Phenological response of tundra plants to background climate variation tested using the International Tundra Experiment

Oberbauer, Steven F.; Elmendorf, Sarah C.; Troxler, Tiffany G.; Hollister, Robert D.; Rocha, A. V.; Bret‐Harte, M. Syndonia; Dawes, Melissa A.; Fosaa, Anna Maria; Henry, Greg H.R.; Høye, Toke T.; Jarrad, Frith; Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg S.; Klanderud, Kari; Klein, Julia A.; Molau, Ulf; Rixen, Christian; Schmidt, Niels Martin; Shaver, Gaius R.; Slider, Robert T; Totland, Ørjan; Wahren, C-H; Welker, J. M.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0481

Cited by 134 publications

(194 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(74 reference statements)

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“…There is still uncertainty surrounding the relative response of different PFTs to future climate change (Elmendorf, Henry, Hollister, Bjork, Bjorkman, et al., 2012), especially that of phenology (Oberbauer et al., 2013); however, evidence thus far would imply that deciduous shrubs that are already present in the tundra represent the most negative future competitive interaction to E. vaginatum . Common tundra shrubs such as Betula nana have been shown to exhibit developmental plasticity (e.g., increased branching, canopy density) in response to release from abiotic stress (Bret‐Harte et al., 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While there were differences in the timing of senescence between ecotypes, there was no significant effect of warming on timing of senescence, a finding that concurs with other warming studies (Bjorkman, Vellend, Frei, & Henry, 2017; Rosa et al., 2015) as well as long‐term datasets which show that phenology of arctic plants is relatively unresponsive to recent climate change (Oberbauer et al., 2013). A long‐term warming experiment also found that phenology of high arctic plants was not responsive to warming, but year‐to‐year variation in phenology could be explained by snowmelt date (Bjorkman, Elmendorf, Beamish, Vellend, & Henry, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecotypic differences in the phenology of the tundra species Eriophorum vaginatum reflect sites of origin

Parker

Tang

Clark

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Eriophorum vaginatum is a tussock‐forming sedge that contributes significantly to the structure and primary productivity of moist acidic tussock tundra. Locally adapted populations (ecotypes) have been identified across the geographical distribution of E. vaginatum; however, little is known about how their growth and phenology differ over the course of a growing season. The growing season is short in the Arctic and therefore exerts a strong selection pressure on tundra species. This raises the hypothesis that the phenology of arctic species may be poorly adapted if the timing and length of the growing season change. Mature E. vaginatum tussocks from across a latitudinal gradient (65–70°N) were transplanted into a common garden at a central location (Toolik Lake, 68°38′N, 149°36′W) where half were warmed using open‐top chambers. Over two growing seasons (2015 and 2016), leaf length was measured weekly to track growth rates, timing of senescence, and biomass accumulation. Growth rates were similar across ecotypes and between years and were not affected by warming. However, southern populations accumulated significantly more biomass, largely because they started to senesce later. In 2016, peak biomass and senescence of most populations occurred later than in 2015, probably induced by colder weather at the beginning of the growing season in 2016, which caused a delayed start to growth. The finish was delayed as well. Differences in phenology between populations were largely retained between years, suggesting that the amount of time that these ecotypes grow has been selected by the length of the growing seasons at their respective home sites. As potential growing seasons lengthen, E. vaginatum may be unable to respond appropriately as a result of genetic control and may have reduced fitness in the rapidly warming Arctic tundra.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecotypic differences in the phenology of the tundra species Eriophorum vaginatum reflect sites of origin

Parker

Tang

Clark

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Air temperature changes have been documented to alter the annual phenological progression of Arctic plant habitats, with warming being a primary driver of growth period extension [4,5,31]. Graminoid-and shrub-dominated habitats have a larger response to variations of the daily average temperatures in June and August compared to other habitat types.…”

