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Silvestro R, Mura C, Alano Bonacini D, de Lafontaine G, Faubert P, Mencuccini M, Rossi S. Local adaptation shapes functional traits and resource allocation in black spruce. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21257. [PMID: 38040772 PMCID: PMC10692160 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-48530-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Climate change is rapidly altering weather patterns, resulting in shifts in climatic zones. The survival of trees in specific locations depends on their functional traits. Local populations exhibit trait adaptations that ensure their survival and accomplishment of growth and reproduction processes during the growing season. Studying these traits offers valuable insights into species responses to present and future environmental conditions, aiding the implementation of measures to ensure forest resilience and productivity. This study investigates the variability in functional traits among five black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) provenances originating from a latitudinal gradient along the boreal forest, and planted in a common garden in Quebec, Canada. We examined differences in bud phenology, growth performance, lifetime first reproduction, and the impact of a late-frost event on tree growth and phenological adjustments. The findings revealed that trees from northern sites exhibit earlier budbreak, lower growth increments, and reach reproductive maturity earlier than those from southern sites. Late-frost damage affected growth performance, but no phenological adjustment was observed in the successive year. Local adaptation in the functional traits may lead to maladaptation of black spruce under future climate conditions or serve as a potent evolutionary force promoting rapid adaptation under changing environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Silvestro
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada.
| | - C Mura
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada
| | - D Alano Bonacini
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada
| | - G de Lafontaine
- Canada Research Chair in Integrative Biology of the Northern Flora, Département de biologie, chimie et Géographie, Centre for Northern Studies, Centre for Forest Research, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, QC, Canada
| | - P Faubert
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada
- Carbone boréal, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H 2B1, Canada
| | - M Mencuccini
- Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig de Lluis Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain
| | - S Rossi
- Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes terrestres boréaux, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l'Université, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H2B1, Canada
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2
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Chen Y, Cheng X, Liu A, Chen Q, Wang C. Tracking lake drainage events and drained lake basin vegetation dynamics across the Arctic. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7359. [PMID: 37968270 PMCID: PMC10652023 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43207-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Widespread lake drainage can lead to large-scale drying in Arctic lake-rich areas, affecting hydrology, ecosystems and permafrost carbon dynamics. To date, the spatio-temporal distribution, driving factors, and post-drainage dynamics of lake drainage events across the Arctic remain unclear. Using satellite remote sensing and surface water products, we identify over 35,000 (~0.6% of all lakes) lake drainage events in the northern permafrost zone between 1984 and 2020, with approximately half being relatively understudied non-thermokarst lakes. Smaller, thermokarst, and discontinuous permafrost area lakes are more susceptible to drainage compared to their larger, non-thermokarst, and continuous permafrost area counterparts. Over time, discontinuous permafrost areas contribute more drained lakes annually than continuous permafrost areas. Following drainage, vegetation rapidly colonizes drained lake basins, with thermokarst drained lake basins showing significantly higher vegetation growth rates and greenness levels than their non-thermokarst counterparts. Under warming, drained lake basins are likely to become more prevalent and serve as greening hotspots, playing an important role in shaping Arctic ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yating Chen
- College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China.
- Key Laboratory of Comprehensive Observation of Polar Environment (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Zhuhai, 519082, China.
- College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China.
| | - Xiao Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Comprehensive Observation of Polar Environment (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Zhuhai, 519082, China.
- School of Geospatial Engineering and Science, Sun Yat-sen University, and Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai, 519082, China.
| | - Aobo Liu
- College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China.
- Key Laboratory of Comprehensive Observation of Polar Environment (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Zhuhai, 519082, China.
- College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China.
