Molecular‐ and pollen‐based vegetation analysis in lake sediments from central Scandinavia

Plant and animal biodiversity can be studied by obtaining DNA directly from the environment. This new approach in combination with the use of generic barcoding primers (metabarcoding) has been suggested as complementary or alternative to traditional biodiversity monitoring in ancient soil sediments. However, the extent to which metabarcoding truly reflects plant composition remains unclear, as does its power to identify species with no pollen or macrofossil evidence. Here, we compared pollen‐based and metabarcoding approaches to explore the Holocene plant composition around two lakes in central Scandinavia. At one site, we also compared barcoding results with those obtained in earlier studies with species‐specific primers. The pollen analyses revealed a larger number of taxa (46), of which the majority (78%) was not identified by metabarcoding. The metabarcoding identified 14 taxa (MTUs), but allowed identification to a lower taxonomical level. The combined analyses identified 52 taxa. The barcoding primers may favour amplification of certain taxa, as they did not detect taxa previously identified with species‐specific primers. Taphonomy and selectiveness of the primers are likely the major factors influencing these results. We conclude that metabarcoding from lake sediments provides a complementary, but not an alternative, tool to pollen analysis for investigating past flora. In the absence of other fossil evidence, metabarcoding gives a local and important signal from the vegetation, but the resulting assemblages show limited capacity to detect all taxa, regardless of their abundance around the lake. We suggest that metabarcoding is followed by pollen analysis and the use of species‐specific primers to provide the most comprehensive signal from the environment.     

Footprints of climate change in the Arctic marine ecosystem

In this article, we review evidence of how climate change has already resulted in clearly discernable changes in marine Arctic ecosystems. After defining the term ‘footprint’ and evaluating the availability of reliable baseline information we review the published literature to synthesize the footprints of climate change impacts in marine Arctic ecosystems reported as of mid‐2009. We found a total of 51 reports of documented changes in Arctic marine biota in response to climate change. Among the responses evaluated were range shifts and changes in abundance, growth/condition, behaviour/phenology and community/regime shifts. Most reports concerned marine mammals, particularly polar bears, and fish. The number of well‐documented changes in planktonic and benthic systems was surprisingly low. Evident losses of endemic species in the Arctic Ocean, and in ice algae production and associated community remained difficult to evaluate due to the lack of quantitative reports of its abundance and distribution. Very few footprints of climate change were reported in the literature from regions such as the wide Siberian shelf and the central Arctic Ocean due to the limited research effort made in these ecosystems. Despite the alarming nature of warming and its strong potential effects in the Arctic Ocean the research effort evaluating the impacts of climate change in this region is rather limited.     

Responses of High Arctic wet sedge tundra to climate warming since 1980

The global climate is changing rapidly and Arctic regions are showing responses to recent warming. Responses of tundra ecosystems to climate change have been examined primarily through short‐term experimental manipulations, with few studies of long‐term ambient change. We investigated changes in above‐ and belowground biomass of wet sedge tundra to the warming climate of the Canadian High Arctic over the past 25 years. Aboveground standing crop was harvested from five sedge meadow sites and belowground biomass was sampled from one of the sites in the early 1980s and in 2005 using the same methods. Aboveground biomass was on average 158% greater in 2005 than in the early 1980s. The belowground biomass was also much greater in 2005: root biomass increased by 67% and rhizome biomass by 139% since the early 1980s. Dominant species from each functional group (graminoids, shrubs and forbs) showed significant increases in aboveground biomass. Responsive species included the dominant sedge species Carex aquatilis stans, C. membranacea, and Eriophorum angustifolium, as well as the dwarf shrub Salix arctica and the forb Polygonum viviparum. However, diversity measures were not different between the sample years. The greater biomass correlated strongly with increased annual and summer temperatures over the same time period, and was significantly greater than the annual variation in biomass measured in 1980–1983. Increased decomposition and mineralization rates, stimulated by warmer soils, were likely a major cause of the elevated productivity, as no differences in the mass of litter were found between sample periods. Our results are corroborated by published short‐term experimental studies, conducted in other wet sedge tundra communities which link warming and fertilization with elevated decomposition, mineralization and tundra productivity. We believe that this is the first study to show responses in High Arctic wet sedge tundra to recent climate change.     

