales is essential to understand spatial variation in ecosystem characteristics, particularly in light of ongoing environmental changes. Here we investigate geographic patterns of functional diversity and ‐traits of the Norwegian flora. We explore whether climate, land‐use or glacial history are important drivers of functional diversity. We combine species occurrence records and assemblage‐means of functional traits to assess the spatial distribution of functional traits and ‐diversity of native vascular plants in Norway in a 20 × 20 km grid. We use multiple‐model inference to identify which environmental factors contribute the most in explaining the spatial patterns of trait distributions and functional diversity. Additionally, we use the constructed models to predict potential changes in distributions of traits and functional diversity given different climate change scenarios.Both individual traits and functional diversity display clear geographic patterns, predictable by climate, landscape and glacial history. Traits related to plant size and growth peak in warmer areas and are predicted to increase in the future, as is functional richness and dispersion. In contrast, functional evenness peaks in northern regions and is predicted to decrease in the future.The different environmental drivers vary in degree of importance, effect sizes and ‐directions on the assemblage‐averaged functional traits and ‐diversity. This underlines the importance of multiple drivers in determining plant assemblage functionality. In the face of climate‐ and land‐use change, Norway is expected to become warmer, wetter and experience a substantial increase in anthropogenic land‐uses, such as increased urbanisation. In turn, the functional composition of the Norwegian flora is predicted to shift towards tall, woody, fast‐growing species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate and land‐use drive the functional composition of vascular plant assemblages across Norway

Petersen

Vuorinen

Bendiksby

et al. 2022

Nordic Journal of Botany

Self Cite

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Contrasting effects of wild and domestic ungulates on fine-scale responses of vegetation to climate and herbivory

Velamazán,

Sánchez-Zapata,

Moral-Herrero

et al. 2023

Landsc Ecol

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Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long‐term resistance to changing herbivore densities

Abstract: Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long-term resistance to changing herbivore densities. Ecosphere 12 (12):e03887.

Cited by 2 publications

References 93 publications

Climate and land‐use drive the functional composition of vascular plant assemblages across Norway

Climate and land‐use drive the functional composition of vascular plant assemblages across Norway

Contrasting effects of wild and domestic ungulates on fine-scale responses of vegetation to climate and herbivory

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