The relationship between soil water storage capacity and plant species diversity in high alpine vegetation

Kammer, Peter M.; Schöb, Christian; Eberhard, Gabriel; Gallina, Renzo; Meyer, Remo; Tschanz, Christian

doi:10.1080/17550874.2013.783142

Cited by 29 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…A similar pattern was found in previous food science studies focusing on model molecules such as casein, lactoglobulin (Fanni et al, 1989;Curme et al, 1990) or on more heterogeneous material such as meat (Kabil et al, 2012). Plant litter's ability to adsorb water is a property of huge importance, enhancing habitat conditions for plants, micro invertebrates and microorganisms in litters and soils (Henry, 2012;Kammer et al, 2013). These microbial communities are responsible for the decomposition of organic matter and sustain major ecological processes such as biogeochemical cycles.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 49%

Infra-red spectroscopy reveals chemical interactions driving water availability for enzyme activities in litters of typical Mediterranean tree species

Silva

Ferre

Dupuy

et al. 2017

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

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Rebufa. Infra-red spectroscopy reveals chemical interactions driving water availability for enzyme activities in litters of typical Mediterranean tree species. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Elsevier, 2017, 114, pp.72-81. 10 In Mediterranean ecosystems, water is one of the main drivers of the microbial activities that support organic matter turnover in soils or litters. In addition to drought stress, coastal areas are subject to osmotic stress linked to sea spray exposure. Here we explored i) how water availability, characterized by water activity a w , is impacted by adding NaCI to litter, ii) the chemical interactions between water, NaCl and the litter matrix and iii) whether microbial activities (using lipase as a model) are affected under these conditions. Litters of two vegetal species typical of the Mediterranean area (Quercus pubescens and Pinus halepensis) were subjected to FTIR-ATR (Fourier-Transformed Infra-Red e Attenuated Total Reflectance) spectroscopy for chemical characterization. Q. pubescens and P. halepensis litters were characterized by cutin and aromatics respectively. Sorption isotherms were identical for both species litters; when NaCl was added, a shift in isotherm shape was observed at a w ranging from 0.75 to 1. FTIR also discriminated samples with and without added NaCl and revealed that cellulose is probably the polymer in interactions with ions. Very interestingly, no differences were found between lipase hydrolytic activities with and without added NaCl: salt addition had no effect on these activities.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 49%

Infra-red spectroscopy reveals chemical interactions driving water availability for enzyme activities in litters of typical Mediterranean tree species

Silva

Ferre

Dupuy

et al. 2017

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

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“…LiDAR is a superior tool for mapping topography in detail (Southee et al, 2012). The benefits of LiDAR are based on its capacity to detect minor terrain features, for instance hill tops, ridges, small depressions, and meltwater outlets, which are key determinants of fine-scale soil moisture variation (Engstrom et al, 2005;Kammer et al, 2013; but see also Lookingbill and Urban, 2004). Thus, high-resolution LiDAR based soil moisture surrogates are more accurate (Southee et al, 2012;Leempoel et al, 2015) compared to coarser resolution surrogates, which are based on conventional digital elevation models instead of LiDAR data (Murphy et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The role of soil moisture is often underestimated in studies regarding high-latitude and high-alpine landscapes, due to the lack of data (Kammer et al, 2013;le Roux et al, 2013;Myers-Smith et al, 2015). Spatially extensive soil moisture measurements are challenging, since they are time-consuming, expensive, and hard to obtain (Famiglietti et al, 2008;Hajek et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling soil moisture in a high‐latitude landscape using LiDAR and soil data