| | - Qingfeng Chen
- College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
| | - Chengxin Wang
- College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China
- Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development & Yellow River Civilization by Provincial and Ministerial Co-construction of Collaborative Innovation Center, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475001, China
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3
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Gable TD, Johnson-Bice SM, Homkes AT, Bump JK. Differential provisioning roles, prey size, and prey abundance shape the dynamic feeding behavior of gray wolves. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1045. [PMID: 37838820 PMCID: PMC10576808 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05419-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The demands of raising dependent young can influence the feeding behaviors of social carnivores, especially for individuals that are primarily responsible for provisioning young. We investigated how the feeding and provisioning behavior of a social carnivore, gray wolves (Canis lupus), are connected and shaped by extrinsic and intrinsic factors, and whether and how these patterns changed throughout the pup-rearing season (April-August). We found breeding wolves had shorter handling times of prey, lower probability of returning to kills, and greater probability of returning to homesites after kills compared to subordinate individuals. However, the feeding and provisioning behaviors of breeding individuals changed considerably over the pup-rearing season. Wolves had longer handling times and returned to provision pups directly after kills less frequently as annual prey abundance decreased. These patterns indicate that adult wolves prioritize meeting their own energetic demands over those of their pups when prey abundance decreases. We suggest that differential provisioning of offspring based on prey abundance is a behavioral mechanism by which group size adjusts to available resources via changes in neonate survival.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas D Gable
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
| | - Sean M Johnson-Bice
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Austin T Homkes
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Joseph K Bump
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
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Larson J, Wallerman J, Peichl M, Laudon H. Soil moisture controls the partitioning of carbon stocks across a managed boreal forest landscape. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14909. [PMID: 37689813 PMCID: PMC10492834 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42091-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Boreal forests sequester and store vast carbon (C) pools that may be subject to significant feedback effects induced by climatic warming. The boreal landscape consists of a mosaic of forests and peatlands with wide variation in total C stocks, making it important to understand the factors controlling C pool sizes in different ecosystems. We therefore quantified the total C stocks in the organic layer, mineral soil, and tree biomass in 430 plots across a 68 km2 boreal catchment. The organic layer held the largest C pool, accounting for 39% of the total C storage; tree and mineral C pools accounted for 38% and 23%, respectively. The size of the soil C pool was positively related to modelled soil moisture conditions, especially in the organic soil layer (R2 = 0.50). Conversely, the tree C pool exhibited a unimodal relationship: storage was highest under intermediate wetness conditions. The magnitude and variation in the total soil C stocks observed in this work were comparable to those found at the national level in Sweden, suggesting that C accumulation in boreal landscapes is more sensitive to local variation resulting primarily from differences in soil moisture conditions than to regional differences in climate, nitrogen deposition, and parent material.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Larson
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden.
| | - Jörgen Wallerman
- Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Matthias Peichl
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Hjalmar Laudon
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden
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5
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Johnson DB, Woolet J, Yedinak KM, Whitman T. Experimentally determined traits shape bacterial community composition one and five years following wildfire. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:1419-1431. [PMID: 37524797 PMCID: PMC10482699 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02135-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
Wildfires represent major ecological disturbances, burning 2-3% of Earth's terrestrial area each year with sometimes drastic effects above- and belowground. Soil bacteria offer an ideal, yet understudied system within which to explore fundamental principles of fire ecology. To understand how wildfires restructure soil bacterial communities and alter their functioning, we sought to translate aboveground fire ecology to belowground systems by determining which microbial traits are important post-fire and whether changes in bacterial communities affect carbon cycling. We employed an uncommon approach to assigning bacterial traits, by first running three laboratory experiments to directly determine which microbes survive fires, grow quickly post-fire and/or thrive in the post-fire environment, while tracking CO2 emissions. We then quantified the abundance of taxa assigned to each trait in a large field dataset of soils one and five years after wildfires in the boreal forest of northern Canada. We found that fast-growing bacteria rapidly dominate post-fire soils but return to pre-burn relative abundances by five years post-fire. Although both fire survival and affinity for the post-fire environment were statistically significant predictors of post-fire community composition, neither are particularly influential. Our results from the incubation trials indicate that soil carbon fluxes post-wildfire are not likely limited by microbial communities, suggesting strong functional resilience. From these findings, we offer a traits-based framework of bacterial responses to wildfire.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jamie Woolet
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Kara M Yedinak
- Forest Products Laboratory, USDA Forest Service, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Thea Whitman
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
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Li W, Manzanedo RD, Jiang Y, Ma W, Du E, Zhao S, Rademacher T, Dong M, Xu H, Kang X, Wang J, Wu F, Cui X, Pederson N. Reassessment of growth-climate relations indicates the potential for decline across Eurasian boreal larch forests. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3358. [PMID: 37291110 PMCID: PMC10250375 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39057-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Larch, a widely distributed tree in boreal Eurasia, is experiencing rapid warming across much of its distribution. A comprehensive assessment of growth on warming is needed to comprehend the potential impact of climate change. Most studies, relying on rigid calendar-based temperature series, have detected monotonic responses at the margins of boreal Eurasia, but not across the region. Here, we developed a method for constructing temporally flexible and physiologically relevant temperature series to reassess growth-temperature relations of larch across boreal Eurasia. Our method appears more effective in assessing the impact of warming on growth than previous methods. Our approach indicates widespread and spatially heterogeneous growth-temperature responses that are driven by local climate. Models quantifying these results project that the negative responses of growth to temperature will spread northward and upward throughout this century. If true, the risks of warming to boreal Eurasia could be more widespread than conveyed from previous works.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenqing Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Protection and Utilization, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, Zhuhai, 519087, China
