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Slate ML, Antoninka A, Bailey L, Berdugo MB, Callaghan DA, Cárdenas M, Chmielewski MW, Fenton NJ, Holland-Moritz H, Hopkins S, Jean M, Kraichak BE, Lindo Z, Merced A, Oke T, Stanton D, Stuart J, Tucker D, Coe KK. Impact of changing climate on bryophyte contributions to terrestrial water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles. New Phytol 2024. [PMID: 38659154 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19772] [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] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Bryophytes, including the lineages of mosses, liverworts, and hornworts, are the second-largest photoautotroph group on Earth. Recent work across terrestrial ecosystems has highlighted how bryophytes retain and control water, fix substantial amounts of carbon (C), and contribute to nitrogen (N) cycles in forests (boreal, temperate, and tropical), tundra, peatlands, grasslands, and deserts. Understanding how changing climate affects bryophyte contributions to global cycles in different ecosystems is of primary importance. However, because of their small physical size, bryophytes have been largely ignored in research on water, C, and N cycles at global scales. Here, we review the literature on how bryophytes influence global biogeochemical cycles, and we highlight that while some aspects of global change represent critical tipping points for survival, bryophytes may also buffer many ecosystems from change due to their capacity for water, C, and N uptake and storage. However, as the thresholds of resistance of bryophytes to temperature and precipitation regime changes are mostly unknown, it is challenging to predict how long this buffering capacity will remain functional. Furthermore, as ecosystems shift their global distribution in response to changing climate, the size of different bryophyte-influenced biomes will change, resulting in shifts in the magnitude of bryophyte impacts on global ecosystem functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mandy L Slate
- Department of Evolution, Ecology & Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Anita Antoninka
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86005, USA
| | - Lydia Bailey
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86005, USA
| | - Monica B Berdugo
- Plant Ecology and Geobotany, Department of Biology, University of Marburg, Karl-von-Frisch Str. 8, 35043, Marburg, Germany
| | - Des A Callaghan
- Bryophyte Surveys Ltd, Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire, BS32 4DU, UK
| | - Mariana Cárdenas
- Department of Ecology Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | | | - Nicole J Fenton
- Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 5E4, Canada
| | - Hannah Holland-Moritz
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA
| | - Samantha Hopkins
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Mélanie Jean
- Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB, E1A 3E9, Canada
| | - Bier Ekaphan Kraichak
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand
| | - Zoë Lindo
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Amelia Merced
- Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras, San Juan, PR, 00925, USA
| | - Tobi Oke
- Wildlife Conservation Society & School of Environment & Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5C8, Canada
| | - Daniel Stanton
- Department of Ecology Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Julia Stuart
- College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, 49931, USA
- Mountain Planning Service Group, US Forest Service, Lakewood, CO, 80401, USA
| | - Daniel Tucker
- School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2, Canada
| | - Kirsten K Coe
- Department of Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, 05753, USA
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Antoninka A, Chuckran PF, Mau RL, Slate ML, Mishler BD, Oliver MJ, Coe KK, Stark LR, Fisher KM, Bowker MA. Responses of Biocrust and Associated Soil Bacteria to Novel Climates Are Not Tightly Coupled. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:821860. [PMID: 35572693 PMCID: PMC9096946 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.821860] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change is expanding drylands even as land use practices degrade them. Representing ∼40% of Earth’s terrestrial surface, drylands rely on biological soil crusts (biocrusts) for key ecosystem functions including soil stability, biogeochemical cycling, and water capture. Understanding how biocrusts adapt to climate change is critical to understanding how dryland ecosystems will function with altered climate. We investigated the sensitivity of biocrusts to experimentally imposed novel climates to track changes in productivity and stability under both warming and cooling scenarios. We established three common gardens along an elevational-climate gradient on the Colorado Plateau. Mature biocrusts were collected from each site and reciprocally transplanted intact. Over 20 months we monitored visible species composition and cover, chlorophyll a, and the composition of soil bacterial communities using high throughput sequencing. We hypothesized that biocrusts replanted at their home site would show local preference, and biocrusts transplanted to novel environments would maintain higher cover and stability at elevations higher than their origin, compared to at elevations lower than their origin. We expected responses of the visible biocrust cover and soil bacterial components of the biocrust community to be coupled, with later successional taxa showing higher sensitivity to novel environments. Only high elevation sourced biocrusts maintained higher biocrust cover and community stability at their site of origin. Biocrusts from all sources had higher cover and stability in the high elevation garden. Later successional taxa decreased cover in low elevation gardens, suggesting successional reversal with warming. Visible community composition was influenced by both source and transplant environment. In contrast, soil bacterial community composition was not influenced by transplant environments but retained fidelity to the source. Thus, responses of the visible and soil bacterial components of the biocrust community were not coupled. Synthesis: Our results suggest biocrust communities are sensitive to climate change, and loss of species and function can be expected, while associated soil bacteria may be buffered against rapid change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Antoninka
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States
| | - Peter F Chuckran
- Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS), Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States
| | - Rebecca L Mau
- Department of Biological Sciences, Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (ECOSS), Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States
| | - Mandy L Slate
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Brent D Mishler
- Department of Integrative Biology, University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Melvin J Oliver
- Interdisciplinary Plant Group, Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, United States
| | - Kirsten K Coe
- Department of Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, United States
| | - Llo R Stark
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, United States
| | - Kirsten M Fisher
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Matthew A Bowker
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States
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Bowker MA, Rengifo‐Faiffer MC, Antoninka AJ, Grover HS, Coe KK, Fisher K, Mishler BD, Oliver M, Stark LR. Community composition influences ecosystem resistance and production more than species richness or intraspecific diversity. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Kirsten Fisher
- Dept of Biological Sciences, California State Univ. Los Angeles CA USA
| | - Brent D. Mishler
- Dept of Integrative Biology, Univ. of California Berkeley CA USA
| | - Mel Oliver
- Plant Sciences, Univ. of Missouri Columbia MO USA
| | - Lloyd R. Stark
- School of Life Sciences, Univ. of Nevada Las Vegas NV USA
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Silva AT, Gao B, Fisher KM, Mishler BD, Ekwealor JTB, Stark LR, Li X, Zhang D, Bowker MA, Brinda JC, Coe KK, Oliver MJ. To dry perchance to live: Insights from the genome of the desiccation-tolerant biocrust moss Syntrichia caninervis. Plant J 2021; 105:1339-1356. [PMID: 33277766 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
With global climate change, water scarcity threatens whole agro/ecosystems. The desert moss Syntrichia caninervis, an extremophile, offers novel insights into surviving desiccation and heat. The sequenced S. caninervis genome consists of 13 chromosomes containing 16 545 protein-coding genes and 2666 unplaced scaffolds. Syntenic relationships within the S. caninervis and Physcomitrella patens genomes indicate the S. caninervis genome has undergone a single whole genome duplication event (compared to two for P. patens) and evidence suggests chromosomal or segmental losses in the evolutionary history of S. caninervis. The genome contains a large sex chromosome composed primarily of repetitive sequences with a large number of Copia and Gypsy elements. Orthogroup analyses revealed an expansion of ELIP genes encoding proteins important in photoprotection. The transcriptomic response to desiccation identified four structural clusters of novel genes. The genomic resources established for this extremophile offer new perspectives for understanding the evolution of desiccation tolerance in plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anderson T Silva
- Division of Plant Sciences and Interdisciplinary Plant Group, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA
| | - Bei Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Urumqi, 830011, China
| | - Kirsten M Fisher
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Los Angeles, California, 90032, USA
| | - Brent D Mishler
- Department of Integrative Biology, University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-2465, USA
| | - Jenna T B Ekwealor
- Department of Integrative Biology, University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-2465, USA
| | - Lloyd R Stark
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89154-4004, USA
| | - Xiaoshuang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Urumqi, 830011, China
| | - Daoyuan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Urumqi, 830011, China
| | - Matthew A Bowker
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA
| | - John C Brinda
- Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, 63110-0299, USA
| | - Kirsten K Coe
- Department of Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, 40506-0225, USA
| | - Melvin J Oliver
- Division of Plant Sciences and Interdisciplinary Plant Group, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA
- USDA-ARS-MWA, Plant Genetics Research Unit, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA
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Coe KK, Greenwood JL, Slate ML, Clark TA, Brinda JC, Fisher KM, Mishler BD, Bowker MA, Oliver MJ, Ebrahimi S, Stark LR. Strategies of desiccation tolerance vary across life phases in the moss Syntrichia caninervis. Am J Bot 2021; 108:249-262. [PMID: 33249553 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1571] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Desiccation tolerance (DT) is a widespread phenomenon among land plants, and variable ecological strategies for DT are likely to exist. Using Syntrichia caninervis, a dryland moss and model system used in DT studies, we hypothesized that DT is lowest in juvenile (protonemal) tissues, highest in asexual reproductive propagules (gemmae), and intermediate in adults (shoots). We tested the long-standing hypothesis of an inherent constitutive strategy of DT in this species. METHODS Plants were rapidly dried to levels of equilibrating relative humidity (RHeq) ranging from 0 to 93%. Postrehydration recovery was assessed using chlorophyll fluorescence, regeneration rates, and visual tissue damage. For each life phase, we estimated the minimum rate of drying (RoDmin ) at RHeq = 42% that did not elicit damage 24 h postrehydration. RESULTS DT strategy varied with life phase, with adult shoots having the lowest RoDmin (10-25 min), followed by gemmae (3-10 h) and protonema (14-20 h). Adult shoots exhibited no detectable damage 24 h postrehydration following a rapid-dry only at the highest RHeq used (93%), but when dried to lower RHs the response declined to <50% of control fluorescence values. Notably, immediately following rehydration (0 h postrehydration), shoots were damaged below control levels of fluorescence regardless of the RHeq, thus implicating damage. CONCLUSIONS Life phases of the moss S. caninervis had a range of strategies from near constitutive (adult shoots) to demonstrably inducible (protonema). A new response variable for assessing degree of DT is introduced as the minimum rate of drying from which full recovery occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten K Coe
- Department of Biology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, 40506-0225, USA
| | - Joshua L Greenwood
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4004, USA
| | - Mandy L Slate
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
| | - Theresa A Clark
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4004, USA
| | - John C Brinda
- Missouri Botanical Garden, Bryophyte Herbarium, 4344 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, MO, 63110-0299, USA
| | - Kirsten M Fisher
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA
| | - Brent D Mishler
- Department of Integrative Biology, University and Jepson Herbaria and University of California, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Bld #2465, Berkeley, CA, 94720-2465, USA
| | - Matthew A Bowker
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, 200 East Pine Knoll Drive, P.O. Box 15018, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA
| | - Melvin J Oliver
- USDA ARS MWA PGRU, University of Missouri, 206 Curtis Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| | - Sotodeh Ebrahimi
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4004, USA
| | - Lloyd R Stark
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4004, USA
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Coe KK, Howard NB, Slate ML, Bowker MA, Mishler BD, Butler R, Greenwood J, Stark LR. Morphological and physiological traits in relation to carbon balance in a diverse clade of dryland mosses. Plant Cell Environ 2019; 42:3140-3151. [PMID: 31306496 DOI: 10.1111/pce.13613] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2019] [Revised: 06/18/2019] [Accepted: 07/11/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Plant functional trait analyses have focused almost exclusively on vascular plants, but bryophytes comprise ancient and diverse plant lineages that have widespread global distributions and important ecological functions in terrestrial ecosystems. We examined a diverse clade of dryland mosses, Syntrichia, and studied carbon balance during a precipitation event (C-balance), a functional trait related to physiological functioning, desiccation tolerance, survival, and ecosystem carbon and nitrogen cycling. We examined variability in C-balance among 14 genotypes of Syntrichia and measured an additional 10 physiological and 13 morphological traits at the cell, leaf, shoot, and clump level. C-balance varied 20-fold among genotypes, and highest C-balances were associated with long, narrow leaves with awns, and small cells with thick cell walls, traits that may influence water uptake and retention during a precipitation event. Ordination analyses revealed that the axis most strongly correlated with C-balance included the maximum chlorophyll fluorescence, Fm , indicating the importance of photosystem II health for C exchange. C-balance represents a key functional trait in bryophytes, but its measurement is time intensive and not feasible to measure on large scales. We propose two models (using physiological and morphological traits) to predict C-balance, whereby identifying simpler to measure traits for trait databases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten K Coe
- Department of Biology, St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's, City, MD, 20653, USA
| | - Nora B Howard
- Department of Biology, St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's, City, MD, 20653, USA
| | - Mandy L Slate
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA
| | - Matthew A Bowker
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA
| | - Brent D Mishler
- University and Jepson Herbaria, and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720-2465, USA
| | - Riley Butler
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA
| | - Joshua Greenwood
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA
| | - Lloyd R Stark
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA
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Abstract
Precipitation patterns including the magnitude, timing, and seasonality of rainfall are predicted to undergo substantial alterations in arid regions in the future, and desert organisms may be more responsive to such changes than to shifts in only mean annual rainfall. Soil biocrust communities (consisting of cyanobacteria, lichen, and mosses) are ubiquitous to desert ecosystems, play an array of ecological roles, and display a strong sensitivity to environmental changes. Crust mosses are particularly responsive to changes in precipitation and exhibit rapid declines in biomass and mortality following the addition of small rainfall events. Further, loss of the moss component in biocrusts leads to declines in crust structure and function. In this study, we sought to understand the physiological responses of the widespread and often dominant biocrust moss Syntrichia caninervis to alterations in rainfall. Moss samples were collected during all four seasons and exposed to two rainfall event sizes and three desiccation period (DP) lengths. A carbon balance approach based on single precipitation events was used to define the carbon gain or loss during a particular hydration period. Rainfall event size was the strongest predictor of carbon balance, and the largest carbon gains were associated with the largest precipitation events. In contrast, small precipitation events resulted in carbon deficits for S. caninervis. Increasing the length of the DP prior to an event resulted in reductions in carbon balance, probably because of the increased energetic cost of hydration following more intense bouts of desiccation. The season of collection (i.e., physiological status of the moss) modulated these responses, and the effects of DP and rainfall on carbon balance were different in magnitude (and often in sign) for different seasons. In particular, S. caninervis displayed higher carbon balances in the winter than in the summer, even for events of identical size. Overall, our results suggest that annual carbon balance and survivorship in biocrust mosses are largely driven by precipitation, and because of the role mosses play in biocrusts, changes in intra-annual precipitation patterns can have implications for hydrology, soil stability, and nutrient cycling in dryland systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten K Coe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850, USA.
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Coe KK, Belnap J, Grote EE, Sparks JP. Physiological ecology of desert biocrust moss following 10 years exposure to elevated CO₂: evidence for enhanced photosynthetic thermotolerance. Physiol Plant 2012; 144:346-56. [PMID: 22385156 DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-3054.2012.01566.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
In arid regions, biomes particularly responsive to climate change, mosses play an important biogeochemical role as key components of biocrusts. Using the biocrust moss Syntrichia caninervis collected from the Nevada Desert Free Air CO₂ Enrichment Facility, we examined the physiological effects of 10 years of exposure to elevated CO₂, and the effect of high temperature events on the photosynthetic performance of moss grown in CO₂-enriched air. Moss exposed to elevated CO₂ exhibited a 46% decrease in chlorophyll, a 20% increase in carbon and no difference in either nitrogen content or photosynthetic performance. However, when subjected to high temperatures (35-40°C), mosses from the elevated CO₂ environment showed higher photosynthetic performance and photosystem II (PSII) efficiency compared to those grown in ambient conditions, potentially reflective of a shift in nitrogen allocation to components that offer a higher resistance of PSII to heat stress. This result suggests that mosses may respond to climate change in markedly different ways than vascular plants, and observed CO₂-induced photosynthetic thermotolerance in S. caninervis will likely have consequences for future desert biogeochemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten K Coe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
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