沼泽交错带白桦——长白落叶松优势种群的年龄结构及其动态

采用径级结构替代年龄结构与建立种群年龄结构模型相结合的方法,研究沼泽交错带白桦—长白落叶松优势种群的年龄结构特征。结果表明:白桦、长白落叶松和辽东桤木种群的年龄结构呈纺锤型,龄级—个体数间的关系可用Lognormal函数表征;种群动态量化指数V'_(pi)为辽东桤木(9.57%)白桦(4.02%)长白落叶松(1.83%),均趋近于0,说明种群处于稳定型向衰退型过渡阶段;白桦、长白落叶松及辽东桤木种群幼龄个体严重不足,白桦和辽东桤木种群的存活曲线趋于Odum-B3型,而长白落叶松种群趋于Deevey-I型。白桦、长白落叶松及辽东桤木种群具有前期增长、中后期衰退的特征;白桦、长白落叶松和辽东桤木种群数量受基波影响显著,种群整个生活史阶段未显现小周期波动,种群发展较稳定;随着时间的推移,在未来2、4和6个龄级后,白桦、长白落叶松和辽东桤木种群老龄个体数均有增加,但由于更新幼苗个体稀少,未来必然呈衰退趋势。森林—沼泽交错带的白桦、长白落叶松及辽东桤木种群对外界环境变化有强烈的敏感性和脆弱性,人类活动扰动会影响其发育与演变,从而提高了森林—沼泽交错带地区沼泽化的风险。因此,应减少人类活动对森林—沼泽交错带的干扰,加强对这一地区植被群落的保护与管理。     

长白山森林／沼泽生态交错带群落和环境梯度分析

揭示了森林－沼泽过渡带群落的结构、生产力、植物多样性等群落梯度和交错环境梯度的相关规律,并结合交错区环境梯度分析这些群落特征形成机制,为维持、保护与经营管理这一交错带生物资源提供了理论依据。将长白山地区森林和高、中、低位沼泽所形成的三大类型过渡带研究对象,采用样带网格的调查方法,并应用系统软件分析方法建立了经验回归模型,研究了森林／沼泽生态交错带群落的种类组成、群落建群种径级结构与年龄结构、植物多样性、群落生产力及其随生态交错带环境梯度变化趋势。结果表明,森林／沼泽生态交错带群落结构特征、植物多样性、群落生产力均随着交错带环境梯度的变化而呈现有规律的分布格局,沿着沼泽至森林方向的交错区环境梯度,群落建种种发生更替现象;群落种类数目呈现指数递增趋势;群落的径级结构呈现双曲线分布规律性;年龄结构一般呈三次式分布规律;揿样性呈二次式梯增分布趋势;群落生物量均呈现三次函数曲线递增趋势,表现出群落梯度和环境梯度的高度相关性。     

长白山森林/沼泽生态交错带群落和环境梯度分析

揭示了森林沼泽过渡带群落的结构、生产力、植物多样性等群落梯度和交错带环境梯度的相关规律,并结合交错区环境梯度分析这些群落特征形成机制,为维持、保护与经营管理这一交错带生物资源提供了理论依据.将长白山地区森林和高、中、低位沼泽所形成的三大类型过渡带作为研究对象,采用样带网格的调查方法,并应用系统软件分析方法建立了经验回归模型,研究了森林/沼泽生态交错带群落的种类组成、群落建群种径级结构与年龄结构、植物多样性、群落生产力及其随生态交错带环境梯度变化趋势.结果表明,森林/沼泽生态交错带群落结构特征、植物多样性、群落生产力均随着交错带环境梯度的变化而呈现有规律的分布格局.沿着沼泽至森林方向的交错区环境梯度,群落建群种发生更替现象;群落种类数目呈现指数递增趋势;群落的径级结构呈现双曲线分布规律性;年龄结构一般呈三次式分布规律;植物多样性呈二次式递增分布趋势;群落生物量均呈现三次式函数曲线递增趋势,表现出群落梯度和环境梯度的高度相关性.     