- Key Laboratory of Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation, Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Center, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing, 100035, China
| | - Rubén D Manzanedo
- Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, 01366, USA
- Plant Ecology, Institute of Integrative Biology, D-USYS, ETH Zürich, 8006, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Yuan Jiang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Protection and Utilization, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, Zhuhai, 519087, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
| | - Wenqiu Ma
- College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Enzai Du
- State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Shoudong Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Tim Rademacher
- Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, 01366, USA
- Institut des Sciences de la Forêt Tempérée, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Ripon, J0V 1V0, QC, Canada
| | - Manyu Dong
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Protection and Utilization, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, Zhuhai, 519087, China
- State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Hui Xu
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
| | - Xinyu Kang
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Boston University, 111 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA
| | - Jun Wang
- Key Laboratory of Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation, Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Center, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing, 100035, China
| | - Fang Wu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Protection and Utilization, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, Zhuhai, 519087, China
- School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Xuefeng Cui
- School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China
| | - Neil Pederson
- Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, 01366, USA
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7
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Rotbarth R, Van Nes EH, Scheffer M, Jepsen JU, Vindstad OPL, Xu C, Holmgren M. Northern expansion is not compensating for southern declines in North American boreal forests. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3373. [PMID: 37291123 PMCID: PMC10250320 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39092-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Climate change is expected to shift the boreal biome northward through expansion at the northern and contraction at the southern boundary respectively. However, biome-scale evidence of such a shift is rare. Here, we used remotely-sensed tree cover data to quantify temporal changes across the North American boreal biome from 2000 to 2019. We reveal a strong north-south asymmetry in tree cover change, coupled with a range shrinkage of tree cover distributions. We found no evidence for tree cover expansion in the northern biome, while tree cover increased markedly in the core of the biome range. By contrast, tree cover declined along the southern biome boundary, where losses were related largely to wildfires and timber logging. We show that these contrasting trends are structural indicators for a possible onset of a biome contraction which may lead to long-term carbon declines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronny Rotbarth
- Environmental Sciences Department, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Egbert H Van Nes
- Environmental Sciences Department, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Marten Scheffer
- Environmental Sciences Department, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jane Uhd Jepsen
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway
| | | | - Chi Xu
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Milena Holmgren
- Environmental Sciences Department, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Alabia ID, García Molinos J, Hirata T, Mueter FJ, David CL. Pan-Arctic marine biodiversity and species co-occurrence patterns under recent climate. Sci Rep 2023; 13:4076. [PMID: 36906705 PMCID: PMC10008629 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30943-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The Arctic region is experiencing drastic climatic changes bringing about potential ecological shifts. Here, we explored marine biodiversity and potential species associations across eight Arctic marine areas between 2000 and 2019. We compiled species occurrences for a subset of 69 marine taxa (i.e., 26 apex predators and 43 mesopredators) and environmental factors to predict taxon-specific distributions using a multi-model ensemble approach. Arctic-wide temporal trends of species richness increased in the last 20 years and highlighted potential emerging areas of species accrual due to climate-driven species redistribution. Further, regional species associations were dominated by positive co-occurrences among species pairs with high frequencies in the Pacific and Atlantic Arctic areas. Comparative analyses of species richness, community composition, and co-occurrence between high and low summer sea ice concentrations revealed contrasting impacts of and detected areas vulnerable to sea ice changes. In particular, low (high) summer sea ice generally resulted in species gains (loss) in the inflow and loss (gains) in the outflow shelves, accompanied by substantial changes in community composition and therefore potential species associations. Overall, the recent changes in biodiversity and species co-occurrences in the Arctic were driven by pervasive poleward range shifts, especially for wide-ranging apex predators. Our findings highlight the varying regional impacts of warming and sea ice loss on Arctic marine communities and provide important insights into the vulnerability of Arctic marine areas to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene D Alabia
- Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, N21 W11, Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 001-0021, Japan.
| | - Jorge García Molinos
- Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, N21 W11, Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 001-0021, Japan
| | - Takafumi Hirata
- Arctic Research Center, Hokkaido University, N21 W11, Kita-Ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 001-0021, Japan
| | - Franz J Mueter
- College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 17101 Point Lena Loop Rd, 315 Lena Point Bldg, Juneau, AK, 99801-8344, USA
| | - Carmen L David
- Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, 6708 PB, The Netherlands
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Ledesma M, Gorokhova E, Garbaras A, Röjning L, Brena B, Karlson AML. High capacity for a dietary specialist consumer population to cope with increasing cyanobacterial blooms. Sci Rep 2022; 12:22169. [PMID: 36550191 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26611-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
We present a common-garden experiment to examine the amphipod Monoporeia affinis, a key deposit-feeder in the Baltic Sea, a low diversity system offering a good model for studying local adaptations. In the northern part of this system, the seasonal development of phytoplankton is characterized by a single diatom bloom (high nutritional quality), whereas in the south, the diatom bloom is followed by a cyanobacteria bloom (low nutritional quality) during summer. Therefore, the nutrient input to the benthic system differs between the sea basins. Accordingly, the amphipod populations were expected to be dietary specialists in the north and generalists in the south. We tested this hypothesis using a combination of stable isotope tracers, trophic niche analyses, and various endpoints of growth and health status. We found that when mixed with diatomes, the toxin-producing cyanobacteria, were efficiently incorporated and used for growth by both populations. However, contrary to expectations, the feeding plasticity was more pronounced in the northern population, indicating genetically-based divergence and suggesting that these animals can develop ecological adaptations to the climate-induced northward cyanobacteria expansion in this system. These findings improve our understanding regarding possible adaptations of the deposit-feeders to increasing cyanobacteria under global warming world in both limnic and marine ecosystems. It is possible that the observed effects apply to other consumers facing altered food quality due to environmental changes.
