Plant trait‐environment relationships in tundra are consistent across spatial scales

Rissanen, Tuuli; Niittynen, Pekka; Soininen, Janne; Virkkala, Anna‐Maria; Luoto, Miska

doi:10.1111/ecog.06397

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Selecting the measurement sites was carried out as described above, except for two study areas; Rásttigáisá study area and part of the Kilpisjärvi study area. All measurement sites in Rásttigáisá were based on a systematic study design (Rissanen et al., 2023), in which the sites were chosen using a stratified sampling based on elevation, potential incoming solar radiation, a topographic wetness index (SAGA wetness index) (Conrad et al., 2015), snow cover duration, and soil quality to represent main environmental gradients within the area. Some of the measurement sites (50/227 sites) in Kilpisjärvi were based on a systematic study design (Kemppinen et al., 2018; Tyystjärvi et al., 2021), which was complemented with sites in extreme soil moisture regimes (meltwater channels and ridge tops), snow conditions (short and long snow cover duration), and elevations (near mountain tops).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Moisture Variations From Boreal Forests to the Tundra

Kemppinen

Niittynen

Rissanen

et al. 2023

Water Resources Research

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Soil moisture has a profound influence on life on Earth, and this vital water resource varies across space and time. Here, we explored soil moisture variations in boreal forest and tundra environments, where comprehensive soil moisture datasets are scarce. We installed soil moisture sensors up to 14 cm depth at 503 measurement sites within seven study areas across northern Europe. We recorded 6,138,528 measurements to capture soil moisture variations of the snowless season from April to September 2020. We described the spatio‐temporal patterns of soil moisture, and test how these patterns are linked to topography and how these links vary in space and time. We found large spatial variation and often less pronounced temporal variation in soil moisture across the measurement sites within all study areas. We found that throughout the measurement periods both univariate and multivariate models with topographic predictors showed great temporal variation in their performance and in the relative influence of the predictors within and across the areas. We found that the soil moisture‐topography relationships are site‐specific, as the topography‐based models often performed poorly when transferred from one area to another. There was no general solution that would work well in all the study areas when modeling soil moisture variation with topography. This should be carefully considered before applying topographic proxies for soil moisture. Overall, these data and results highlight the strong spatio‐temporal heterogeneity of soil moisture conditions in boreal forest and tundra environments.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Moisture Variations From Boreal Forests to the Tundra

Kemppinen

Niittynen

Rissanen

et al. 2023

Water Resources Research

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“…Species from environments that suffer from unfavorable periods, such as Tundra and Mediterranean regions, tend to have adaptive characteristics for survival, such as trichomes, thick leaves, and needles [43][44][45].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the Adequate Choice of Plant Species Favors the Restoration Process in Areas Susceptible to Extreme Frost Events

Viveiros,

Francisco,

Dutra

et al. 2023

Biology

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This work aimed to evaluate the impacts caused by extreme frost events in an ecological restoration area. We grouped the species in three ways: (1) type of trichome coverage; (2) shape of the seedling crown; and (3) functional groups according to the degree of damage caused by frost. The variables of the restored area and species characteristics were selected to be subjected to linear generalization analysis models (GLMs). A total of 104 individuals from seven species were sampled. The most affected species were Guazuma ulmifolia Lam. (98% of leaves affected), followed by Cecropia pachystachia Trécul and Hymenea courbaril L. (both 97%), Inga vera Willd. (84%), and Senegalia polyphylla (DC.) Britton & Rose with 75%. Tapirira guianensis Aubl. was considered an intermediate species, with 62% of the crown affected. Only Solanum granulosoleprosum Dunal was classified as slightly affected, with only 1.5% of leaves affected. With the GLM analysis, it was verified that the interaction between the variables of leaf thickness (Χ² = 37.1, df = 1, p < 0.001), trichome coverage (Χ² = 650.5, df = 2, p < 0.001), and leaf structure culture (Χ² = 54.0, df = 2, p < 0.001) resulted in a model with high predictive power (AIC = 927,244, BIC = 940,735, Χ² = 6947, R² = 0.74, p < 0.001). Frost-affected crown cover was best explained by the interaction between the three functional attributes (74%). We found that there is a tendency for thicker leaves completely covered in trichomes to be less affected by the impact of frost and that the coverage of the affected crown was greatly influenced by the coverage of trichomes. Seedlings with leaves completely covered in trichomes, thicker leaves, and a funneled or more open crown structure are those that are most likely to resist frost events. The success of ecological restoration in areas susceptible to extreme events such as frost can be predicted based on the functional attributes of the chosen species. This can contribute to a better selection of species to be used to restore degraded areas.

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“…Final DOY of snow melt at the logger sites was averaged over the two hydrological years and used to model spatially continuous snow persistence. To model snow persistence within the study area, we used the three modelling methods and geographical location, remotely sensed snow information based on PlanetScope satellite images, elevation, TPI10 and wind index as predictors (Rissanen et al 2023a). The final snow persistence was the mean of gam, gbm and rf predictions.…”

Section: Environmental Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The soil samples were freeze dried and pH was then analysed using water as a solution liquid following the standard International Organization for Standardization 10 390 protocol. Based on in situ measurements pH was modelled using geographic location, elevation, slope, water balance, SWI, edaphic index (Niittynen et al 2020) and soil type (Rissanen et al 2023a). Final pH was the median of the three modelling methods.…”

Section: Environmental Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Local snow and fluvial conditions drive taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic plant diversity in tundra

Rissanen,

Aalto,

Kainulainen

et al. 2023

Oikos

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To understand, how the diversity and hence functioning of tundra ecosystems might respond to altering environmental conditions, fine‐scale studies are needed as local conditions may buffer broad‐scale environmental changes. Furthermore, species functional traits and phylogeny may provide complementary insights to taxonomic diversity patterns as they link plant communities to ecosystem processes often more closely than species count. Here, we examined taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic plant diversity in relation to fundamental environmental factors, namely, growing degree days, snow persistence, soil moisture, pH and fluvial disturbance in northern Norway. The relationships between eight diversity metrics and environmental predictors were investigated using hierarchical generalised additive models. Our results indicated that taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic plant diversity in tundra are all strongly linked to local snow and fluvial conditions, with average variable importance of 0.19 and 0.14, respectively, whereas the importance of other predictors was low (average variable importance < 0.06). The average explained deviance by the models was 0.23. Predicted hotspots of different diversity metrics overlapped notably and were mostly located along the streams. However, when the effect of taxonomic richness was removed from the phylogenetic and functional diversities their connections with environmental predictors were weaker but indicated strongest relationships with snow and soil pH showing distinct diversity hotspots in areas with low species richness. Our study demonstrates that investigating multiple facets of biodiversity enhances understanding on community patterns and their drivers. Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of addressing local hydrological conditions that represent both resources and disturbances for vegetation. As arctic and alpine areas are probably shifting from snow to rain dominated, incorporating snow and fluvial information into the models might be particularly important to better understand tundra ecosystems under global change.

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Plant trait‐environment relationships in tundra are consistent across spatial scales

Cited by 5 publications

References 75 publications

Soil Moisture Variations From Boreal Forests to the Tundra

Soil Moisture Variations From Boreal Forests to the Tundra

How the Adequate Choice of Plant Species Favors the Restoration Process in Areas Susceptible to Extreme Frost Events

Local snow and fluvial conditions drive taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic plant diversity in tundra

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