Linear Disturbances Shift Boreal Peatland Plant Communities Toward Earlier Peak Greenness

Davidson, Scott J.; Goud, Ellie M.; Malhotra, Avni; Estey, Claire O.; Korsah, Percy; Strack, Maria

doi:10.1029/2021jg006403

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The cover of sedges (e.g., Eriophorum vaginatum and Carex canescens) that typically benefit from disturbance events, such as clearcutting and restoration (Komulainen et al 1999), was significantly greater in the recently disturbed plots (DC1 and DC2, AC1). That is in agreement with Davidson et al (2021) who reported a shift in vegetation community of seismic lines (linear disturbances in peatlands) to sedge dominance. The shifts in vegetation composition are likely caused by the greater nutrient availability after harvesting following mechanical crushing of fresh organic matter and peat aggregates during deformation.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Seismic line disturbances resemble in several respects harvesting-induced disturbances, and have been found to alter soil properties by increasing bulk density, volumetric water content, and rate of organic matter decomposition manifested in decreased organic matter content (Davidson et al 2020). Additionally, seismic line disturbances were found to alter vegetation structure and phenology causing an earlier seasonal peak and a shift in vegetation composition to sedge and willow dominance with decreased moss abundance (Davidson et al 2021). Deane et al (2020) observed a shift from feather moss to Sphagnum moss dominance on seismic lines opposingly to the surrounding undisturbed forested peatland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The disturbance caused by harvesting primarily impacts peat physical properties, such as bulk density and water retention characteristics (Chow et al 1992;Nugent et al 2003;Lepilin et al 2019). Changes in peat physical properties may then be reflected in both soil biological processes and plant community responses as found in undrained peatlands in Canada (Echiverri et al 2020;Davidson et al 2021). The effect on the biological processes is primarily due to the changed pore size distribution and decreased air-filled porosity, which further cause restriction of gas exchange.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Response of vegetation and soil biological properties to soil deformation in logging trails of drained boreal peatland forests

et al. 2022

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In the boreal region, peatland forests are a significant resource of timber. Under pressure from a growing bioeconomy and climate change, timber harvesting is increasingly occurring over unfrozen soils. This is likely to cause disturbance in the soil biogeochemistry. We studied the impact of machinery-induced soil disturbance on the vegetation, microbes, and soil biogeochemistry of drained boreal peatland forests caused by machinery traffic during thinning operations. To assess potential recovery, we sampled six sites that ranged in time since thinning from a few months to 15 years. Soil disturbance directly decreased moss biomass and led to an increase in sedge cover and a decrease in root production. Moreover, soil CO2 production potential, and soil CO2 and CH4 concentrations were greater in recently disturbed areas than in the control areas. In contrast, CO2 and CH4 emissions, microbial biomass and structure, and the decomposition rate of cellulose appeared to be uncoupled and did not show signs of impact. While the impacted properties varied in their rate of recovery, they all fully recovered within 15 years covered by our chronosequence study. Conclusively, drained boreal peatlands appeared to have high biological resilience to soil disturbance caused by forest machinery during thinning operations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Response of vegetation and soil biological properties to soil deformation in logging trails of drained boreal peatland forests

et al. 2022

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“…In this novel application of CSR to predict whole‐plant growth, we found strong growth–trait relationships across milkweed species driven primarily by variation in average LS with minimal contributions from LDMC and SLA (Figure 1F,J). An advantage of LS is that it can be measured on attached leaves and does not require destructive sampling of leaf material, which is essential in studies requiring repeated measures over time or in vulnerable/at‐risk plant populations where leaf material should not be removed from focal plants (Davidson et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A direct comparison of ecological theories for predicting the relationship between plant traits and growth

Goud

Agrawal

Sparks

2023

Ecology

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Despite long-standing theory for classifying plant ecological strategies, limited data directly links organismal traits to whole-plant growth. We compared trait-growth relationships based on three prominent theories: growth analysis, Grime's CSR triangle, and the leaf economics spectrum (LES). Under these schemes, growth is hypothesized to be predicted by traits related to biomass investments, leaf structure or gas exchange, respectively. In phylogenetic analyses of 30 diverse milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) and 21 morphological and ecophysiological traits, growth rate varied 50-fold and was best predicted by growth analysis and CSR traits, as well as total leaf area and plant height. Despite two LES traits correlating with growth, they contradicted predictions and leaf traits did not scale with root and stem characteristics. Thus, although combining leaf traits and whole-plant allocation best predicts growth, when destructive measures are not feasible, we suggest total leaf area and plant height, or easy-to-measure traits associated with the CSR classification.Predicting variation in plant growth is a long-standing problem in ecology. Because plants largely determine ecosystem productivity, estimating current and future plant growth is increasingly relevant as global change drivers impact ecosystem services 1,2 . As it is typically impractical to measure the total vegetative biomass of a community or ecosystem, an emerging method is to apply plant traits to predict growth rate. These trait-based approaches take advantage of a large body of literature that analyzes co-variation and trade-offs among plant traits [3][4][5][6] . Given that morphological and physiological characters are central to resource acquisition and allocation, they are likely to shape plant productivity in predictable ways. Three classic approaches have attempted to distill plant diversity into cohesive strategies and estimate growth based on defining characteristics: growth analysis, Grime's CSR triangle, and the leaf economics spectrum (Table 1). In growth analysis, growth rate is predicted by the relative allocation of biomass among roots, stems, and leaves 3,7 . Faster growing plants are expected to invest more in leaves relative to stems and roots. Due to the importance of leaf investment, growth rates are additionally dependent on specific leaf area (SLA), the ratio of leaf area to dry mass. Grime's CSR (competition-stress tolerant-ruderal) framework predicts that these three plant strategies have repeatedly evolved in response to combinations of stress and disturbance 8 . Until recently, the CSR framework was conceptual rather than empirically traitbased. However, Pierce et al. 2016 showed that three leaf traits were predictive of the scheme: average leaf surface area (individual leaf size, LS), SLA, and leaf dry matter content (LD). In this context, the C-strategy is defined by large LS and intermediate LD and SLA. The S-strategy has small LS and SLA with large LD, and R-strategy has small LS, small LD and large SLA 9 . The most commonly ap...

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“…Pipeline corridors, as one representative type of linear engineering infrastructures and environmental disturbances, are widespread owing to the growing demand for natural resources [1,2]. Pipeline corridors are created for oil and gas exploration and transportation in hydrocarbon-rich boreal and tundra ecosystems in North America [3] and northern Eurasia [4], and in other alpine and high-plateau permafrost regions at mid-to low latitudes, e.g., [5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shrubification along Pipeline Corridors in Permafrost Regions

Jin

Xue

et al. 2022

Forests

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Pipeline corridors have been rapidly increasing in length and density because of the ever growing demand for crude oil and natural gas resources in hydrocarbon-rich permafrost regions. Pipeline engineering activities have significant implications for the permafrost environment in cold regions. Along these pipeline corridors, the shrubification in the right-of-way (ROW) has been extensively observed during vegetation recovery. However, the hydrothermal mechanisms of this ROW shrubification have seldom been studied and thus remain poorly understood. This paper reviews more than 112 articles mainly published from 2000 to 2022 and focuses on the hydrothermal mechanisms of shrubification associated with environmental changes induced by the rapidly degrading permafrost from pipeline construction and around the operating pipelines under a warming climate. First, the shrubification from pipeline construction and operation and the ensuing vegetation clearance are featured. Then, key permafrost-related ROW shrubification mechanisms (e.g., from the perspectives of warmer soil, soil moisture, soil type, soil nutrients, topography and landscapes, and snow cover) are discussed. Other key influencing factors on these hydrothermal and other mechanisms are hierarchically documented as well. In the end, future research priorities are identified and proposed. We call for prioritizing more systematic and in-depth investigations and surveys, laboratory testing, long-term field monitoring, and numerical modeling studies of the ROW shrubification along oil and gas pipelines in permafrost regions, such as in boreal and arctic zones, as well as in alpine and high-plateau regions. This review can improve our understanding of shrubification mechanisms under pipeline disturbances and climate changes and help to better manage the ecological environment along pipeline corridors in permafrost regions.

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Linear Disturbances Shift Boreal Peatland Plant Communities Toward Earlier Peak Greenness

Cited by 15 publications

References 52 publications

Response of vegetation and soil biological properties to soil deformation in logging trails of drained boreal peatland forests

Response of vegetation and soil biological properties to soil deformation in logging trails of drained boreal peatland forests

A direct comparison of ecological theories for predicting the relationship between plant traits and growth

Shrubification along Pipeline Corridors in Permafrost Regions

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