Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Differential ecophysiological response of deciduous shrubs and a graminoid to long-term experimental snow reductions and additions in moist acidic tundra, Northern Alaska

  • Physiological ecology - Original research
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Changes in winter precipitation that include both decreases and increases in winter snow are underway across the Arctic. In this study, we used a 14-year experiment that has increased and decreased winter snow in the moist acidic tussock tundra of northern Alaska to understand impacts of variation in winter snow depth on summer leaf-level ecophysiology of two deciduous shrubs and a graminoid species, including: instantaneous rates of leaf gas exchange, and δ13C, δ15N, and nitrogen (N) concentrations of Betula nana, Salix pulchra, and Eriophorum vaginatum. Leaf-level measurements were complemented by measurements of canopy leaf area index (LAI) and depth of thaw. Reductions in snow lowered summer leaf photosynthesis, conductance, and transpiration rates by up to 40 % compared to ambient and deep snow conditions for Eriophorum vaginatum, and reduced Salix pulchra conductance and transpiration by up to 49 %. In contrast, Betula nana exhibited no changes in leaf gas exchange in response to lower or deeper snow. Canopy LAI increased with added snow, while reduced winter snow resulted in lower growing season soil temperatures and reduced thaw depths. Our findings indicate that the spatial and temporal variability of future snow depth will have individualistic consequences for leaf-level C fixation and water flux by tundra species, and that these responses will be manifested over the longer term by changes in canopy traits, depth of thaw, soil C and N processes, and trace gas (CO2 and H2O) exchanges between the tundra and the atmosphere.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aerts R, Cornelissen HC, Dorrepaal E, Van Logtestijn RSP, Callaghan TV (2004) Effects of experimentally imposed climate scenarios on flowering phenology and flower production of subarctic bog species. Glob Change Biol 10:1599–1609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson-Smith A (2013) Remotely-sensed spectral data linked to increasing shrub abundance and greater growing season carbon uptake in Alaskan Arctic tundra. MS thesis, University of Alaska, Anchorage

  • Barber DG, Lukovich JV, Keogak J, Baryluj S, Fortier L, Henry GHR (2008) The changing climate of the Arctic. Arctic 61:7–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigger CM, Oechel WC (1982) Nutrient effect on maximum photosynthesis in arctic plants. Ecography 5:158–163

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bilbrough DJ, Welker JM, Bowman WD (2000) Early spring nitrogen uptake by snow-covered plants: a comparison of Arctic and Alpine plant function under the snowpack. Arct Antarct Alp Res 32:404–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blok D, Heijmans MMPD, Schaepman-Strub G, Kononov AV, Maximov TC, Berendse F (2010) Shrub expansion may reduce summer permafrost thaw in Siberian tundra. Glob Change Biol 16:1296–1305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blok D, Sass-Klaassen U, Schaepman-Strub G, Heijmans MMPD, Sauren P, Berendse F (2011) What are the main climate drivers for shrub growth in Northeastern Siberian tundra? Biogeosci Discuss 8:771–799

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bokhorst S, Bjerke JW, Bowles FW, Melillo J, Callaghan TV, Phoenix GK (2008) Impacts of extreme winter warming in the sub-Arctic: growing season responses of dwarf shrub healthland. Glob Change Biol 14:2603–2612

    Google Scholar 

  • Bokhorst S, Bjerke JW, Tommervik H, Callaghan TV, Phoenix GK (2009) Winter warming events damage sub-Arctic vegetation: consistent evidence from an experimental manipulation and a natural event. J Ecol 97:1408–1415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonsal BR, Zhang X, Vincent LA et al (2001) Characteristics of daily and extreme temperatures over Canada. J Clim 14:1959–1976

