Differential Response of Subalpine Meadow Vegetation to Snow Augmentation

Knight, Dennis H.; Weaver, Shiloh; Starr, Carolina Rizzi; Romme, William H.

doi:10.2307/3898015

“…If the snow‐free season is additionally shortened, productivity is likely to be further decreased. In the short term, such processes will merely lead to a reduction in the productivity of single species, but in the longer term it may lead to a turnover in species composition (Bell & Bliss 1979; Knight et al. 1979; Galen & Stanton 1995; Walker et al.…”

Section: Meta‐analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of snow manipulation experiments in Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems

Wipf

¹

,

Rixen

²

2010

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Snow cover is one of the most important factors controlling microclimate and plant growing conditions for Arctic and alpine ecosystems. Climate change is altering snowfall regimes, which in turn influences snow cover and ultimately tundra plant communities. The interest in winter climate change and the number of experiments exploring the responses of alpine and Arctic ecosystems to changes in snow cover have been growing in recent years, but their outcomes are difficult to summarize because of the large variability in manipulation approaches, extents and measured response variables. In this review, we (1) compile the ecological publications on snow manipulation experiments, (2) classify the studies according to the climate scenarios they simulate and response variables they measure, (3) discuss the methods applied to manipulate snow cover, and (4) analyse and generalize the response in phenology, productivity and community composition by means of a meta-analysis. This meta-analysis shows that flowering phenology responded strongly to changes in the timing of snowmelt. The least responsive group of species were graminoids; however, they did show a decrease in productivity and abundance with experimentally increased snow covers. The species group with the greatest phenological response to snowmelt changes were the dwarf shrubs. Their abundance also increased in most long-term snow fence experiments, whereas species richness generally declined. We conclude that snow manipulation experiments can improve our understanding of recently observed ecosystem changes, and are an important component of climate change research.

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“…While earlier snowmelt caused by warming may negatively affect plants growing in dry meadows and ridgetops due to reduced water availability, it may positively affect wet meadows by extending the growing season (Knight et al 1979). We observed the largest shifts in grasses and sedges in the driest (upper) blocks, including changes in species' frequency (up to 250%) and species richness (up to 400%), with little effect in the lower, mesic blocks where plants may be less affected by the soil-drying effects of warming.…”

Section: Mechanisms Driving Warming-induced Shifts In Graminoid Compomentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of high‐altitude graminoids and soil fungi to 20 years of experimental warming

Rudgers

¹

,

Kivlin

²

,

Whitney

³

et al. 2014

Ecology

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Responses of high-altitude graminoids and soil fungi to 20 years of experimental warming Abstract. High-elevation ecosystems are expected to be particularly sensitive to climate warming because cold temperatures constrain biological processes. Deeper understanding of the consequences of climate change will come from studies that consider not only the direct effects of temperature on individual species, but also the indirect effects of altered species interactions. Here we show that 20 years of experimental warming has changed the species composition of graminoid (grass and sedge) assemblages in a subalpine meadow of the Rocky Mountains, USA, by increasing the frequency of sedges and reducing the frequency of grasses. Because sedges typically have weak interactions with mycorrhizal fungi relative to grasses, lowered abundances of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi or other root-inhabiting fungi could underlie warming-induced shifts in plant species composition. However, warming increased root colonization by AM fungi for two grass species, possibly because AM fungi can enhance plant water uptake when soils are dried by experimental warming. Warming had no effect on AM fungal colonization of three other graminoids. Increased AM fungal colonization of the dominant shrub Artemisia tridentata provided further grounds for rejecting the hypothesis that reduced AM fungi caused the shift from grasses to sedges. Non-AM fungi (including dark septate endophytes) also showed general increases with warming. Our results demonstrate that lumping grasses and sedges when characterizing plant community responses can mask significant shifts in the responses of primary producers, and their symbiotic fungi, to climate change.

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“…Data sets with more than one manipulation type or treatment level are specified under "additional treatments". Wipf et al (2009) 6 1 1 Above-ground productivity Knight et al (1979) 2 1 Seastedt & Vaccaro (2001) 1 1 Wahren et al 20051 1 Weaver & Collins (1977) 1 3 Two snow depth levels Webber et al (1976) 8 1 Productivity of target species Bell & Bliss (1979) 1 2 1 Dorrepaal et al (2006) 4 1 2 Knight et al (1979) 6 1-2 1 van der Wal et al 20002 1 1 Weaver & Collins (1977) 3 1 2 Two snow depth levels Wipf et al (2006) 2 1 1 ogy and plant fitness are only rarely studied in the context of snow manipulation experiments, and too often phenology was studied as the sole response variable. Our meta-analysis, as well as several other studies (Rixen et al 2001;Dunne et al 2003;Rixen et al 2008) show that after an experimental delay of snowmelt, treatment and control plots initially show differences in the phenology, but that these differences diminish over the course of summer.…”

Section: Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of snow manipulation experiments in Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems

Wipf¹,

Rixen²

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Snow cover is one of the most important factors controlling microclimate and plant growing conditions for Arctic and alpine ecosystems. Climate change is altering snowfall regimes, which in turn influences snow cover and ultimately tundra plant communities. The interest in winter climate change and the number of experiments exploring the responses of alpine and Arctic ecosystems to changes in snow cover have been growing in recent years, but their outcomes are difficult to summarize because of the large variability in manipulation approaches, extents and measured response variables. In this review, we (1) compile the ecological publications on snow manipulation experiments, (2) classify the studies according to the climate scenarios they simulate and response variables they measure, (3) discuss the methods applied to manipulate snow cover, and (4) analyse and generalize the response in phenology, productivity and community composition by means of a meta-analysis. This meta-analysis shows that flowering phenology responded strongly to changes in the timing of snowmelt. The least responsive group of species were graminoids; however, they did show a decrease in productivity and abundance with experimentally increased snow covers. The species group with the greatest phenological response to snowmelt changes were the dwarf shrubs. Their abundance also increased in most long-term snow fence experiments, whereas species richness generally declined. We conclude that snow manipulation experiments can improve our understanding of recently observed ecosystem changes, and are an important component of climate change research.

show abstract

Differential Response of Subalpine Meadow Vegetation to Snow Augmentation

Cited by 11 publications

References 8 publications

A review of snow manipulation experiments in Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems

A review of snow manipulation experiments in Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems

Responses of high‐altitude graminoids and soil fungi to 20 years of experimental warming

A review of snow manipulation experiments in Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems

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