伊春林区白桦/沼泽交错群落植物多样性的研究

通过对伊春林区白桦/沼泽交错群落植物多样性状况、优势种类与分布、数量、环境及人为活动对植物多样性影响的调查、分析。结果表明:森林/沼泽交错区植物多样性较高。无人为干扰情况下,交错区植物多样性状况高于典型沼泽和典型森林群落,人类经营活动对交错区物种多样性影响大,多样性指数表现出草本层灌木层乔木层。该研究为了解伊春林区森林/沼泽交错区植物多样性现状,湿地保护提供了基础资料和科学依据。     

山西太岳山森林演替过程中建群种的动态特征和种间关系

为解释太岳山白桦(Betula platyphylla)林向华北落叶松(Larix principis-rupprechtii)林演替的生态过程,该研究以不同演替阶段的调查样地数据为基础,通过空间代替时间构建演替的时间序列,即从白桦林演替至白桦+华北落叶松混交林再到华北落叶松林的过程;采用点格局分析法和Monte-Carlo拟合检验对演替过程中白桦和华北落叶松种群的分布格局及其相互关系进行研究。结果表明:(1)山西太岳山白桦种群龄级结构呈"纺锤"型,种群呈衰退的趋势;白桦种群逐渐被华北落叶松(龄级结构呈"金字塔"的增长型)种群所取代。(2)从白桦林演替至华北落叶松林的过程中,白桦种群由集群分布趋向于随机分布,驱动力主要是华北落叶松侵入扩散而形成的种间排斥;华北落叶松集群尺度逐步增大,驱动力主要是种群拓殖和种内竞争。(3)白桦和华北落叶松二者的种间关系,在白桦林阶段无显著相关,在混交林阶段由于排斥呈现显著负相关关系,华北落叶松林阶段二者无明显相关,二者种间关系的变化主要来自于群落剩余资源驱动下的种内种间竞争。     

长白山毛赤杨和白桦-沼泽生态交错带群落生物量分布格局

采用样带网格、树干解析和经验模型方法,研究了长白山毛赤杨和白桦．沼泽交错群落生物量分布格局。揭示群落建群种生长过程、器官生物量分布、群落生物量水平分布和垂直分布规律性,结果表明,毛赤杨和白桦在生长过程及适宜生境方面存在差异．毛赤杨生长速度是白桦的2～3倍,随交错区环境梯度旱化。其生长呈减缓趋势,而白桦生长呈加快趋势,故白桦是耐水湿树种,毛赤杨是喜湿树种,毛赤杨和白桦个体营养器官生物量表现出相似的分布规律．两者营养器官生物量分布格局为树干1／2、树根1／4、树枝1／10、树皮1．5／20、树叶1／20,乔木层生物量占群落生物量的87％～90％、灌木层占7％～9％、草本层占2％～3％,群落生物量沿沼泽到森林交错区环境梯度呈显著线性递增趋势。     

深圳坝光银叶树群落结构与多样性

为了解深圳坝光银叶树群落的结构特征、物种多样性与演替情况以及群落内古树保护现状,采用样带法全面调查了深圳坝光银叶树群落,基于生境特点将群落分成3个不同生境类群,分析了不同生境群落多样性及演替趋势。结果表明:该群落由89个种群组成,隶属于35科73属,其中银叶树种群在乔木层、幼树层和幼苗层的重要值均为最高,阴香、九节、海芒果等也占有较大优势。群落中2.5 m以下的幼树占各种群数量的83.26%,其中78.37%的幼树是银叶树,表明银叶树群落的演替趋势处于"金字塔"型的正方向发展。3种生境类型群落多样性指数高低呈现为:邻海陆地生境群落远离海岸的陆地生境群落滨海沼泽湿地生境群落,随着群落的发展,邻海陆地和远离海岸的陆地生境群落种群的多度将增加,而滨海沼泽湿地生境群落则逐渐衰退。由于人为和自然因素的威胁,坝光银叶树已表现出一些濒危的特征,需加强保护。     