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borner AP, Kielland K, Walker MD (2008) Effects of simulated climate change on plant phenology and nitrogen mineralization in Alaskan arctic tundra. Arct Antarct Alp Res 40:27–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman WD, Theodose TA, Fisk MC (1995) Physiological and production responses of plant-growth forms to increases in limiting resources in alpine tundra- Implications for differential community response to environmental change. Oecologia 101:217–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bret-Harte MS, Shaver GR, Zoerner JP, Johnstone JF, Wagner JL, Chavez AS, Gunkleman RF IV, Lippert SC, Laundre JA (2001) Developmental plasticity allows Betula nana to dominate tundra subjected to an altered environment. Ecology 82:18–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks PD, Grogan P, Templer PH, Groffman P, Oquist MG, Schimel J (2011) Carbon and nitrogen cycling in snow covered environments. Geogr Compass 5(9):682–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buckeridge KM, Zufelt E, Chu H, Grogan P (2010) Soil nitrogen cycling rates in low arctic shrub tundra are enhanced by litter feedbacks. Plant Soil 330:407–421

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Callaghan TV, Johansson M, Brown RD, Groisman PYa, Labba N, Radionov V, Barry RG, Bulygina ON, et al. (2011) The changing face of Arctic snow cover: a synthesis of observed and projected changes. In: Callaghan TV, Johansson M, Prowse TD (eds) Arctic cryosphere—changes and impacts. Ambio 40(S1):17–31

  • Chapin FS III, Shaver GR (1996) Physiological and growth responses of arctic plants to a field experiment simulating climate change. Ecology 77:822–840

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS III, Sturm M, Serrze MC, McFadden JP, Key JR, Lloyd AH, McGuire AD, Rupp TS, Lynch AH, Schimel JP, Beringer J, Chapman WL, Epstein HE, Euskirchen ES, Hinzman LD, Jia G, Ping CL, Tape KD, Thompson CDC, Walker DA, Welker JM (2005) Role of land-surface changes in Arctic summer warming. Science 310(5748):657–660

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper EA (2010) Introduction to a special section: winter terrestrial ecology in Arctic and alpine tundra. Polar Res 29:36–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craine JM, Elmore AJ, Aidar MPM, Bustamante M, Dawson TE, Hobbie EA, Kahmen A, Mack MC, McLauchlan KK, Michelsen A, Nardoto GB, Pardo LH, Peñuelas J, Reich PB, Schuur EAG, Stock WD, Templer PH, Virginia RA, Welker JM, Wright IJ (2009) Global patterns of foliar nitrogen isotopes and their relationships with climate, mycorrhizal fungi, foliar nutrient concentrations, and nitrogen availability. New Phytol 183:980–992

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson TE, Bliss LC (1989) Intraspecific variation in the water relations of Salix arctica, an arctic-alpine dwarf willow. Oecologia 79:322–331

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Derksen C, Brown R (2012), Spring snow cover extent reductions in the 2008–2012 period exceeding climate model projections. Geophys Res Lett 39:L19504. doi:10.1029/2012GL053387

  • Evans JR, Sharkey TD, Berry JA, Farquhar GD (1986) Carbon isotope discrimination measured concurrently with gas exchange to investigate CO2 diffusion in leaves of higher plants. Aust J Plant Physiol 13:281–292

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fahnestock JT, Jones MH, Brooks PD, Walker DA, Welker JM (1998) Winter and early spring CO2 efflux from tundra communities of northern Alaska. J Geophys Res 103:29023–29027

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fahnestock JT, Jones MH, Welker JM (1999) Wintertime CO2 efflux from arctic soils: implications for annual carbon budgets. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 13:775–779

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fahnestock JT, Povirk KA, Welker JM (2000) Abiotic and biotic effects of increased litter accumulation in arctic tundra. Ecography 23:623–631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farquhar GD, Ehleringer JR, Hubick K (1989) Carbon isotope discrimination and photosynthesis. Ann Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 40:503–533

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Forbes BC, Fauria MM, Zetterberg P (2010) Russian arctic warming and ‘greening’ are closely tracked by tundra shrub willows. Glob Change Biol 16:1542–1454

