Abstract
Climate change, such as warming, is a threat to mountain ecosystems in the forest-line ecotone. This influence could seriously affect bryophytes, because they easily lose their internal water at high temperatures. We conducted experimental warming using open-top chambers (OTCs) in a forest-line ecotone in central Japan and examined its influence on bryophyte cover. Six years after the experiment was initiated, the total bryophyte cover was not significantly different between the control and OTC treatments. However, the two dominant bryophyte species (Pogonatum japonicum and Dicranum majus) responded differently to the OTC treatment. The cover of P. japonicum significantly increased under the OTC treatment, while that of D. majus decreased to approximately 14% of the initial cover under the OTC treatment. These results could be explained by D. majus being better adapted to high-elevation climates than P. japonicum. The decline of D. majus cover was potentially further enhanced by the decrease in rainfall and fog within the OTCs. These are important water sources for D. majus because the species lacks water-conducting systems that enable mosses to absorb water from their substrates. As the OTCs in this study were tall (210 cm high), they may have blocked slanting rain and fog from reaching the plants, increasing water stress in D. majus. In contrast, P. japonicum develops water-conducting systems and may be less susceptible to the decrease in rainfall and fog. These results can aid future experimental studies in the mountains to elucidate the mechanisms underlying bryophyte responses to warming.
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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Kiyotaka Hori for his contribution to bryophyte identification in 2010–2011; to Keiko Furukawa, Mitsunari Yakubo, and Taki Yabuta for their assistance with the bryophyte cover surveys; and to the staff and students at the Education and Research Center of Alpine Field Science, Shinshu University and the Sugadaira Research Station, University of Tsukuba for their assistance with the management and performance of the experimental warming in 2010–2016.
Funding
This work was supported by Research and Education Funding for Japanese Alps Inter-Universities Cooperative Project, MEXT, Japan, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science—Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (Grant Number 24710029).
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TK and HK conceived and designed the experiment; RK, DM, and TK designed the open-top chambers used in this study; TK, HK, SNS, RK, and DM managed and performed the experiment; YO and TK surveyed the bryophyte cover; YO and SNS conducted the statistical analysis; YO interpreted the results and wrote early drafts of the paper; and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Oishi, Y., Kobayashi, H., Suzuki, S.N. et al. Bryophyte responses to experimental climate change in a mid-latitude forest-line ecotone. Alp Botany 132, 329–336 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00035-022-00280-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00035-022-00280-3