Losing ground: past history and future fate of Arctic small mammals in a changing climate

According to the IPCC, the global average temperature is likely to increase by 1.4–5.8 °C over the period from 1990 to 2100. In Polar regions, the magnitude of such climatic changes is even larger than in temperate and tropical biomes. This amplified response is particularly worrisome given that the so‐far moderate warming is already impacting Arctic ecosystems. Predicting species responses to rapid warming in the near future can be informed by investigating past responses, as, like the rest of the planet, the Arctic experienced recurrent cycles of temperature increase and decrease (glacial–interglacial changes) in the past. In this study, we compare the response of two important prey species of the Arctic ecosystem, the collared lemming and the narrow‐skulled vole, to Late Quaternary climate change. Using ancient DNA and Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM), we show that the two species, which occupy similar, but not identical ecological niches, show markedly different responses to climatic and environmental changes within broadly similar habitats. We empirically demonstrate, utilizing coalescent model‐testing approaches, that collared lemming populations decreased substantially after the Last Glacial Maximum; a result consistent with distributional loss over the same period based on ENM results. Given this strong association, we projected the current niche onto future climate conditions based on IPCC 4.0 scenarios, and forecast accelerating loss of habitat along southern range boundaries with likely associated demographic consequences. Narrow‐skulled vole distribution and demography, by contrast, was only moderately impacted by past climatic changes, but predicted future changes may begin to affect their current western range boundaries. Our work, founded on multiple lines of evidence suggests a future of rapidly geographically shifting Arctic small mammal prey communities, some of whom are on the edge of existence, and whose fate may have ramifications for the whole Arctic food web and ecosystem.     

Barcoding the Collembola of Churchill: a molecular taxonomic reassessment of species diversity in a sub‐Arctic area

Although their functional importance in ecosystems is increasingly recognized, soil‐dwelling micro‐arthropods are usually poorly known in comparison with their above‐ground counterparts. Collembola constitute a significant and species‐rich component of the soil biodiversity, but it remains a woefully understudied group because of the taxonomic impediment. The ever‐increasing use of molecular taxonomic tools, such as DNA barcoding, provides a possible solution. Here, we test the use of this approach through a diversity survey of Collembola from the vicinity of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, and compare the results with previous surveys in the same area and in other sub‐Arctic regions. The systematic barcoding campaign at Churchill revealed a diverse collembolan fauna consisting of 97 species‐level MOTUs in six types of habitats. If all these MOTUs are confirmed as species, this richness would be far higher than prior records for Arctic Canada and could lead to reconsider the actual diversity of the group in Arctic environments.     

The rich and the sensitive: diverse fungal communities change functionally with the warming Arctic

Fungi are very abundant and functionally pivotal in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, our understanding of their community composition, diversity and particularly their environmental drivers is superficial at the very best. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Timling et al. ( 2014 ) describe perhaps one of the most comprehensive and geographically ambitious molecular studies on Arctic fungal communities to date. The results highlight the potential sensitivity of the fungal communities to plant communities, environmental conditions and therefore to environmental change. Thus, these studies lay a foundation to educated speculation on the fungal community migration northwards as a result of predicted climate change.     

The Arctic Oscillation predicts effects of climate change in two trophic levels in a high-arctic ecosystem

During recent decades there has been a change in the circulation of atmospheric pressure throughout the Northern Hemisphere. These variations are expressed in the recently described Arctic Oscillation (AO), which has shown an upward trend (associated with winter warming in the eastern Arctic) during the last three decades. We analysed a 12‐year time series on growth of Cassiope tetragona (Lapland Cassiope) and a 21‐year time series on abundance of a Svalbard reindeer population. High values of the AO index were associated with reduced plant growth and reindeer population growth rate. The North Atlantic Oscillation index was not able to explain a significant proportion of the variance in either plant growth or reindeer population fluctuations. Thus, the AO index may be a better predictor for ecosystem effects of climate change in certain high‐arctic areas compared to the NAO index.     

