Long-Term Studies of Snow-Vegetation Interactions

Walker, D. A.; Halfpenny, James C.; Walker, Marilyn D.; Wessman, Carol A.

doi:10.2307/1312061

Cited by 279 publications

(230 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The speed of vegetation green-up increased in home ranges experiencing higher winter and spring precipitation, and in those located at higher elevations. This effect is consistent with results from other rangeland systems, and is likely due to a greater flush of available moisture for plant growth in the spring, thereby accelerating green-up of vegetation (Walker et al 1993;Walker et al 1995;Bjork & Molau 2007, Christianson et al 2013). …”

Section: Weather Topography and Vegetation Phenologysupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Home ranges with higher winter precipitation had significantly greater productivity (INDVI), probably because the greater moisture availability enhances vegetation growth throughout the spring, and potentially the summer if snowmelt continues into the middle part of the year (Walker et al 1993;Walker et al 1995;Bjork & Molau 2007). …”

Section: Weather Topography and Vegetation Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

et al. 2015

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Article (refereed) -postprintSearle, Kate R.; Rice, Mindy B.; Anderson, Charles R.; Bishop, Chad; Hobbs, N.T. 2015. Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore. Oecologia, 179 (2). 377-391. 10.1007/s00442-015-3348-9 Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. AbstractUnderstanding how spatial and temporal heterogeneity influence ecological processes forms a central challenge in ecology. Individual responses to heterogeneity shape population dynamics, therefore understanding these responses is central to sustainable population management. Emerging evidence has shown that herbivores track heterogeneity in nutritional quality of vegetation by responding to phenological differences in plants. We quantified the benefits mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) accrue from accessing habitats with asynchronous plant phenology in northwest Colorado over three years. Our analysis examined both the direct physiological and indirect environmental effects of weather and vegetation phenology on mule deer winter body condition. We identified several important effects of annual weather patterns and topographical variables on vegetation phenology in the home ranges of mule deer. Crucially, temporal patterns of vegetation phenology were linked with differences in body condition, with deer tending to show poorer body condition in areas with less asynchronous vegetation green-up and later vegetation onset. The direct physiological effect of previous winter precipitation on mule deer body condition was much less important than the indirect effect mediated by vegetation phenology. Additionally, the influence of vegetation phenology on body fat was much stronger than that of overall vegetation productivity. In summary, changing annual weather patterns, particularly in relation to seasonal precipitation, have the potential to alter body condition of this important ungulate species during the critical winter period. This finding highlights the importance of maintaining large contiguous areas of spatially and temporally variable resources to allow animals to compensate behaviourally for changing climate-driven resource patterns.

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Section: Weather Topography and Vegetation Phenologysupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Weather Topography and Vegetation Phenologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

et al. 2015

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“…Without the protection of snow cover, plants in these early-melting plots were exposed to cold nights when they underwent violent freeze-thaw alteration, and many of them could not tolerate such severe conditions and were eliminated from the community. Therefore, although a long growing season associated with early snowmelt was beneficial to many plants' reproduction and growth (Walker et al 1993, Galen and Stanton 19911993, the early-melting plots (of class I and class II) did not contain maximal number of species compared with other snow-depth classes. This was the reason why nocturnal low temperature was considered as one of the limiting factors on plant life and species richness in the alpine study area (Grabherr et al 1995, Odland and Birks 1999, Wohlgemuth 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Billings and Bliss (1959) showed that floristic differences along a snow gradient resulted from differing tolerances of species to drought and shortness of growing season. Walker et al (1993) found that most plant species had an optimal range of snow depth, leading to dissimilar biodiversity between depth classes. Although snow cover plays an important role in structuring vegetation type as well as plant diversity in the alpine zone, there are, so far, few studies (WU 2005) on the relationship between snow cover and species diversity of the alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of snow-cover duration on plant species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Chen

et al. 2008

J. Mt. Sci.

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Abstract:Although snow cover plays an important role in structuring plant diversity in the alpine zone, there are few studies on the relationship between snow cover and species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. To assess the effect of snow cover on plant species diversity of alpine meadows, we used ten parallel transects of 60 m × 1 m for this study and described the changes in species diversity and composition associated with snow depth. With the division of snow depth into six classes, the highest species richness (S) and species diversity (H′) occurred with an intermediate snow depth, i.e., class III and class IV, showing a unimodal curve with the increase in snow depth. The relationship between snow depth and plant diversity (both richness and Shannon index) could be depicted by quadratic equations. There was no evident relationship between diversity (both S and H′) and soil water content, which implied that other more important factors influenced species diversity. The patterns of diversity found in our study were largely attributed to freeze-thaw alteration, length of growing season and disturbances of livestock grazing. Furthermore, snow depth affected species composition, as evaluated by the Sørensen's index of similarity. In addition, almost all species limited to one snow depth class were found only in class III and class IV, indicating that intermediate snow depth was suitable for the survival and growth of many alpine species.

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“…Snow is one of the most important factors controlling vegetation and ecosystem functions in higher latitudes and alpine areas (Walker et al 1993;Høye et al 2007). The duration of snow cover and snow cover thickness directly govern fluxes of CO 2 in plant communities (Grøndahl et al 2007;Larsen et al 2007;Nobrega and Grogan 2007;Grogan 2012) and in the colder regions, where the growing season is short, a few weeks of change in season length may have significant impact on phenology and ecosystem functions (Walker et al 1999;Høye et al 2007;Post et al 2009;Elmendorf et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased photosynthesis compensates for shorter growing season in subarctic tundra—8 years of snow accumulation manipulations

et al. 2014

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This study was initiated to analyze the effect of increased snow cover on plant photosynthesis in subarctic mires underlain by permafrost. Snow fences were used to increase the accumulation of snow on a subarctic permafrost mire in northern Sweden. By measuring reflected photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) the effect of snow thickness and associated delay of the start of the growing season was assessed in terms of absorbed PAR and estimated gross primary production (GPP). Six plots experienced increased snow accumulation and six plots were untreated. Incoming and reflected PAR was logged hourly from August 2010 to October 2013. In 2010 PAR measurements were coupled with flux chamber measurements to assess GPP and light use efficiency of the plots. The increased snow thickness prolonged the duration of the snow cover in spring. The delay of the growing season start in the treated plots was 18 days in 2011, 3 days in 2012 and 22 days in 2013. Results show higher PAR absorption, together with almost 35 % higher light use efficiency, in treated plots compared to untreated plots. Estimations of GPP suggest that the loss in early season photosynthesis, due to the shortening of the growing season in the treatment plots, is well compensated for by the increased absorption of PAR and higher light use efficiency throughout the whole growing seasons. This compensation is likely to be explained by increased soil moisture and nutrients together with a shift in vegetation composition associated with the accelerated permafrost thaw in the treatment plots.

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Long-Term Studies of Snow-Vegetation Interactions

Cited by 279 publications

References 30 publications

Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

Effect of snow-cover duration on plant species diversity of alpine meadows on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Increased photosynthesis compensates for shorter growing season in subarctic tundra—8 years of snow accumulation manipulations

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