Long-Term Changes in Alpine Plant Communities in Norway and Finland

Virtanen, Risto; Eskelinen, Anu; Gaare, E.

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-18967-8_25

Cited by 42 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…For the lichens, we noticed a significant decrease in species richness and cover over time (see also Chapin et al 1995;Cornelissen et al 2001;Virtanen et al 2003;Elmendorf et al 2012). This change can likely be attributed to the increased competition with vascular plants, especially shrubs and dwarf shrubs (for instance, indicated by the highly significant negative correlation between dwarf-shrub and lichen abundance).…”

Section: Lichens and Bryophytesmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…This change can likely be attributed to the increased competition with vascular plants, especially shrubs and dwarf shrubs (for instance, indicated by the highly significant negative correlation between dwarf-shrub and lichen abundance). More specifically, the increase in vascular plant biomass and canopy cover is expected to reduce light penetration to the ground surface, allowing a competition-driven loss of shade-intolerant lichen species in the longer run (Cornelissen et al 2001;Virtanen et al 2003;Walker et al 2006). In addition to shade, increased litter production from vascular plants could have an adverse impact on lichens as well (Cornelissen et al 2001).…”

Section: Lichens and Bryophytesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vice versa, lichens and bryophytes both facilitate and compete with vascular plants, and can therefore affect natural vegetation succession (Sedia and Ehrenfeld 2003;Dorrepaal et al 2006;Cornelissen et al 2007). Moreover, climate warming expected to amplify the aboveground productivity of vascular plants, which could enable faster-growing plant species to outcompete lichens and bryophytes (Cornelissen et al 2001), and may be the cause of the observed decline in cryptogam biomass and/or abundance in subarctic and mid-arctic ecosystems (Virtanen et al 2003;Walker et al 2006;Elmendorf et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of climate change on alpine vegetation of mountain summits in Norway

Vanneste

Michelsen

Graae

et al. 2017

Ecological Research

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Climate change is affecting the composition and functioning of ecosystems across the globe. Mountain ecosystems are particularly sensitive to climate warming since their biota is generally limited by low temperatures. Cryptogams such as lichens and bryophytes are important for the biodiversity and functioning of these ecosystems, but have not often been incorporated in vegetation resurvey studies. Hence, we lack a good understanding of how vascular plants, lichens and bryophytes respond interactively to climate warming in alpine communities. Here we quantified long-term changes in species richness, cover, composition and thermophilization (i.e. the increasing dominance of warm-adapted species) of vascular plants, lichens and bryophytes on four summits at Dovrefjell, Norway. These summits are situated along an elevational gradient from the low alpine to high alpine zone and were surveyed for all species in 2001, 2008 and 2015. During the 15-year period, a decline in lichen richness and increase in bryophyte richness was detected, whereas no change in vascular plant richness was found. Dwarf-shrub abundance progressively increased at the expense of lichens, and thermophilization was most pronounced for vascular plants, but occurred only on the lowest summits and northern aspects. Lichens showed less thermophilization and, for the bryophytes, no significant thermophilization was found. Although recent climate change may have primarily caused the observed changes in vegetation, combined effects with non-climatic factors (e.g. grazing and trampling) are likely important as well. At a larger scale, alpine vegetation shifts could have a profound impact on biosphere functioning with feedbacks to the global climate.Keywords Alpine vegetation AE Climate change AE Resurvey study AE Thermophilization AE CryptogamsThe original version of this article was revised due to a retrospective Open Access.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

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Section: Lichens and Bryophytesmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Lichens and Bryophytesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of climate change on alpine vegetation of mountain summits in Norway

Vanneste

Michelsen

Graae

et al. 2017

Ecological Research

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“…A prominent current trajectory of snowbed transformation, where the initial conditions were somewhat less snowrich, implies areal expansion of moss-rich Vaccinium myrtillus-heaths (Virtanen et al 2003;Kullman 2007b). At the southernmost fringe of the Swedish Scandes, some species-poor snowbed communities of this type have disappeared in this way during the past 30 years, although still Frontal recession of glaciers is exposing extensive unvegetated forefields at high elevations, appropriate for evolution of snowbed communities and serving as refuges for alpine plant species remaining on several locations in the region (Kullman 2004b(Kullman , 2005a.…”