Prediction of Arctic plant phenological sensitivity to climate change from historical records

The pace of climate change in the Arctic is dramatic, with temperatures rising at a rate double the global average. The timing of flowering and fruiting (phenology) is often temperature dependent and tends to advance as the climate warms. Herbarium specimens, photographs, and field observations can provide historical phenology records and have been used, on a localised scale, to predict species’ phenological sensitivity to climate change. Conducting similar localised studies in the Canadian Arctic, however, poses a challenge where the collection of herbarium specimens, photographs, and field observations have been temporally and spatially sporadic. We used flowering and seed dispersal times of 23 Arctic species from herbarium specimens, photographs, and field observations collected from across the 2.1 million km² area of Nunavut, Canada, to determine (1) which monthly temperatures influence flowering and seed dispersal times; (2) species’ phenological sensitivity to temperature; and (3) whether flowering or seed dispersal times have advanced over the past 120 years. We tested this at different spatial scales and compared the sensitivity in different regions of Nunavut. Broadly speaking, this research serves as a proof of concept to assess whether phenology–climate change studies using historic data can be conducted at large spatial scales. Flowering times and seed dispersal time were most strongly correlated with June and July temperatures, respectively. Seed dispersal times have advanced at double the rate of flowering times over the past 120 years, reflecting greater late‐summer temperature rises in Nunavut. There is great diversity in the flowering time sensitivity to temperature of Arctic plant species, suggesting climate change implications for Arctic ecological communities, including altered community composition, competition, and pollinator interactions. Intraspecific temperature sensitivity and warming trends varied markedly across Nunavut and could result in greater changes in some parts of Nunavut than in others.     

A regional approach to plant DNA barcoding provides high species resolution of sedges (Carex and Kobresia, Cyperaceae) in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Previous research on barcoding sedges (Carex) suggested that basic searches within a global barcoding database would probably not resolve more than 60% of the world’s some 2000 species. In this study, we take an alternative approach and explore the performance of plant DNA barcoding in the Carex lineage from an explicitly regional perspective. We characterize the utility of a subset of the proposed protein-coding and noncoding plastid barcoding regions (matK, rpoB, rpoC1, rbcL, atpF-atpH, psbK-psbI) for distinguishing species of Carex and Kobresia in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, a clearly defined eco-geographical region representing 1% of the Earth’s landmass. Our results show that matK resolves the greatest number of species of any single-locus (95%), and when combined in a two-locus barcode, it provides 100% species resolution in all but one combination (matK + atpFH) during unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean averages (UPGMA) analyses. Noncoding regions were equally or more variable than matK, but as single markers they resolve substantially fewer taxa than matK alone. When difficulties with sequencing and alignment due to microstructural variation in noncoding regions are also considered, our results support other studies in suggesting that protein-coding regions are more practical as barcoding markers. Plastid DNA barcodes are an effective identification tool for species of Carex and Kobresia in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, a region where the number of co-existing closely related species is limited. We suggest that if a regional approach to plant DNA barcoding was applied on a global scale, it could provide a solution to the generally poor species resolution seen in previous barcoding studies.     

Miocene to Pliocene vegetation reconstruction and climate estimates in the Iberian Peninsula from pollen data

Pollen analysis of Miocene and Pliocene sediments from the Iberian Peninsula shows a progressive reduction in plant diversity through time caused by the disappearance of thermophilous and high-water requirement plants. In addition, an increase in warm-temperate (mesothermic), seasonal-adapted “Mediterranean” taxa, high-elevation conifers and herbs (mainly Artemisia) occurred during the Middle and Late Miocene and Pliocene. This has mainly been interpreted as a response of the vegetation to global and regional processes, including climate cooling related to the development of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and then the onset of the Arctic Ice Sheet, uplift of regional mountains related to the Alpine uplift and the progressive movement of Eurasia towards northern latitudes as a result of the northwards subduction of Africa. The development of steppe-like vegetation in southern Iberia is ancient and probably started during the Oligocene. The onset of a contrasted seasonality in temperature during the Mid-Pliocene superimposed on the pre-existing seasonality in precipitation, the annual length of which increased southward. The Mediterranean climatic rhythm (summer drought) began about 3.4 Ma and caused the individualization of modern Mediterranean ecosystems. Quaternary-type Mediterranean climatic fluctuations started at 2.6 Ma (Gelasian) resulting in repeated steppe vs. forest alternations. A latitudinal climatic gradient between the southern and the northern parts of the Iberian Peninsula existed since the Middle Miocene.     

Persistent nitrogen limitation of stream biofilm communities along climate gradients in the Arctic

Climate change is rapidly reshaping Arctic landscapes through shifts in vegetation cover and productivity, soil resource mobilization, and hydrological regimes. The implications of these changes for stream ecosystems and food webs is unclear and will depend largely on microbial biofilm responses to concurrent shifts in temperature, light, and resource supply from land. To study those responses, we used nutrient diffusing substrates to manipulate resource supply to biofilm communities along regional gradients in stream temperature, riparian shading, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) loading in Arctic Sweden. We found strong nitrogen (N) limitation across this gradient for gross primary production, community respiration and chlorophyll‐a accumulation. For unamended biofilms, activity and biomass accrual were not closely related to any single physical or chemical driver across this region. However, the magnitude of biofilm response to N addition was: in tundra streams, biofilm response was constrained by thermal regimes, whereas variation in light availability regulated this response in birch and coniferous forest streams. Furthermore, heterotrophic responses to experimental N addition increased across the region with greater stream water concentrations of DOC relative to inorganic N. Thus, future shifts in resource supply to these ecosystems are likely to interact with other concurrent environmental changes to regulate stream productivity. Indeed, our results suggest that in the absence of increased nutrient inputs, Arctic streams will be less sensitive to future changes in other habitat variables such as temperature and DOC loading.     

A molecular analysis of ground sloth diet through the last glaciation

DNA was extracted from five coprolites, excavated in Gypsum Cave, Nevada and radiocarbon dated to approximately 11 000, 20 000 and 28 500 years BP. All coprolites contained mitochondrial DNA sequences identical to a DNA sequence determined from a bone of the extinct ground sloth Nothrotheriops shastensis. A 157-bp fragment of the chloroplast gene for the large subunit of the ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) was amplified from the boluses and several hundred clones were sequenced. In addition, the same DNA fragment was sequenced from 99 plant species that occur in the vicinity of Gypsum Cave today. When these were compared to the DNA sequences in GenBank, 69 were correctly (two incorrectly) assigned to taxonomic orders. The plant sequences from the five coprolites as well as from one previously studied coprolite were compared to rbcL sequences in GenBank and the contemporary plant species. Thirteen families or orders of plants that formed part of the diet of the Shasta ground sloth could be identified, showing that the ground sloth was feeding on trees as well as herbs and grasses. The plants in the boluses further indicate that the climate 11 000 years BP was dryer than 20 000 and 28 500 years BP. However, the sloths seem to have visited water sources more frequently at 11 000 BP than at earlier times.     