长白山亚高山针叶林沼泽湿地碳源/汇沿水分环境梯度变化规律

高纬度和高海拔区为气候变化敏感区,该区域湿地碳循环与气候反馈关系倍受关注。为探究在全球变暖背景下高海拔区沼泽湿地碳源/汇功能是否发生了转化,以长白山高海拔区沿水分环境梯度分布的5种沼泽类型(草丛沼泽-C、灌丛沼泽-G、落叶松泥炭藓沼泽-LN、落叶松藓类沼泽-LX、落叶松苔草沼泽-LT)为对象,采用静态箱-气相色谱法和相对生长方程法,同步测定各沼泽类型全年尺度上的土壤异养呼吸碳排放量(CO₂和CH₄)、植被年净固碳量及相关环境因子(温度、水位和土壤有机碳等),并依据生态系统净碳收支平衡,量化各沼泽类型的碳源/汇作用,揭示其沿水分环境梯度变化规律及形成机制。结果表明：(1)5种沼泽类型土壤CO₂年均通量((97.68±8.64)—(291.01±18.31)mg m^-2 h^-1)沿水分环境梯度呈阶梯式递增规律性(环境梯度上部生境地段的落叶松苔草沼泽和落叶松藓类沼泽最高,中部生境地段的落叶松泥炭藓沼泽和灌丛沼泽居中,草丛沼泽最低);(2)CH₄年均通量((-0....     

大兴安岭天然沼泽湿地生态系统碳储量

采用碳/氮分析仪测定法与标准木解析法,研究大兴安岭5种典型天然沼泽湿地(草丛沼泽、灌丛沼泽、毛赤杨沼泽、白桦沼泽和落叶松沼泽)的生态系统碳储量(植被和土壤)、净初级生产力、植被年净固碳量及其沿沼泽至森林方向过渡带水分环境梯度的分布格局,揭示其空间变异规律性,并定量评价寒温带5种典型天然沼泽湿地的碳储量与固碳能力及其长期碳汇作用。结果表明:①5种天然沼泽湿地的植被碳储量分布在(0.48±0.08)—(8.33±0.66)kgC/m2之间,沿过渡带环境梯度呈递增趋势;②土壤碳储量分布在(19.21±6.17)—(38.28±4.86)kgC/m2之间,沿过渡带环境梯度却呈递减趋势;③生态系统碳储量分布在(27.54±7.16)—(38.76±4.58)kgC/m2之间,沿过渡带环境梯度基本呈恒定分布规律性,且以湿地土壤碳储量占优势地位(69.8%—98.8%);④植被净初级生产力分布在(0.68±0.10)—(1.08±0.12)kg.m-.2a-1之间,毛赤杨沼泽最高,草丛沼泽、灌丛沼泽、白桦沼泽居中,落叶松沼泽最低,且总体上低于温带森林湿地而高于寒温带天然落叶松林;⑤植被年净固碳量分布在(0.32±0.09)—(0.51±0.06)kgC.m-.2a-1,毛赤杨沼泽最高(高于全球植被平均年净固碳量)、灌丛沼泽和白桦沼泽居中(达到或接近全球平均值)、草丛沼泽和落叶松沼泽最低(略低于全球平均值),故这5种沼泽湿地均属于碳汇功能相对较强的湿地植被类型。     

沼泽湿地恢复演替过程中朝天委陵菜间隔子性状与分枝强度的关系

间隔子和分株影响克隆植物的空间分布和资源获取,二者之间关系的研究有助于理解克隆植物的生态适应机制。按照恢复时间设置I(5a)、II(15a)、III(25a)3个梯度,研究了永昌北海子国家湿地公园沼泽湿地恢复演替过程中朝天委陵菜(Potentilla supina)间隔子长度、直径与分枝强度之间的关系。结果表明:随着沼泽湿地恢复演替的进行,湿地群落的高度、盖度和生物量逐渐增大,土壤含水量、有机质逐渐增大,土壤容重逐渐降低;湿地群落的优势植物种群由朝天委陵菜转为黑麦草;朝天委陵菜间隔子长度和直径增大,分株数减小;间隔子长度、直径与分枝强度均呈显著负相关关系(P0.05)。沼泽湿地恢复演替过程中,朝天委陵菜由选择垄断区域资源转向逃避或忍耐不利生境,体现了湿地克隆植物在异质性生境中独特的适应性。     

Tree line shifts in the Swiss Alps: Climate change or land abandonment?