    Google Scholar 

  • Grogan P, Michelsen A, Ambus P, Jonasson S (2004) Freeze–thaw regime effects on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in subarctic heath tundra mesocosms. Soil Biol Biochem 36:641–654

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds) Contribution of Working Group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  • Jia GJ, Epstein HE (2003) Greening of arctic Alaska, 1981–2001. Geophys Res Lett 30:2067

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman DS, Schneider DP, McKay NP et al (2009) Recent warming reverses long-term Arctic cooling. Science 325:1236–1239

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen KS, Grogan P, Jonasson S, Michelsen A (2007) Dynamics and microbial dynamics in two subarctic ecosystems during winter and spring thaw: effects of increased snow depth. Arct Antarct Alp Res 39:268–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liston GE, Hiemstra CA (2011) The changing cryosphere: Pan-Arctic snow trends (1979–2009). J Clim 24:5691–5712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Littell RC, Milliken GA, Stroup WW, Wolfinger RD, Schabenberger O (2006) SAS for mixed models, 2nd edn. SAS Institute, Cary

    Google Scholar 

  • McGuire AD, Christensen TR, Hayes D, Heroult A, Euskirchen ES, Kimball JS, Koven C, Lafleur P, Miller PA, Oechel W, Peylin P, Williams M (2012) An assessment of the carbon balance of arctic tundra: comparisons among observations, process models, and atmospheric inversions. Biogeosci Discuss 9:4543–4594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercado-Diaz J (2011) Plant community responses of the Alaskan Arctic tundra to environmental and experimental changes in climate. MSc Thesis. University of Puerto Rico, PR

  • Min SK, Zhang X, Zwiers F (2008) Human-induced arctic moistening. Science 320:518–520

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morgner E, Elberling B, Strebel E, Cooper E (2010) The importance of winter in annual ecosystem respiration in the High Arctic: effects of snow depth in two vegetation types. Polar Res 29:58–74

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Natali SM, Schuur EAG, Rubin RL (2012) Increased plant productivity in Alaskan tundra as a result of experimental warming of soil and permafrost. J Ecol 100:488–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nobrega S, Grogan P (2007) Deeper snow enhances winter respiration from both plant-associated and bulk soil carbon pools in birch hummock tundra. Ecosystems 10:419–431

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oechel WC, Vourlitis GL, Hastings SJ, Zulueta RC, Hinzman L, Kane D (2000) Acclimation of ecosystems CO2 exchange in the Alaskan Arctic in response to decadal warming. Nature 978–981

  • Osterkamp TE, Romanovsky VE (1999) Evidence for warming and thawing of discontinuous permafrost in Alaska. Permafrost Periglac Process 10:17–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers M, Sullivan P, Welker JM (2011) Experimental increases in snow depth delay the seasonality but enhances the magnitudes of vegetation traits and trace gas exchanges in the High Arctic of NW Greenland. Arct Antarct Alp Res 43:95–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimel JP, Bilbrough C, Welker JM (2004) Increased snow depth affects microbial activity and nitrogen mineralization in two arctic tundra communities. Soil Biol Biochem 36:217–227

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Serreze M, Barry R (2011) Processes and impacts of Arctic amplification: a research synthesis. Glob Planet Change 77:85–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Starr G, Neuman DS, Oberbauer SF (2004) Ecophysiological analysis of two arctic sedges under reduced root temperatures. Physiol Plant 120:458–464

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Starr G, Oberbauer SF, Ahlquist LE (2008) The photosynthetic response of Alaskan tundra plants to increased season length and soil warming. Arct Antarct Alp Res 40:181–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strategic Highways Research Program (1991) Snow fence guide. ISBN 309-05251-3

  • Sturm M, McFadden JP, Liston GE, Chapin FS, Racine CH (2001) Snow-shrub interactions in arctic tundra: a hypothesis with climatic implications. J Clim 14:336–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sturm M, Schimel J, Michaelson G, Welker JM, Oberbauer SF, Liston GE, Fahnestock J, Romanovsky VE (2005) Winter biological processes could help convert arctic tundra to shrubland. Bioscience 55:17–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan PF, Welker JM (2007) Variation in leaf physiology of Salix arctica within and across ecosystems in the High Arctic: test of a dual isotope conceptual model. Oecologia 151:372–386

