Ecosystems impacts of climate change: snowmelt timing, species diversity, and plant productivity
Abstract
A 14 year warming experiment being conducted in a subalpine meadow has resulted in several physical changes, including advanced date of snowmelt, a decrease in soil moisture, and increased soil temperature in heated plots versus control plots. These microclimate changes have led to a shift in plant community composition towards dominance of sagebrush (Artemisa tridentata) at the expensive of herbaceous forb plant species. Among the forb species, deep rooted species have not been as adversely affected as shallow rooted species. Within the experimental warming plots, there is also a positive, although non-significant, correlation between snowmelt timing and species richness with earlier melting plots having lower species richness. Using observational data along a naturally-occurring snowmelt gradient, this study attempted to identify if the relationships between snowmelt timing and species richness and community composition hold true across a larger meadow area, and if snowmelt timing correlates to other important ecosystem process such as plant productivity and soil carbon storage. We also looked for evidence in support of a hypothesized link between plant diversity and ecosystem function. Snowmelt timing did not correlate with species richness, aboveground biomass, or soil organic carbon, although it was correlated with community composition, with earlier snowmelt leading to a greater proportion of shallow rooted forbs and a greater presence of sagebrush. Species richness did not correlate with aboveground biomass or soil organic carbon, however plant community composition did show some significant correlation with 1 ecosystem functioning. Sagebrush was present only in early melting plots, and plots with sagebrush had significantly higher soil organic carbon than plots without sagebrush. Forb composition was significantly correlated with aboveground biomass, with plots containing more deep rooted forbs having higher aboveground biomass.
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References (10)
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