Questions: Did the forest area in the Swiss Alps increase between 1985 and 1997? Does the forest expansion near the tree line represent an invasion into abandoned grasslands (ingrowth) or a true upward shift of the local tree line? What land cover / land use classes did primarily regenerate to forest, and what forest structural types did primarily regenerate? And, what are possible drivers of forest regeneration in the tree line ecotone, climate and/or land use change? Location: Swiss Alps. Methods: Forest expansion was quantified using data from the repeated Swiss land use statistics GEOSTAT. A moving window algorithm was developed to distinguish between forest ingrowth and upward shift. To test a possible climate change influence, the resulting upward shifts were compared to a potential regional tree line. Results: A significant increase of forest cover was found between 1650 m and 2450 m. Above 1650 m, 10% of the new forest areas were identified as true upward shifts whereas 90% represented ingrowth, and we identified both land use and climate change as likely drivers. Most upward shift activities were found to occur within a band of 300 m below the potential regional tree line, indicating land use as the most likely driver. Only 4% of the upward shifts were identified to rise above the potential regional tree line, thus indicating climate change. Conclusions: Land abandonment was the most dominant driver for the establishment of new forest areas, even at the tree line ecotone. However, a small fraction of upwards shift can be attributed to the recent climate warming, a fraction that is likely to increase further if climate continues to warm, and with a longer time‐span between warming and measurement of forest cover.     

Water source utilization and foliar nutrient status differs between upland and flooded plant communities in wetland tree islands

Tree islands in the Everglades wetlands are centers of biodiversity and targets of restoration, yet little is known about the pattern of water source utilization by the constituent woody plant communities: upland hammocks and flooded swamp forests. Two potential water sources exist: (1) entrapped rainwater in the vadose zone of the organic soil (referred to as upland soil water), that becomes enriched in phosphorus, and (2) phosphorus-poor groundwater/surface water (referred to as regional water). Using natural stable isotope abundance as a tracer, we observed that hammock plants used upland soil water in the wet season and shifted to regional water uptake in the dry season, while swamp forest plants used regional water throughout the year. Consistent with the previously observed phosphorus concentrations of the two water sources, hammock plants had a greater annual mean foliar phosphorus concentration over swamp forest plants, thereby supporting the idea that tree island hammocks are islands of high phosphorus concentrations in the oligotrophic Everglades. Foliar nitrogen levels in swamp forest plants were higher than those of hammock plants. Linking water sources with foliar nutrient concentrations can indicate nutrient sources and periods of nutrient uptake, thereby linking hydrology with the nutrient regimes of different plant communities in wetland ecosystems. Our results are consistent with the hypotheses that (1) over long periods, upland tree island communities incrementally increase their nutrient concentration by incorporating marsh nutrients through transpiration seasonally, and (2) small differences in micro-topography in a wetland ecosystem can lead to large differences in water and nutrient cycles.     

The interacting effects of temperature,ground disturbance,and herbivory on seedling establishment: implications for treeline advance with climate warming

Thermal control of treeline position is mediated by local environmental and ecological factors, making trends in treeline migration difficult to extrapolate geographically. We investigated the ecological dynamics of conifer establishment at treeline in the Mealy Mountains (Labrador, Canada) and the potential for its expansion with climate warming. Available seedbed and tree seedling emergence in the treeline ecotone were monitored, and seeds and seedlings of Picea mariana were planted along an elevational gradient from open-canopy forest through tree islands to alpine tundra. Experimental treatments included passive warming of daytime air, ground disturbance, and vertebrate herbivore exclosures. Responses in seed germination and seedling growth, damage, and mortality were monitored over two growing seasons, and re-surveyed after 5 years. While no tree seedlings were observed growing naturally above the treeline, planted seeds were able to germinate, develop and overwinter, and persist for 4 years in all habitats examined. Disturbance of the seedbed was important for seedling emergence in the forest and tree islands. While temperature enhancement alone had little impact on emergence, even moderate temperature increases had significantly disproportionate effects on emergence of seedlings in the alpine habitat when combined with soil disturbance, indicating that future climate warming could lead to treeline advance if viable seed and suitable substrate for recruitment are available. The positive effect of excluding herbivores suggests that herbivory may be an important filter modifying future species distribution. While seedbed conditions and herbivory would control the rate of individual species advance, the results indicate potential upslope migration of the treeline in the Mealy Mountains, with consequent loss of alpine ecosystems.     