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tape K, Sturm M, Racine C (2006) The evidence for shrub expansion in northern Alaska and the Pan-Arctic. Glob Change Biol 12:686–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wahren CHA, Walker MD, Bret-Harte MS (2005) Vegetation responses in Alaskan arctic tundra after 8 years of a summer warming and winter snow manipulation experiment. Glob Change Biol 11:537–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walhen H (2002) Vegetation responses in Alaskan arctic tundra after six years of a summer warming and winter snow manipulation experiment. In: International tundra experiment workshop, Finse, Norway, October 2002. Abstract

  • Walker MD, Walker DA, Welker JM, Arft AM, Bardsley T, Brooks PD, Fahnestock JT, Jones MH, Losleben M, Parsons AN, Seastedt TR, Turner PL (1999) Long-term experimental manipulation of winter snow regime and summer temperature in arctic and alpine tundra. Hydrol Process 13:2315–2330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker DA, Epstein HE, Welker JM (2008) Introduction to the special section: Biocomplexity in Arctic terrestrial environments. J Geophys Res G03S14

  • Walsh NE, McCabe TR, Welker JM, Parsons AN (1997) Experimental manipulations of snow depth: effects on nutrient content of caribou forage. Glob Change Biol 3:158–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welker JM, Wookey P, Parson AP, Press MC, Callaghan TV, Lee JA (1993) Leaf carbon isotope discrimination and demographic responses of Dryas octopetala to water and temperature manipulations in a high arctic polar semi-desert, Svalbard. Oecologia 95:463–470

    Google Scholar 

  • Welker JM, Fahnestock JT, Jones MH (2000) Annual CO2 flux from dry and moist acidic tundra: field responses to increases in summer temperature and winter snow depth. Clim Change 44:139–150

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Welker JM, Rayback S, Henry GHR (2005a) Arctic and North Atlantic oscillation phase changes are recorded in the isotopes (δ18O and δ13C) of Cassiope tetragona plants. Glob Change Biol 11:997–1002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welker JM, Fahnestock JT, Sullivan PF, Chimer RA (2005b) Leaf mineral nutrition of arctic plants in response to warming and deeper snow in northern Alaska. Oikos 109:167–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wipf S (2010) Phenology, growth, and fecundity of eight subarctic tundra species in response to snowmelt manipulations. Plant Ecol 207:53–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wipf S, Rixen C (2010) A review of snow manipulation experiments in Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems. Polar Res 29:95–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wipf S, Rixen C, Mulder CPH (2006) Advanced snowmelt causes shift towards positive neighbor interactions in a subarctic tundra community. Glob Change Biol 12:1496–1506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woo M, Mollinga M, Smith SL (2007) Climate warming and active layer thaw in the boreal and tundra environments of the Mackenzie Valley. Can J Earth Sci 44:733–743

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research has been made possible by NSF OPP grants (0119279 and 0612384) awarded to J.M. Welker and the International Tundra Experiment and the International Polar Year. We thank the staff of the Toolik Lake Field Station and the logistics staff of Polar Services. Dr. Sonja Wipf and an anonymous reviewer provided numerous helpful comments on the text.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Northwest Research Station, Anchorage Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Anchorage, AK, USA

    Robert R. Pattison

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska, Anchorage, AK, USA

    Robert R. Pattison & Jeffrey M. Welker

Authors
  1. Robert R. Pattison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jeffrey M. Welker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert R. Pattison.

Additional information

Communicated by Allan Green.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pattison, R.R., Welker, J.M. Differential ecophysiological response of deciduous shrubs and a graminoid to long-term experimental snow reductions and additions in moist acidic tundra, Northern Alaska. Oecologia 174, 339–350 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2777-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2777-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation