Beyond arctic and alpine: the influence of winter climate on temperate ecosystems

Abstract

Winter climate is expected to change under future climate scenarios, yet the majority of winter ecology research is focused in cold-climate ecosystems. In many temperate systems, it is unclear how winter climate relates to biotic responses during the growing season. The objective of this study was to examine how winter weather relates to plant and animal communities in a variety of terrestrial ecosystems ranging from warm deserts to alpine tundra. Specifically, we examined the association between winter weather and plant phenology, plant species richness, consumer abundance, and consumer richness in 11 terrestrial ecosystems associated with the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. To varying degrees, winter precipitation and temperature were correlated with all biotic response variables. Bud break was tightly aligned with end of winter temperatures. For half the sites, winter weather was a better predictor of plant species richness than growing season weather. Warmer winters were correlated with lower consumer abundances in both temperate and alpine systems. Our findings suggest winter weather may have a strong influence on biotic activity during the growing season and should be considered in future studies investigating the effects of climate change on both alpine and temperate systems.

Marine assemblages respond rapidly to winter climate variability

“…Determining how assemblages respond to interannual climate variability can provide insights into mechanisms behind long-term changes and can indicate how rapidly communities might respond to future climate change (Ladwig et al, 2016;Ozkundakci et al, 2016). There is still a poor understanding for how climate variability impacts entire assemblages, which consist of many species with variable dispersal abilities.…”

Rapid release of labile components limits the accumulation of humic substances in decomposing litter in an alpine forest

“… Hourly temperature with 50% probability (continual 12 h/d) of freezing (below 0°C) is defined as beginning and end of winter in this study (modified from Ladwig et al. ). This definition is not conservative because solar radiation is very strong in this alpine forest and increases in temperature were recorded by data logger. …”

“…Our previous studies found that snow cover and soil freezing/thawing in winter significantly influence litter decomposition (Wu et al 2010), so we divided each year into a winter season and a growing season. The winter season was defined as the period of successive days in which hourly temperatures were freezing (below 0°C) for at least 12 h of the day (Table 2; Ladwig et al 2016). Samplings were scheduled for the end of the winter season and growing season each year, at which time two litterbags were randomly collected per subplot (a total of 12 subplots for each litter type), carefully placed into separate plastic bags and returned to the laboratory.…”

“…One sample from each subplot (n = 12) was weighed before and after oven-drying at 105°C for 48 h to measure the water content and dry mass, which were used to evaluate the litter mass remaining in decomposing litter. Another sample from each Notes: Hourly temperature with 50% probability (continual 12 h/d) of freezing (below 0°C) is defined as beginning and end of winter in this study (modified from Ladwig et al 2016). This definition is not conservative because solar radiation is very strong in this alpine forest and increases in temperature were recorded by data logger.…”

Minimal mortality and rapid recovery of the dominant shrub Larrea tridentata following an extreme cold event in the northern Chihuahuan Desert

“…Winter climate is influential in many ecosystems (Ladwig et al., ) and experimental manipulations help examine the response of ecological systems to changing winter conditions (Kreyling, ). Snow manipulations test for the ecological consequences of altered winter precipitation (Kreyling, Haei, & Laudon, ; Loik, Griffith, & Alpert, ), and warming manipulations track ecosystem changes following gradual increases in temperature (Collins et al., ; Wu, Dijkstra, Koch, Penuelas, & Hungate, ), yet our understanding of the response of plant communities to winter climate extremes is often limited to opportunistic studies following extreme climate events, as large‐scale cooling experiments are generally not practical.…”