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Szeligowska M, Trudnowska E, Boehnke R, Błachowiak-Samołyk K. Dark plumes of glacial meltwater affect vertical distribution of zooplankton in the Arctic. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17953. [PMID: 36289274 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22475-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
In polar regions, the release of glacial meltwater resulting in turbid plumes is expected to transform coastal waters with numerous consequences on the marine ecosystem. This study aimed to determine the influence of turbidity regimes on the vertical distribution of copepods together with their potential food (chlorophyll a fluorescence) and non-visual predators (gelatinous zooplankton). Hydrography, turbidity, suspended particulate matter and chlorophyll a were studied in July and August 2019 in West Spitsbergen waters (European Arctic). Fine-scale vertical distribution patterns of zooplankton were assessed by an optical counter (LOPC) and underwater camera (UVP) and verified by plankton nets. In waters with the shallow impact of dark plumes, Calanus spp. and gelatinous zooplankton were concentrated in the upper water layers, whereas in areas with a thick turbid layer, they were distributed evenly in the water column. However, chlorophyll a peaks were found to be restricted to the surface in the turbid waters and there were subsurface maxima in the shallow turbidity regime. Regardless of the region, the turbidity regime was a significant factor shaping the vertical distribution of Calanus spp. We speculate that similar trends might be observed in other rapidly emerging turbid ecosystems and urge that future plankton research should also include relatively simple turbidity measurements.
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Johnson CA, Drever CR, Kirby P, Neave E, Martin AE. Protecting boreal caribou habitat can help conserve biodiversity and safeguard large quantities of soil carbon in Canada. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17067. [PMID: 36224283 PMCID: PMC9556649 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21476-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Boreal caribou require large areas of undisturbed habitat for persistence. They are listed as threatened with the risk of extinction in Canada because of landscape changes induced by human activities and resource extraction. Here we ask: Can the protection of habitat for boreal caribou help Canada meet its commitments under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change? We identified hotspots of high conservation value within the distribution of boreal caribou based on: (1) three measures of biodiversity for at risk species (species richness, unique species and taxonomic diversity); (2) climate refugia or areas forecasted to remain unchanged under climate change; and, (3) areas of high soil carbon that could add to Canada's greenhouse gas emissions if released into the atmosphere. We evaluated the overlap among hotspot types and how well hotspots were represented in Canada's protected and conserved areas network. While hotspots are widely distributed across the boreal caribou distribution, with nearly 80% of the area falling within at least one hotspot type, only 3% of the distribution overlaps three or more hotspots. Moreover, the protected and conserved areas network only captures about 10% of all hotspots within the boreal caribou distribution. While the protected and conserved areas network adequately represents hotspots with high numbers of at risk species, areas occupied by unique species, as well as the full spectrum of areas occupied by different taxa, are underrepresented. Climate refugia and soil carbon hotspots also occur at lower percentages than expected. These findings illustrate the potential co-benefits of habitat protection for caribou to biodiversity and ecosystem services and suggest caribou may be a good proxy for future protected areas planning and for developing effective conservation strategies in regional assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl A. Johnson
- grid.34428.390000 0004 1936 893XEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3 Canada ,grid.86715.3d0000 0000 9064 6198Department of Applied Geomatics, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1 Canada
| | | | - Patrick Kirby
- grid.34428.390000 0004 1936 893XEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3 Canada
| | - Erin Neave
- grid.34428.390000 0004 1936 893XEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3 Canada
| | - Amanda E. Martin
- grid.34428.390000 0004 1936 893XEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3 Canada ,grid.34428.390000 0004 1936 893XDepartment of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6 Canada
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12
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Byun E, Rezanezhad F, Fairbairn L, Slowinski S, Basiliko N, Price JS, Quinton WL, Roy-Léveillée P, Webster K, Van Cappellen P. Temperature, moisture and freeze-thaw controls on CO 2 production in soil incubations from northern peatlands. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23219. [PMID: 34853354 PMCID: PMC8636591 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02606-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Peat accumulation in high latitude wetlands represents a natural long-term carbon sink, resulting from the cumulative excess of growing season net ecosystem production over non-growing season (NGS) net mineralization in soils. With high latitudes experiencing warming at a faster pace than the global average, especially during the NGS, a major concern is that enhanced mineralization of soil organic carbon will steadily increase CO2 emissions from northern peatlands. In this study, we conducted laboratory incubations with soils from boreal and temperate peatlands across Canada. Peat soils were pretreated for different soil moisture levels, and CO2 production rates were measured at 12 sequential temperatures, covering a range from - 10 to + 35 °C including one freeze-thaw event. On average, the CO2 production rates in the boreal peat samples increased more sharply with temperature than in the temperate peat samples. For same temperature, optimum soil moisture levels for CO2 production were higher in the peat samples from more flooded sites. However, standard reaction kinetics (e.g., Q10 temperature coefficient and Arrhenius equation) failed to account for the apparent lack of temperature dependence of CO2 production rates measured below 0 °C, and a sudden increase after a freezing event. Thus, we caution against using the simple kinetic expressions to represent the CO2 emissions from northern peatlands, especially regarding the long NGS period with multiple soil freeze and thaw events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eunji Byun