Kemppinen

Niittynen

Riihimäki

et al. 2017

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Soil moisture has a pronounced effect on earth surface processes. Global soil moisture is strongly driven by climate, whereas at finer scales, the role of non‐climatic drivers becomes more important. We provide insights into the significance of soil and land surface properties in landscape‐scale soil moisture variation by utilizing high‐resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data and extensive field investigations. The data consist of 1200 study plots located in a high‐latitude landscape of mountain tundra in north‐western Finland. We measured the plots three times during growing season 2016 with a hand‐held time‐domain reflectometry sensor. To model soil moisture and its temporal variation, we used four statistical modelling methods: generalized linear models, generalized additive models, boosted regression trees, and random forests. The model fit of the soil moisture models were R2 = 0.60 and root mean square error (RMSE) 8.04 VWC% on average, while the temporal variation models showed a lower fit of R2 = 0.25 and RMSE 13.11 CV%. The predictive performances for the former were R2 = 0.47 and RMSE 9.34 VWC%, and for the latter R2 = 0.01 and RMSE 15.29 CV%. Results were similar across the modelling methods, demonstrating a consistent pattern. Soil moisture and its temporal variation showed strong heterogeneity over short distances; therefore, soil moisture modelling benefits from high‐resolution predictors, such as LiDAR based variables. In the soil moisture models, the strongest predictor was SAGA (System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses) wetness index (SWI), based on a 1 m2 digital terrain model derived from LiDAR data, which outperformed soil predictors. Thus, our study supports the use of LiDAR based SWI in explaining fine‐scale soil moisture variation. In the temporal variation models, the strongest predictor was the field‐quantified organic layer depth variable. Our results show that spatial soil moisture predictions can be based on soil and land surface properties, yet the temporal models require further investigation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…These results match with physiological measurements which show that arctic‐alpine species are well adapted to variation in soil moisture (Johnson & Caldwell, ; Oberbauer & Billings, ; Fletcher et al ., ). Soil water storage capacity may also be important for some vegetation properties (specifically diversity; Kammer et al ., ), and this more logistically demanding measurement could be considered as additional measure of soil moisture availability. As models of species richness and individual species occurrences accounted for variation in three other important abiotic variables (to avoid spurious relationships; le Roux et al ., ), these results provide a rigorous statistical assessment of the role of soil moisture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As soil moisture is the hydrological variable most proximally linked to plant performance during the growing season (Isard, 1986;Weltzin et al, 2003), research explicitly quantifying soil moisture may offer a useful perspective on the influence of changes in hydrology on vegetation (see also Kammer et al, 2013). However, observational studies focusing on spatial variation in soil conditions have relatively rarely directly quantified soil moisture (Crimmins et al, 2011;H ajek et al, 2013;Piedallu et al, 2013), with most arctic and alpine studies using subjective 'wetness' classifications or proxies of soil moisture, including topographic position (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil moisture's underestimated role in climate change impact modelling in low‐energy systems

Roux

Aalto

Luoto

2013

Global Change Biology

104

113

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Shifts in precipitation regimes are an inherent component of climate change, but in low-energy systems are often assumed to be less important than changes in temperature. Because soil moisture is the hydrological variable most proximally linked to plant performance during the growing season in arctic-alpine habitats, it may offer the most useful perspective on the influence of changes in precipitation on vegetation. Here we quantify the influence of soil moisture for multiple vegetation properties at fine spatial scales, to determine the potential importance of soil moisture under changing climatic conditions. A fine-scale data set, comprising vascular species cover and field-quantified ecologically relevant environmental parameters, was analysed to determine the influence of soil moisture relative to other key abiotic predictors. Soil moisture was strongly related to community composition, species richness and the occurrence patterns of individual species, having a similar or greater influence than soil temperature, pH and solar radiation. Soil moisture varied considerably over short distances, and this fine-scale heterogeneity may contribute to offsetting the ecological impacts of changes in precipitation for species not limited to extreme soil moisture conditions. In conclusion, soil moisture is a key driver of vegetation properties, both at the species and community level, even in this low-energy system. Soil moisture conditions represent an important mechanism through which changing climatic conditions impact vegetation, and advancing our predictive capability will therefore require a better understanding of how soil moisture mediates the effects of climate change on biota.

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The relationship between soil water storage capacity and plant species diversity in high alpine vegetation

Cited by 29 publications

References 50 publications

Infra-red spectroscopy reveals chemical interactions driving water availability for enzyme activities in litters of typical Mediterranean tree species

Infra-red spectroscopy reveals chemical interactions driving water availability for enzyme activities in litters of typical Mediterranean tree species

Modelling soil moisture in a high‐latitude landscape using LiDAR and soil data

Soil moisture's underestimated role in climate change impact modelling in low‐energy systems

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