Section: Current Changes In Alpine Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some sloping fens are converted into species-rich meadow communities, while flatter mires are increasingly colonized by grasses, e.g. Molinia caerulea, and shrubs (Salix spp., Betula pubescens) (Virtanen et al 2003;Kullman 2007b).…”

Section: Current Changes In Alpine Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Richer, Greener and Smaller Alpine World: Review and Projection of Warming-Induced Plant Cover Change in the Swedish Scandes

Kullman

2010

AMBIO

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Alpine plant life is proliferating, biodiversity is on the rise and the mountain world appears more productive and inviting than ever. Upper range margin rise of trees and low-altitude (boreal) plant species, expansion of alpine grasslands and dwarf-shrub heaths are the modal biotic adjustments during the past few decades, after a century of substantial climate warming in the Swedish Scandes. This course of biotic landscape evolution has reached historical dimensions and broken a multi-millennial trend of plant cover retrogression, alpine tundra expansion, floristic and faunal impoverishment, all imposed by progressive and deterministic neoglacial climate cooling. Continued modest warming over the present century will likely be beneficial to alpine biodiversity, geoecological stability, resilience, sustainable reindeer husbandry and aesthetic landscape qualities. These aspects are highlighted by an integrative review of results from long-term monitoring of subalpine/alpine vegetation in the Swedish Scandes. This forms the basis for some tentative projections of landscape transformations in a potentially warmer future. Notably, these results and projections are not necessarily valid in other regions and differ in some respects from model predictions. Continued monitoring is mandatory as a basis for generation of more realistic vegetation and ecosystem models.

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Where do the treeless tundra areas of northern highlands fit in the global biome system: toward an ecologically natural subdivision of the tundra biome

Virtanen

Oksanen

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

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According to some treatises, arctic and alpine sub‐biomes are ecologically similar, whereas others find them highly dissimilar. Most peculiarly, large areas of northern tundra highlands fall outside of the two recent subdivisions of the tundra biome. We seek an ecologically natural resolution to this long‐standing and far‐reaching problem. We studied broad‐scale patterns in climate and vegetation along the gradient from Siberian tundra via northernmost Fennoscandia to the alpine habitats of European middle‐latitude mountains, as well as explored those patterns within Fennoscandian tundra based on climate–vegetation patterns obtained from a fine‐scale vegetation map. Our analyses reveal that ecologically meaningful January–February snow and thermal conditions differ between different types of tundra. High precipitation and mild winter temperatures prevail on middle‐latitude mountains, low precipitation and usually cold winters prevail on high‐latitude tundra, and Scandinavian mountains show intermediate conditions. Similarly, heath‐like plant communities differ clearly between middle latitude mountains (alpine) and high‐latitude tundra vegetation, including its altitudinal extension on Scandinavian mountains. Conversely, high abundance of snowbeds and large differences in the composition of dwarf shrub heaths distinguish the Scandinavian mountain tundra from its counterparts in Russia and the north Fennoscandian inland. The European tundra areas fall into three ecologically rather homogeneous categories: the arctic tundra, the oroarctic tundra of northern heights and mountains, and the genuinely alpine tundra of middle‐latitude mountains. Attempts to divide the tundra into two sub‐biomes have resulted in major discrepancies and confusions, as the oroarctic areas are included in the arctic tundra in some biogeographic maps and in the alpine tundra in others. Our analyses based on climate and vegetation criteria thus seem to resolve the long‐standing biome delimitation problem, help in consistent characterization of research sites, and create a basis for further biogeographic and ecological research in global tundra environments.

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Long-Term Changes in Alpine Plant Communities in Norway and Finland

Cited by 42 publications

References 15 publications

Impact of climate change on alpine vegetation of mountain summits in Norway

Impact of climate change on alpine vegetation of mountain summits in Norway

A Richer, Greener and Smaller Alpine World: Review and Projection of Warming-Induced Plant Cover Change in the Swedish Scandes

Where do the treeless tundra areas of northern highlands fit in the global biome system: toward an ecologically natural subdivision of the tundra biome

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