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
| | - Fereidoun Rezanezhad
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
| | - Linden Fairbairn
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Stephanie Slowinski
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Nathan Basiliko
- Department of Biology and Vale Living With Lakes Centre, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada
| | - Jonathan S Price
- Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - William L Quinton
- Cold Regions Research Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Pascale Roy-Léveillée
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada
| | - Kara Webster
- Canadian Forest Service Great Lakes Forestry Centre - Natural Resources Canada, Sault Ste Marie, ON, Canada
| | - Philippe Van Cappellen
- Ecohydrology Research Group, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Water Institute, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
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13
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Woodman SG, Khoury S, Fournier RE, Emilson EJS, Gunn JM, Rusak JA, Tanentzap AJ. Forest defoliator outbreaks alter nutrient cycling in northern waters. Nat Commun 2021; 12:6355. [PMID: 34732733 PMCID: PMC8566564 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26666-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Insect defoliators alter biogeochemical cycles from land into receiving waters by consuming terrestrial biomass and releasing biolabile frass. Here, we related insect outbreaks to water chemistry across 12 boreal lake catchments over 32-years. We report, on average, 27% lower dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and 112% higher dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentrations in lake waters when defoliators covered entire catchments and reduced leaf area. DOC reductions reached 32% when deciduous stands dominated. Within-year changes in DOC from insect outbreaks exceeded 86% of between-year trends across a larger dataset of 266 boreal and north temperate lakes from 1990 to 2016. Similarly, within-year increases in DIN from insect outbreaks exceeded local, between-year changes in DIN by 12-times, on average. As insect defoliator outbreaks occur at least every 5 years across a wider 439,661 km2 boreal ecozone of Ontario, we suggest they are an underappreciated driver of biogeochemical cycles in forest catchments of this region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel G. Woodman
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Ecosystems and Global Change Group, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK CB2 3EA
| | - Sacha Khoury
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Forest Ecology and Conservation Group, University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK CB2 3QZ
| | - Ronald E. Fournier
- grid.202033.00000 0001 2295 5236Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, 1219 Queen St. E, Sault Ste. Marie, ON Canada P6A 2E5
| | - Erik J. S. Emilson
- grid.202033.00000 0001 2295 5236Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, 1219 Queen St. E, Sault Ste. Marie, ON Canada P6A 2E5
| | - John M. Gunn
- grid.258970.10000 0004 0469 5874Cooperative Freshwater Ecology Unit, Vale Living with Lakes Centre, Laurentian University, 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, ON Canada P3E 2C6
| | - James A. Rusak
- grid.419892.f0000 0004 0406 3391Dorset Environmental Science Centre, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, 1026 Bellwood Acres Road, Dorset, ON Canada P0A 1E0
| | - Andrew J. Tanentzap
- grid.5335.00000000121885934Ecosystems and Global Change Group, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK CB2 3EA
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14
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Kouba M, Bartoš L, Bartošová J, Hongisto K, Korpimäki E. Long-term trends in the body condition of parents and offspring of Tengmalm's owls under fluctuating food conditions and climate change. Sci Rep 2021; 11:18893. [PMID: 34556766 PMCID: PMC8460639 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98447-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Physical condition is important for the ability to resist various parasites and diseases as well as in escaping predators thus contributing to reproductive success, over-winter survival and possible declines in wildlife populations. However, in-depth research on trends in body condition is rare because decades-long datasets are not available for a majority of species. We analysed the long-term dataset of offspring covering 34 years, male parents (40 years) and female parents (42 years) to find out whether the decline of Tengmalm's owl population in western Finland is attributable to either decreased adult and/or juvenile body condition in interaction with changing weather conditions and density estimates of main foods. We found that body condition of parent owl males and females declined throughout the 40-year study period whereas the body condition of owlets at the fledging stage very slightly increased. The body condition of parent owls increased with augmenting depth of snow cover in late winter (January to March), and that of offspring improved with increasing precipitation in late spring (May to June). We conclude that the decreasing trend of body condition of parent owl males and females is important factor probably inducing reduced adult survival and reduced reproduction success thus contributing to the long-term decline of the Tengmalm's owl study population. The very slightly increasing trend of body condition of offspring is obviously not able to compensate the overall decline of Tengmalm's owl population, because the number of offspring in turn simultaneously decreased considerably in the long-term. The ongoing climate change appeared to work in opposite ways in this case because declining depth of snow cover will make the situation worse but increased precipitation will improve. We suggest that the main reasons for long-term decline of body condition of parent owls are interactive or additive effects of reduced food resources and increased overall predation risk due to habitat degradation (loss and fragmentation of mature and old-growth forests due to clear-felling) subsequently leading to decline of Tengmalm's owl study population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marek Kouba
