Impact of warming and reduced precipitation on morphology and chlorophyll concentration in peat mosses (Sphagnum angustifolium and S. fallax)

Abstract

Peatlands are one of the most important ecosystems due to their biodiversity and abundant organic compounds; therefore, it is important to observe how different plant species in peatlands react to changing environmental conditions. Sphagnum spp. are the main component of peatlands and are considered as the creator of conditions favorable for carbon storage in the form of peat. Sphagnum angustifolium and Sphagnum fallax are taxonomically very close species. To examine their adaptability to climate change, we studied the morphology and pigment content of these two species from environmental manipulation sites in Poland, where the environment was continuously manipulated for temperature and precipitation. The warming of peat was induced by using infrared heaters, whereas total precipitation was reduced by a curtain that cuts the nighttime precipitation. Morphology of S. angustifolium stayed under climate manipulation relatively stable. However, the main morphological parameters of S. fallax were significantly affected by precipitation reduction. Thus, this study indicates S. angustifolium is better adapted in comparison to S. fallax for drier and warmer conditions. Climate change is appearing to be the biggest problem of this century. It is estimated that anthropogenic activities have caused global warming by approximately 1.0 °C in comparison with the pre-industrial era. The global warming rate is currently estimated to be 0.2 °C per decade; therefore, it is a high probability that the average global temperature may reach 1.5 °C higher in between 2032 and 2050 1. Rainfall patterns affect surface wetness and water availability to plants; therefore, its alteration may directly impact the primary productivity 2. In this changing environmental condition, plants may either adapt, move to suitable climatic conditions, or may get extinct 3. With the change in plant species composition, the ecosystem may also lose its identity and can turn into a different ecosystem with changing environmental conditions 4. Therefore, to understand the faith of the ecosystem in changing environmental conditions, it is crucial to study the behavior of different plant species. Due to their high carbon storage capacity, peatlands are considered to be one of the most important ecosystems 5. Peatlands cover only around 4 million km 2 what amounts to 3% of the world's terrestrial area, but contains around one-third of the terrestrial carbon 6. About 80% of the world's peatlands occur in the northern hemisphere 7 , and they constitute about 515 000 km 2 in Europe 6. Due to their high carbon storage, peatlands have attracted a lot of attention to environmental scientists 8-10. It is still uncertain that under new climatic conditions (due to warming and changed precipitation) pristine peatlands will work like carbon sink or they will become a

Molecular and physiological responses to desiccation indicate the abscisic acid pathway is conserved in the peat moss, Sphagnum

“…The ease of transformation and the existence of well-characterized mutants in many of the developmental and stress signalling pathways in Physcomitrium are valuable resources to test the functionality of other Sphagnum genes. Lastly, our data support earlier observations that Sphagnum is able to tolerate significant levels of dehydration without losing photosynthetic capacity, and this should be taken into consideration when modelling the global responses of peatlands to changes in climate patterns especially precipitation ( Wagner and Titus, 1984 ; Schipperges and Rydin, 1998 ; Proctor, 2000 ; Oliver et al , 2005 ; Proctor et al , 2007 ; Dise, 2009 ; Hájek and Vicherová, 2014 ; Cruz de Carvalho et al , 2019 ; Rastogi et al , 2020 ).…”

Influence of Heavy Metal Concentration on Chlorophyll Content in Pleurozium schreberi Mosses

“…Studies with devitalised samples are in conflict with the above presented definition of biomonitoring, even considering sometimes better sorption characteristics than live samples [19,20]. Chlorophyll content is one of the parameters, which may define bioindicator's vitality during studies [21,22]. It is a quite commonly studied photosynthetic dye and its content is determined in reference to concentration of, e.g.…”

A Late Holocene Stable Isotope and Carbon Accumulation Record from Teringi Bog in Southern Estonia

“…Lab experiments indicate that S. rubellum is generally unaffected by modest water table changes [55]. S. angustifolium is better than species like S. fallax at growing under drier and warmer conditions [58].…”