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McNichol BH, Wang R, Hefner A, Helzer C, McMahon SM, Russo SE. Topography-driven microclimate gradients shape forest structure, diversity, and composition in a temperate refugial forest. PLANT-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS (HOBOKEN, N.J.) 2024; 5:e10153. [PMID: 38863691 PMCID: PMC11166229 DOI: 10.1002/pei3.10153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
Macroclimate drives vegetation distributions, but fine-scale topographic variation can generate microclimate refugia for plant persistence in unsuitable areas. However, we lack quantitative descriptions of topography-driven microclimatic variation and how it shapes forest structure, diversity, and composition. We hypothesized that topographic variation and the presence of the forest overstory cause spatiotemporal microclimate variation affecting tree performance, causing forest structure, diversity, and composition to vary with topography and microclimate, and topography and the overstory to buffer microclimate. In a 20.2-ha inventory plot in the North American Great Plains, we censused woody stems ≥1 cm in diameter and collected detailed topographic and microclimatic data. Across 59-m of elevation, microclimate covaried with topography to create a sharp desiccation gradient, and topography and the overstory buffered understory microclimate. The magnitude of microclimatic variation mirrored that of regional-scale variation: with increasing elevation, there was a decrease in soil moisture corresponding to the difference across ~2.1° of longitude along the east-to-west aridity gradient and an increase in air temperature corresponding to the difference across ~2.7° of latitude along the north-to-south gradient. More complex forest structure and higher diversity occurred in moister, less-exposed habitats, and species occupied distinct topographic niches. Our study demonstrates how topographic and microclimatic gradients structure forests in putative climate-change refugia, by revealing ecological processes enabling populations to be maintained during periods of unfavorable macroclimate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bailey H. McNichol
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnLincolnNebraskaUSA
| | - Ran Wang
- School of Natural ResourcesUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnLincolnNebraskaUSA
| | | | | | - Sean M. McMahon
- Smithsonian Institution Forest Global Earth ObservatorySmithsonian Environmental Research CenterEdgewaterMarylandUSA
| | - Sabrina E. Russo
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnLincolnNebraskaUSA
- Center for Plant Science InnovationUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnLincolnNebraskaUSA
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Ni M, Vellend M. Soil properties constrain forest understory plant distributions along an elevation gradient. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230373. [PMID: 38583477 PMCID: PMC10999263 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Projections of spatial biodiversity dynamics under climate warming are often based on models including only climate variables, and when non-climatic factors (e.g. soil) are included, data are often at much coarser spatial resolutions than those experienced by plants. Field studies along elevation gradients permit the gathering of detailed soil data, while still covering a wide climatic gradient. Here, an intensive field survey of four spring forest herbs along an elevation gradient showed that soil properties had substantial impacts on the occurrence/abundance of all species, and that soil effects were more pronounced at higher elevations. For Trillium erectum and Claytonia caroliniana, very infrequent occurrences at high elevation were strongly associated with rare microsites with high pH or nutrients. In a seven-year transplant experiment with T. erectum, we found that individuals grew to much smaller sizes at high than low elevation, suggesting that environmental factors rather than dispersal limitation constrain the species' upper range limit, despite substantial warming in recent decades. Our study demonstrates that soil factors interact strongly with climate to determine plant range limits along climatic gradients. Unsuitable soils for plants at high elevations or latitudes may represent an important constraint on future plant migration and biodiversity change. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Ni
- Université de Sherbrooke, Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada J1K 2R1
| | - Mark Vellend
- Université de Sherbrooke, Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada J1K 2R1
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Miraglio T, Coops NC, Wallis CIB, Crofts AL, Kalacska M, Vellend M, Serbin SP, Arroyo-Mora JP, Laliberté E. Mapping canopy traits over Québec using airborne and spaceborne imaging spectroscopy. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17179. [PMID: 37821515 PMCID: PMC10567784 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44384-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The advent of new spaceborne imaging spectrometers offers new opportunities for ecologists to map vegetation traits at global scales. However, to date most imaging spectroscopy studies exploiting satellite spectrometers have been constrained to the landscape scale. In this paper we present a new method to map vegetation traits at the landscape scale and upscale trait maps to the continental level, using historical spaceborne imaging spectroscopy (Hyperion) to derive estimates of leaf mass per area, nitrogen, and carbon concentrations of forests in Québec, Canada. We compare estimates for each species with reference field values and obtain good agreement both at the landscape and continental scales, with patterns consistent with the leaf economic spectrum. By exploiting the Hyperion satellite archive to map these traits and successfully upscale the estimates to the continental scale, we demonstrate the great potential of recent and upcoming spaceborne spectrometers to benefit plant biodiversity monitoring and conservation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Miraglio
