Greening conceals evergreening: contrasting trends for a socio-ecological system in Arctic Europe

Tuomi, Maria; Utsi, Tove Aagnes; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; Armstrong, Claire W.; González, Victoria T.; Hagen, Snorre B.; Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg S.; Pham, Minh Nhat; Pugnaire, Francisco I.; Shea, Katriona; Wardle, David A.; Zielosko, Sophia; Bråthen, Kari Anne

doi:10.1101/2022.02.28.482210

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

References 101 publications

(324 reference statements)

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“…The region has a variable bedrock, ranging from limestone and gabbro to sandstone and granite (Norway's national geological survey). The region has undergone changes in climate over the last decades, in particular a lengthening of the growing season (Tuomi et al 2022) and an associated shortening of the snow cover duration (Pedersen et al 2021).…”

Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, deciduous shrubs are predicted to respond more strongly to warming than evergreen shrubs, even when browsed by herbivores (Christie et al 2015). Several empirical studies do, however, report encroachment by native evergreen dwarf shrub species, also under herbivory (Angers-Blondin and Boudreau 2017, Maliniemi et al 2018, Vowles and Björk 2019, Tuomi et al 2022. Such horizontal encroachment by evergreen dwarf shrubs causes distinctly different ecosystem processes than that of either herbaceous plants or deciduous shrub encroachment, and is suggested being termed 'evergreening' (Tuomi et al 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several empirical studies do, however, report encroachment by native evergreen dwarf shrub species, also under herbivory (Angers-Blondin and Boudreau 2017, Maliniemi et al 2018, Vowles and Björk 2019, Tuomi et al 2022. Such horizontal encroachment by evergreen dwarf shrubs causes distinctly different ecosystem processes than that of either herbaceous plants or deciduous shrub encroachment, and is suggested being termed 'evergreening' (Tuomi et al 2022). Predictions also suggest that alien plants not yet present, but adapted to the novel climates in Arctic areas, are likely to invade (Seebens et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changing species dominance patterns of Boreal‐Arctic heathlands: evidence of biotic homogenization

Bråthen,

Tuomi,

Kapfer

et al. 2024

Ecography

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Heathlands are extensive systems often dominated by slow‐growing and long‐lived woody plants. These systems require longer‐term studies to capture if and how they are changing over time. In 2020, we resurveyed species richness and cover of vascular plant communities in 139 heathlands along the coastline of northern Fennoscandia, first surveyed during 1965–1975. The first survey included six heathland types, each with dominance – a cover of 25% or more – of the dwarf shrubs Calluna vulgaris, Kalmia procumbens, Betula nana, Vaccinium myrtillus and Empetrum nigrum. The two latter heathland types made up 29% and 48%, respectively, of all heathlands. In addition to the dominant dwarf shrubs giving their names to the heathland types, a few other species qualified as dominant. In the resurvey, all the heathland types had E. nigrum as the single dominant species, except for the heathland formerly dominated by B. nana. Most other species had low cover both at the time of the original survey and the resurvey. Also, the heathland types were species poor at the time of the original survey, with an average of eight vascular plant species per 4 m2 and were found equally species poor in the resurvey. Species richness differed between heathland types only at the time of the original survey, and the ratio of species exchange between the two surveys was negatively related to the original cover of E. nigrum.Here we provide a half‐century perspective on vegetation change, during which several heathland types in northern Fennoscandia have changed to Empetrum heathlands, reducing the diversity of heathland types across the Boreal to Arctic landscape. As a native plant, E. nigrum cannot be considered invasive, but its allelopathic capacity has likely already modified these heathland ecosystems and will continue to do so, reducing ecosystem multifunctionality across the region.

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Section: Study Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%