Section: Interannual Variations In Daily Average Temperaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Arctic plant habitats are characterized by high spatial heterogeneity, often at relatively small scales (submeter), in response to moisture gradients, limiting the ability to predict phenological changes detected by remote sensing at the landscape scales [25][26][27]. Although the vegetation in some regions of the Arctic is well studied, with many studies documenting shifts in habitat type, NDVI, productivity, and phenology in recent decades [17,21,23,[28][29][30][31], most of these data were collected once, twice, or very rarely three times per week. As a result, few studies to date have investigated the role of daily air temperatures on the short-term progression of greening and senescence in tundra habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-Term Impacts of the Air Temperature on Greening and Senescence in Alaskan Arctic Plant Tundra Habitats

et al. 2017

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Climate change is warming the temperatures and lengthening the Arctic growing season with potentially important effects on plant phenology. The ability of plant species to acclimate to changing climatic conditions will dictate the level to which their spatial coverage and habitat-type dominance is different in the future. While the effect of changes in temperature on phenology and species composition have been observed at the plot and at the regional scale, a systematic assessment at medium spatial scales using new noninvasive sensor techniques has not been performed yet. At four sites across the North Slope of Alaska, changes in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) signal were observed by Mobile Instrumented Sensor Platforms (MISP) that are suspended over 50 m transects spanning local moisture gradients. The rates of greening (measured in June) and senescence (measured in August) in response to the air temperature was estimated by changes in NDVI measured as the difference between the NDVI on a specific date and three days later. In June, graminoid-and shrub-dominated habitats showed the greatest rates of NDVI increase in response to the high air temperatures, while forb-and lichen-dominated habitats were less responsive. In August, the NDVI was more responsive to variations in the daily average temperature than spring greening at all sites. For graminoid-and shrub-dominated habitats, we observed a delayed decrease of the NDVI, reflecting a prolonged growing season, in response to high August temperatures. Consequently, the annual C assimilation capacity of these habitats is increased, which in turn may be partially responsible for shrub expansion and further increases in net summer CO 2 fixation. Strong interannual differences highlight that long-term and noninvasive measurements of such complex feedback mechanisms in arctic ecosystems are critical to fully articulate the net effects of climate variability and climate change on plant community and ecosystem processes.

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“…Passive warming [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Previous warming studies using OTCs have been directed toward analyzing specific species responses [8], radiation dynamics [9], plant phenology [10], snow regime shifts [11], and trace gas exchange [12,13] to name a few.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examination of Surface Temperature Modification by Open-Top Chambers along Moisture and Latitudinal Gradients in Arctic Alaska Using Thermal Infrared Photography

2016

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Passive warming manipulation methodologies, such as open-top chambers (OTCs), are a meaningful approach for interpretation of impacts of climate change on the Arctic tundra biome. The magnitude of OTC warming has been studied extensively, revealing an average plot-level warming of air temperature that ranges between 1 and 3˝C as measured by shielded resistive sensors or thermocouples. Studies have also shown that the amount of OTC warming depends in part on location climate, vegetation, and soil properties. While digital infrared thermometers have been employed in a few comparisons, most of the focus of the effectiveness of OTC warming has been on air or soil temperature rather than tissue or surface temperatures, which directly translate to metabolism. Here we used thermal infrared (TIR) photography to quantify tissue and surface temperatures and their spatial variability at a previously unavailable resolution (3-6 mm 2 ). We analyzed plots at three locations that are part of the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX)-Arctic Observing Network (AON-ITEX) network along both moisture and latitudinal gradients spanning from the High Arctic (Barrow, AK, USA) to the Low Arctic (Toolik Lake, AK, USA). Our results show a range of OTC surface warming from 2.65 to 1.27˝C (31%-10%) at our three sites. The magnitude of surface warming detected by TIR imagery in this study was comparable to increases in air temperatures previously reported for these sites. However, the thermal images revealed wide ranges of surface temperatures within the OTCs, with some surfaces well above ambient unevenly distributed within the plots under sunny conditions. We note that analyzing radiometric temperature may be an alternative for future studies that examine data acquired at the same time of day from sites that are in close geographic proximity to avoid the requirement of emissivity or atmospheric correction for validation of results. We foresee future studies using TIR photography to describe species-level thermodynamics that could prove highly valuable toward a better understanding of species-specific responses to climate change in the Arctic.

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Phenological response of tundra plants to background climate variation tested using the International Tundra Experiment

Cited by 134 publications

References 43 publications

Ecotypic differences in the phenology of the tundra species Eriophorum vaginatum reflect sites of origin

Ecotypic differences in the phenology of the tundra species Eriophorum vaginatum reflect sites of origin

Short-Term Impacts of the Air Temperature on Greening and Senescence in Alaskan Arctic Plant Tundra Habitats

Examination of Surface Temperature Modification by Open-Top Chambers along Moisture and Latitudinal Gradients in Arctic Alaska Using Thermal Infrared Photography

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