- Integrated Remote Sensing Studio, Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
| | - Nicholas C Coops
- Integrated Remote Sensing Studio, Department of Forest Resources Management, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | | | - Anna L Crofts
- Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Margaret Kalacska
- Applied Remote Sensing Lab, Department of Geography, McGill University, Montréal, QC, H3A 0G4, Canada
| | - Mark Vellend
- Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Shawn P Serbin
- Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, 11973, USA
| | - Juan Pablo Arroyo-Mora
- Flight Research Laboratory, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Etienne Laliberté
- Département de Sciences Biologiques, Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3A 0G4, Canada
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Rinas CL, McMullin RT, Rousseu F, Vellend M. Diversity and assembly of lichens and bryophytes on tree trunks along a temperate to boreal elevation gradient. Oecologia 2023; 202:55-67. [PMID: 37081239 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05369-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/02/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2023]
Abstract
Based on hypotheses related to environmental filtering vs. stochastic community assembly, we tested taxon-specific predictions regarding the relationships of alpha diversity, beta diversity and species composition of epiphytic macrolichens and bryophytes with elevation and the lateral gradient on trees (the different sides of the tree bole related to aspect and trunk inclination) at Parc national du Mont-Mégantic in Southeastern Québec, Canada. For lichens on firs, increasing elevation was associated with increasing alpha diversity, and a marked shift in community composition, at the scale of whole trees. In contrast, for bryophytes on maples, tree inclination and the lateral gradient had the strongest effects: more inclined trees had greater whole-tree alpha diversity and stronger within-tree contrasts in composition between the upper and lower bole surfaces. For lichens on maples, whole-tree alpha diversity showed a weak, negative relationship with inclination, and beta diversity increased slightly with elevation. Our results are consistent with theories predicting greater alpha diversity in more favorable environments (for lichens: high elevation with high relative air humidity and lower temperatures; for bryophytes: upper surfaces of tree boles with liquid water available), but support was weak for the prediction of greater beta diversity in more favorable environments. Overall, the important predictors of epiphytic cryptogam diversity vary more among the species of tree host (maple vs. fir) than focal taxa (lichens vs. bryophytes), with patterns likely related to different effects of water, temperature, and competition between lichens and bryophytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina L Rinas
- Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
| | - R Troy McMullin
- Research and Collections, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - François Rousseu
- Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Mark Vellend
- Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
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McNichol BH, Russo SE. Plant Species' Capacity for Range Shifts at the Habitat and Geographic Scales: A Trade-Off-Based Framework. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:1248. [PMID: 36986935 PMCID: PMC10056461 DOI: 10.3390/plants12061248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Climate change is causing rapid shifts in the abiotic and biotic environmental conditions experienced by plant populations, but we lack generalizable frameworks for predicting the consequences for species. These changes may cause individuals to become poorly matched to their environments, potentially inducing shifts in the distributions of populations and altering species' habitat and geographic ranges. We present a trade-off-based framework for understanding and predicting whether plant species may undergo range shifts, based on ecological strategies defined by functional trait variation. We define a species' capacity for undergoing range shifts as the product of its colonization ability and the ability to express a phenotype well-suited to the environment across life stages (phenotype-environment matching), which are both strongly influenced by a species' ecological strategy and unavoidable trade-offs in function. While numerous strategies may be successful in an environment, severe phenotype-environment mismatches result in habitat filtering: propagules reach a site but cannot establish there. Operating within individuals and populations, these processes will affect species' habitat ranges at small scales, and aggregated across populations, will determine whether species track climatic changes and undergo geographic range shifts. This trade-off-based framework can provide a conceptual basis for species distribution models that are generalizable across plant species, aiding in the prediction of shifts in plant species' ranges in response to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bailey H. McNichol
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 1101 T Street, 402 Manter Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0118, USA;
| | - Sabrina E. Russo
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 1101 T Street, 402 Manter Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0118, USA;
- Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 1901 Vine Street, N300 Beadle Center, Lincoln, NE 68588-0118, USA
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