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
- Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
| | - Luděk Bartoš
- Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jitka Bartošová
- Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | - Erkki Korpimäki
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
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15
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Lang JA, Roth JD, Markham JH. Foxes fertilize the subarctic forest and modify vegetation through denning. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3031. [PMID: 33542391 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82742-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Ecosystem engineers modify habitats through processes other than trophic interactions, such as by regulating soil nutrients, and can influence resource availability and quality for other organisms. Predator-mediated elemental cycling may be especially important in determining plant diversity and growth in ecosystems where soil fertility and primary productivity are low. Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes L.), top predators in the Subarctic, could engineer local ecosystems through denning, which could create biogeochemical hotspots of nutrients due to continual input of feces, urine and prey remains. We examined soil and vegetation characteristics on red fox dens and paired control sites in woodland habitats near the Arctic treeline in Manitoba, Canada. The organic soil layer on den sites had 81% more inorganic nitrogen and 250% more extractable phosphorus than in control areas. Denning also increased soil respiration and pH in the organic layer, suggesting improved soil quality and nutrient availability for plants. By enriching nutrients and disturbing soils through digging, den sites had a higher plant species ß-diversity and a greater cover of erect woody shrubs (Salix spp.), grasses (Leymus mollis (Trinius) Pilger) and weedy ephemerals compared to control sites, resulting in a regional increase in plant species richness. Our research highlights the importance of considering impacts of predators other than through their consumption of prey, and provides insight into the role of red foxes in modifying plant diversity and productivity in the Subarctic.
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Beaulne J, Garneau M, Magnan G, Boucher É. Peat deposits store more carbon than trees in forested peatlands of the boreal biome. Sci Rep 2021; 11:2657. [PMID: 33514778 PMCID: PMC7846601 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82004-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Peatlands are significant carbon (C) stores, playing a key role in nature-based climate change mitigation. While the effectiveness of non-forested peatlands as C reservoirs is increasingly recognized, the C sequestration function of forested peatlands remains poorly documented, despite their widespread distribution. Here, we evaluate the C sequestration potential of pristine boreal forested peatlands over both recent and millennial timescales. C stock estimates reveal that most of the carbon stored in these ecosystems is found in organic horizons (22.6-66.0 kg m-2), whereas tree C mass (2.8-5.7 kg m-2) decreases with thickening peat. For the first time, we compare the boreal C storage capacities of peat layers and tree biomass on the same timescale, showing that organic horizons (11.0-12.6 kg m-2) can store more carbon than tree aboveground and belowground biomass (2.8-5.7 kg m-2) even over a short time period (last 200 years). We also show that forested peatlands have similar recent rates of C accumulation to boreal non-forested peatlands but lower long-term rates, suggesting higher decay and more important peat layer combustion during fire events. Our findings highlight the significance of forested peatlands for C sequestration and suggest that greater consideration should be given to peat C stores in national greenhouse gas inventories and conservation policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joannie Beaulne
- Geotop Research Center, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada.
- Department of Geography, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada.
- GRIL-UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada.
| | - Michelle Garneau
- Geotop Research Center, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada.
- Department of Geography, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada.
- GRIL-UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada.
- Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada.
| | - Gabriel Magnan
- Geotop Research Center, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada
- GRIL-UQAM, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada
| | - Étienne Boucher
- Geotop Research Center, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada
- Department of Geography, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada
- Centre d'études nordiques, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada
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17
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Kouba M, Bartoš L, Bartošová J, Hongisto K, Korpimäki E. Interactive influences of fluctuations of main food resources and climate change on long-term population decline of Tengmalm's owls in the boreal forest. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20429. [PMID: 33235236 PMCID: PMC7687899 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77531-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent wildlife population declines are usually attributed to multiple sources such as global climate change and habitat loss and degradation inducing decreased food supply. However, interactive effects of fluctuations in abundance of main foods and weather conditions on population densities and reproductive success have been studied rarely. We analysed long-term (1973-2018) data on Tengmalm's owl (Aegolius funereus) and the influence of prey abundance and weather on breeding densities and reproductive success in western Finland. We found that fledgling production per breeding attempt declined and laying date of the owl population delayed during the period between 1973 and 2018. The breeding density of the owl population decreased with increasing temperature in winter (October-March), fledgling