南亚热带演替群落的边缘效应及其对森林片断化恢复的意义

通过对鼎湖山两个群落及其边缘群落的长期定位研究,探讨南亚热带演替群落的边缘效应与森林片断化恢复,通过１６ａ的定位研究,从测度群落的物种结构,多样性,生物量与生产力等指标的比较表明,马尾松林群落和混交林群落本身经过１６ａ的演变,虽然有所发展,但变化不大,群落性质没有改变;边缘群落原非常接近马尾松林群落,经过６ａ的演变,已经发展成为混交林群落,说明边缘效应的作用。边缘群落总体的边缘效应强度Ｅ值为１．６     

Stability in ecosystem functioning across a climatic threshold and contrasting forest regimes

Classical ecological theory predicts that changes in the availability of essential resources such as nitrogen should lead to changes in plant community composition due to differences in species-specific nutrient requirements. What remains unknown, however, is the extent to which climate change will alter the relationship between plant communities and the nitrogen cycle. During intervals of climate change, do changes in nitrogen cycling lead to vegetation change or do changes in community composition alter the nitrogen dynamics? We used long-term ecological data to determine the role of nitrogen availability in changes of forest species composition under a rapidly changing climate during the early Holocene (16k to 8k cal. yrs. BP). A statistical computational analysis of ecological data spanning 8,000 years showed that secondary succession from a coniferous to deciduous forest occurred independently of changes in the nitrogen cycle. As oak replaced pine under a warming climate, nitrogen cycling rates increased. Interestingly, the mechanism by which the species interacted with nitrogen remained stable across this threshold change in climate and in the dominant tree species. This suggests that changes in tree population density over successional time scales are not driven by nitrogen availability. Thus, current models of forest succession that incorporate the effects of available nitrogen may be over-estimating tree population responses to changes in this resource, which may result in biased predictions of future forest dynamics under climate warming.     

Warming and provenance limit tree recruitment across and beyond the elevation range of subalpine forest

Climate niche models project that subalpine forest ranges will extend upslope with climate warming. These projections assume that the climate suitable for adult trees will be adequate for forest regeneration, ignoring climate requirements for seedling recruitment, a potential demographic bottleneck. Moreover, local genetic adaptation is expected to facilitate range expansion, with tree populations at the upper forest edge providing the seed best adapted to the alpine. Here, we test these expectations using a novel combination of common gardens, seeded with two widely distributed subalpine conifers, and climate manipulations replicated at three elevations. Infrared heaters raised temperatures in heated plots, but raised temperatures more in the forest than at or above treeline because strong winds at high elevation reduced heating efficiency. Watering increased season‐average soil moisture similarly across sites. Contrary to expectations, warming reduced Engelmann spruce recruitment at and above treeline, as well as in the forest. Warming reduced limber pine first‐year recruitment in the forest, but had no net effect on fourth‐year recruitment at any site. Watering during the snow‐free season alleviated some negative effects of warming, indicating that warming exacerbated water limitations. Contrary to expectations of local adaptation, low‐elevation seeds of both species initially recruited more strongly than high‐elevation seeds across the elevation gradient, although the low‐provenance advantage diminished by the fourth year for Engelmann spruce, likely due to small sample sizes. High‐ and low‐elevation provenances responded similarly to warming across sites for Engelmann spruce, but differently for limber pine. In the context of increasing tree mortality, lower recruitment at all elevations with warming, combined with lower quality, high‐provenance seed being most available for colonizing the alpine, portends range contraction for Engelmann spruce. The lower sensitivity of limber pine to warming indicates a potential for this species to become more important in subalpine forest communities in the coming centuries.     

Outbreaks by canopy-feeding geometrid moth cause state-dependent shifts in understorey plant communities

The increased spread of insect outbreaks is among the most severe impacts of climate warming predicted for northern boreal forest ecosystems. Compound disturbances by insect herbivores can cause sharp transitions between vegetation states with implications for ecosystem productivity and climate feedbacks. By analysing vegetation plots prior to and immediately after a severe and widespread outbreak by geometrid moths in the birch forest-tundra ecotone, we document a shift in forest understorey community composition in response to the moth outbreak. Prior to the moth outbreak, the plots divided into two oligotrophic and one eutrophic plant community. The moth outbreak caused a vegetation state shift in the two oligotrophic communities, but only minor changes in the eutrophic community. In the spatially most widespread communities, oligotrophic dwarf shrub birch forest, dominance by the allelopathic dwarf shrub Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum, was effectively broken and replaced by a community dominated by the graminoid Avenella flexuosa, in a manner qualitatively similar to the effect of wild fires in E. nigrum communities in coniferous boreal forest further south. As dominance by E. nigrum is associated with retrogressive succession the observed vegetation state shift has widespread implications for ecosystem productivity on a regional scale. Our findings reveal that the impact of moth outbreaks on the northern boreal birch forest system is highly initial-state dependent, and that the widespread oligotrophic communities have a low resistance to such disturbances. This provides a case for the notion that climate impacts on arctic and northern boreal vegetation may take place most abruptly when conveyed by changed dynamics of irruptive herbivores.     