production increased with increasing temperature and precipitation in spring (April-June), whereas the initiation of egg-laying was delayed with increasing depth of snow cover in late winter (January-March). The decreasing trend of fledgling production, which was mainly due to starvation of offspring, was an important factor contributing to the long-term decline of the Tengmalm's owl study population. Milder and more humid spring and early summer temperatures due to global warming were not able to compensate for lowered offspring production of owls. The main reason for low productivity is probably loss and degradation of mature and old-growth forests due to clear-felling which results in loss of coverage of prime habitat for main (bank voles) and alternative foods (small birds) of owls inducing lack of food, and refuges against predators of Tengmalm's owls. This interpretation was also supported by the delayed start of egg-laying during the study period although ambient temperatures increased prior to and during the egg-laying period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marek Kouba
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
- Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
| | - Luděk Bartoš
- Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jitka Bartošová
- Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | - Erkki Korpimäki
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
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18
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Zhang J, Zuo X, Zhao X, Ma J, Medina-Roldán E. Effects of rainfall manipulation and nitrogen addition on plant biomass allocation in a semiarid sandy grassland. Sci Rep 2020; 10:9026. [PMID: 32493956 PMCID: PMC7270118 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-65922-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 04/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Extreme climate events and nitrogen (N) deposition are increasingly affecting the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the response of plant biomass to variations to these global change drivers is still unclear in semi-arid regions, especially in degraded sandy grasslands. In this study, a manipulative field experiment run over two years (from 2017 to 2018) was conducted to examine the effect of rainfall alteration and nitrogen addition on biomass allocation of annuals and perennial plants in Horqin sandy grassland, Northern China. Our experiment simulated extreme rainfall and extreme drought (a 60% reduction or increment in the growing season rainfall with respect to a control background) and N addition (20 g/m2) during the growing seasons. We found that the sufficient rainfall during late July and August compensates for biomass losses caused by insufficient water in May and June. When rainfall distribution is relatively uniform during the growing season, extreme rainfall increased aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) of annuals, while extreme drought reduced AGB and BGB of perennials. Rainfall alteration had no significant impacts on the root-shoot ratio (R/S) of sandy grassland plants, while N addition reduced R/S of grassland species when there was sufficient rainfall in the early growing season. The biomass of annuals was more sensitive to rainfall alteration and nitrogen addition than the biomass of perennials. Our findings emphasize the importance of monthly rainfall distribution patterns during the growing season, which not only directly affect the growth and development of grassland plants, but also affect the nitrogen availability of grassland plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Zhang
- Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Xiaoan Zuo
- Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
| | - Xueyong Zhao
- Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Jianxia Ma
- Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Eduardo Medina-Roldán
- Health and Environmental Science Department, Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool University, Suzhou, 215123, China
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19
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Fisher JT, Burton AC, Nolan L, Roy L. Influences of landscape change and winter severity on invasive ungulate persistence in the Nearctic boreal forest. Sci Rep 2020; 10:8742. [PMID: 32457474 PMCID: PMC7250834 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-65385-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate and landscape change are drivers of species range shifts and biodiversity loss; understanding how they facilitate and sustain invasions has been empirically challenging. Winter severity is decreasing with climate change and is a predicted mechanism of contemporary and future range shifts. For example, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) expansion is a continental phenomenon across the Nearctic with ecological consequences for entire biotic communities. We capitalized on recent temporal variation in winter severity to examine spatial and temporal dynamics of invasive deer distribution in the Nearctic boreal forest. We hypothesized deer distribution would decrease in severe winters reflecting historical climate constraints, and remain more static in moderate winters reflecting recent climate. Further, we predicted that regardless of winter severity, deer distribution would persist and be best explained by early seral forage subsidies from extensive landscape change via resource extraction. We applied dynamic occupancy models in time, and species distribution models in space, to data from 62 camera traps sampled over 3 years in northeastern Alberta, Canada. Deer distribution shrank more markedly in severe winters but rebounded each spring regardless of winter severity. Deer distribution was best explained by anthropogenic landscape features assumed to provide early seral vegetation subsidy, accounting for natural landcover. We conclude that deer dynamics in the northern boreal forest are influenced both by landscape change across space and winter severity through time, the latter expected to further decrease with climate change. We contend that the combined influence of these two drivers is likely pervasive for many species, with changing resources offsetting or augmenting physiological limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason T Fisher
- University of Victoria, School of Environmental Studies, Victoria, British, Columbia, Canada.
- Former address: InnoTech Alberta, Bag 4000, Vegreville, Alberta, T9C1T4, Canada.