A vegetation switch as the cause of a forest/mire ecotone in New Zealand

Abstract. Vegetation switches are those processes in which there is positive-feedback between vegetation and environment, i.e. a vegetation state modifies its environment producing conditions more favourable to itself (Wilson & Agnew 1992). Switches can produce and maintain abrupt ecotones between plant communities. Such a sharp ecotone exists between beech-podocarp forest and mire vegetation, both on deep peat, in southwest New Zealand. One such site was examined. There was no apparent explanation for the ecotone in the present topography nor in the substrate. Levelled transects through the forest demonstrated that most seedling establishment occurred on dead fallen tree boles. These microsites were significantly richer in N, P and K than the wet sump microsites. We argue that this is a mechanism whereby trees can become established in the forest, but not in the open mire. In the forest, the presence of trees ensures the presence of dead-log microsites on the ground, permitting tree seedlings to grow. In the mire, there are no such micro-sites, and trees cannot establish. The ecotone may be sharpened because of the presence of an ecotonal band of the small tree Leptospermum sco-parium between forest and mire. This species can reproduce vegetatively by root suckers in the mire. Its boles are light, and even if they fall to the mire surface they are not thick enough to form a substrate for tree-seedling establishment. The larger tree species may be prevented from falling onto the mire by the wind-sheltering of the forest, and by the zone of Leptospermum. The postulated process would represent a new kind of water-/nutrient-mediated switch, of Type 1 (‘One-sided’). It may occur in many waterlogged forests worldwide.     

Using GIS to model tree population parameters in the Rocky Mountain National Park forest–tundra ecotone

Climatic change may alter vegetation composition and structure, but the response to climatic change can be expected to be spatially heterogeneous. Tree populations in the alpine forest–tundra ecotone, for example, may find only certain locations to be favourable for regeneration and growth. If monitoring and detection of vegetation responses to climatic change is to be most successful, the monitoring system must be tuned to the locations where a response is most likely. We used the grass geographical information system ( gis ) to map population parameters indicating potential change throughout the forest–tundra ecotone (FTE) of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). Seedling density in patch forest and krummholz openings, as well as annual krummholz height growth, were measured in the field. These parameters were then modelled over the heterogeneity of the FTE environment, using principle components regression analysis. The grass gis was used to extrapolate the resulting predictive equations to the entire RMNP FTE. Potential FTE responses to climate change were evaluated in the context of species-specific differences in how tree seedling density and krummholz height growth are associated with the present environment. For example, climate change leading towards moister conditions, causing currently xeric environments to become more mesic, might increase the spatial extent of existing tree invasion into patch forest openings. This would increase the potential for widespread conversion of patch forest to closed forest. Present population parameters extrapolated spatially may provide a useful guide to where future change is likely.     

Transplantation of organic surface horizons of boreal soils into warmer regions alters microbiology but not the temperature sensitivity of decomposition

Changes in soil carbon, the largest terrestrial carbon pool, are critical for the global carbon cycle, atmospheric CO₂ levels and climate. Climate warming is predicted to be most pronounced in the northern regions and therefore the large soil carbon pool residing in boreal forests will be subject to larger global warming impact than soil carbon pools in the temperate or the tropical forest. A major uncertainty in current estimates of the terrestrial carbon balance is related to decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM). We hypothesized that when soils are exposed to warmer climate the structure of the ground vegetation will change much more rapidly than the dominant tree species. This change will alter the quality and amount of litter input to the soil and induce changes in microbial communities, thus possibly altering the temperature sensitivity of SOM decomposition. We transferred organic surface soil sections from the northern borders of the boreal forest zone to corresponding forest sites in the southern borders of the boreal forest zone and studied the effects of warmer climate after an adaptation period of 2 years. The results showed that initially ground vegetation and soil microbial community structure and community functions were different in northern and southern forest sites and that 2 years of exposure to warmer climate was long enough to cause changes in these ecological indicators. The rate of SOM decomposition was approximately equally sensitive to temperature irrespective of changes in vegetation or microbial communities in the studied forest sites. However, as temperature sensitivity of the decomposition increases with decreasing temperature regime, the proportional increase in the decomposition rate in northern latitudes could lead to significant carbon losses from the soils.