| | - A Cole Burton
- Former address: InnoTech Alberta, Bag 4000, Vegreville, Alberta, T9C1T4, Canada
- University of British Columbia, Department of Forest Resources Management, Forest Sciences Centre, 2045 - 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, British, Columbia, V6T1Z4, Canada
| | - Luke Nolan
- Former address: InnoTech Alberta, Bag 4000, Vegreville, Alberta, T9C1T4, Canada
| | - Laurence Roy
- Former address: InnoTech Alberta, Bag 4000, Vegreville, Alberta, T9C1T4, Canada
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20
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Belle S, Nilsson JL, Tõnno I, Freiberg R, Vrede T, Goedkoop W. Climate-induced changes in carbon flows across the plant-consumer interface in a small subarctic lake. Sci Rep 2019; 9:17087. [PMID: 31745149 PMCID: PMC6863840 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53541-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Reconstructions of past food web dynamics are necessary for better understanding long-term impacts of climate change on subarctic lakes. We studied elemental and stable isotopic composition of sedimentary organic matter, photosynthetic pigments and carbon stable isotopic composition of Daphnia (Cladocera; Crustacea) resting eggs (δ13CClado) in a sediment record from a small subarctic lake. We examined how regional climate and landscape changes over the last 5800 years affected the relative importance of allochthonous and autochthonous carbon transfer to zooplankton. Overall, δ13CClado values were well in line with the range of theoretical values of aquatic primary producers, confirming that zooplankton consumers in subarctic lakes, even in the long-term perspective, are mainly fuelled by autochthonous primary production. Results also revealed greater incorporations of benthic algae into zooplankton biomass in periods that had a warmer and drier climate and clearer water, whereas a colder and wetter climate and lower water transparency induced higher contributions of planktonic algae to Daphnia biomass. This study thus emphasizes long-term influence of terrestrial-aquatic linkages and in-lake processes on the functioning of subarctic lake food webs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Belle
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Jenny L Nilsson
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ilmar Tõnno
- Centre for Limnology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu County, Estonia
| | - Rene Freiberg
- Centre for Limnology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu County, Estonia
| | - Tobias Vrede
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Willem Goedkoop
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
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21
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Adamczyk B, Sietiö OM, Straková P, Prommer J, Wild B, Hagner M, Pihlatie M, Fritze H, Richter A, Heinonsalo J. Plant roots increase both decomposition and stable organic matter formation in boreal forest soil. Nat Commun 2019; 10:3982. [PMID: 31484931 PMCID: PMC6726645 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11993-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Boreal forests are ecosystems with low nitrogen (N) availability that store globally significant amounts of carbon (C), mainly in plant biomass and soil organic matter (SOM). Although crucial for future climate change predictions, the mechanisms controlling boreal C and N pools are not well understood. Here, using a three-year field experiment, we compare SOM decomposition and stabilization in the presence of roots, with exclusion of roots but presence of fungal hyphae and with exclusion of both roots and fungal hyphae. Roots accelerate SOM decomposition compared to the root exclusion treatments, but also promote a different soil N economy with higher concentrations of organic soil N compared to inorganic soil N accompanied with the build-up of stable SOM-N. In contrast, root exclusion leads to an inorganic soil N economy (i.e., high level of inorganic N) with reduced stable SOM-N build-up. Based on our findings, we provide a framework on how plant roots affect SOM decomposition and stabilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bartosz Adamczyk
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 66, Helsinki, Finland.
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
- Department of Microbiology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 66, Helsinki, Finland.
- Natural Resources Institute Finland, PL 2, 00791, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Outi-Maaria Sietiö
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Microbiology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 66, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Petra Straková
- Natural Resources Institute Finland, PL 2, 00791, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 27, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Judith Prommer
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090, Wien, Austria
| | - Birgit Wild
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090, Wien, Austria
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Marleena Hagner
- Natural Resources Institute Finland, Tietotie 2, 31600, Jokioinen, Finland
| | - Mari Pihlatie
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 66, Helsinki, Finland
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Viikki Plant Science Centre (ViPS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Hannu Fritze
- Natural Resources Institute Finland, PL 2, 00791, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Andreas Richter
- Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090, Wien, Austria
| | - Jussi Heinonsalo
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 66, Helsinki, Finland
- Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Microbiology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 66, Helsinki, Finland
- Finnish Meteorological Institute, Climate System Research, Helsinki, Finland
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Isaac-Renton M, Montwé D, Hamann A, Spiecker H, Cherubini P, Treydte K. Northern forest tree populations are physiologically maladapted to drought. Nat Commun 2018; 9:5254. [PMID: 30531998 PMCID: PMC6288165 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07701-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2018] [Accepted: 11/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Northern forests at the leading edge of their distributions may not show increased primary productivity under climate warming, being limited by climatic extremes such as drought. Looking beyond tree growth to underlying physiological mechanisms is fundamental for accurate predictions of forest responses to climate warming and drought stress. Within a 32-year genetic field trial, we analyze relative contributions of xylem plasticity and inferred stomatal response to drought tolerance in regional populations of a widespread conifer. Genetic adaptation leads to varying responses under drought. Trailing-edge tree populations produce fewer tracheids with thicker cell walls, characteristic of drought-tolerance. Stomatal response explains the moderate drought tolerance of tree populations in central areas of the species range. Growth loss of the northern population is linked to low stomatal responsiveness combined with the production of tracheids with thinner cell walls. Forests of the western boreal may therefore lack physiological adaptations necessary to tolerate drier conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Isaac-Renton
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada.
| | - David Montwé
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada
| | - Andreas Hamann
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada
| | - Heinrich Spiecker
- Chair of Forest Growth and Dendroecology, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität-Freiburg, Tennenbacherstrasse 4, 79106, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Paolo Cherubini
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Kerstin Treydte
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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