Effects of late quaternary climate change on Palearctic shrews

The Late Quaternary was a time of rapid climatic oscillations and drastic environmental changes. In general, species can respond to such changes by behavioral accommodation, distributional shifts, ecophenotypic modifications (nongenetic), evolution (genetic) or ultimately face local extinction. How those responses manifested in the past is essential for properly predicting future ones especially as the current warm phase is further intensified by rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Here, we use ancient DNA (aDNA) and morphological features in combination with ecological niche modeling (ENM) to investigate genetic and nongenetic responses of Central European Palearctic shrews to past climatic change. We show that a giant form of shrew, previously described as an extinct Pleistocene Sorex species, represents a large ecomorph of the common shrew (Sorex araneus), which was replaced by populations from a different gene‐pool and with different morphology after the Pleistocene Holocene transition. We also report the presence of the cold‐adapted tundra shrew (S. tundrensis) in Central Europe. This species is currently restricted to Siberia and was hitherto unknown as an element of the Pleistocene fauna of Europe. Finally, we show that there is no clear correlation between climatic oscillations within the last 50 000 years and body size in shrews and conclude that a special nonanalogous situation with regard to biodiversity and food supply in the Late Glacial may have caused the observed large body size.     

Contrasting effects of warming and increased snowfall on Arctic tundra plant phenology over the past two decades

Recent changes in climate have led to significant shifts in phenology, with many studies demonstrating advanced phenology in response to warming temperatures. The rate of temperature change is especially high in the Arctic, but this is also where we have relatively little data on phenological changes and the processes driving these changes. In order to understand how Arctic plant species are likely to respond to future changes in climate, we monitored flowering phenology in response to both experimental and ambient warming for four widespread species in two habitat types over 21 years. We additionally used long‐term environmental records to disentangle the effects of temperature increase and changes in snowmelt date on phenological patterns. While flowering occurred earlier in response to experimental warming, plants in unmanipulated plots showed no change or a delay in flowering over the 21‐year period, despite more than 1 °C of ambient warming during that time. This counterintuitive result was likely due to significantly delayed snowmelt over the study period (0.05–0.2 days/yr) due to increased winter snowfall. The timing of snowmelt was a strong driver of flowering phenology for all species – especially for early‐flowering species – while spring temperature was significantly related to flowering time only for later‐flowering species. Despite significantly delayed flowering phenology, the timing of seed maturation showed no significant change over time, suggesting that warmer temperatures may promote more rapid seed development. The results of this study highlight the importance of understanding the specific environmental cues that drive species’ phenological responses as well as the complex interactions between temperature and precipitation when forecasting phenology over the coming decades. As demonstrated here, the effects of altered snowmelt patterns can counter the effects of warmer temperatures, even to the point of generating phenological responses opposite to those predicted by warming alone.     

Climatic severity and the response to temperature elevation of Arctic aphids

• 1 Theory suggests that any given rise in temperature resulting from climate change will have its greatest effect on high Arctic ecosystems where growing seasons are short and temperatures low.
• 2 A small temperature rise, similar to that predicted for the middle of the next century, has profound effects on a population of the high Arctic, Dryas-feeding aphid Acyrthosiphon svalbardicum on Spitsbergen (Strathdee et al. 1993a).
• 3 Here comparative experiments on a closely related Dryas-feeding species, A. brevicorne, at two contrasting sub-Arctic sites are described. Together with the results from Spitsbergen these sites represent two colder sites (high Arctic and upland sub-Arctic) and one warmer site (lowland sub-Arctic).
• 4 Differential responses in aphid population density and overwintering egg production to temperature elevation support the hypothesis that the ecological effects are greatest at sites with the most severe climates; however, there is no similar gradient in advancement of host plant phenology with warming.

     

植被变化对气候的反馈机制及调节效应

植被通过光合作用固定大气中的CO₂来减缓温室效应,同时植被也通过改变地表能量收支影响温室效应。在过去的气候-植被研究中,大多关注气候变化对植被的影响,而植被对气候反馈的研究相对较少。植被通过调节地表能量收支、水通量等重要地气过程影响局地、区域乃至全球气候,在气候变化中的作用十分重要。因此,需要厘清植被对气候的反馈效应机制及其结果,并识别其地域差异。从生物地球物理和生物地球化学过程两方面分析植被与气候之间的作用机制,对全球及关键区域内植被变化对局地、区域乃至全球的气候反馈效应进行了系统总结：（1）生物地球物理反馈的区域特征明显,生物地球化学反馈则表现在全球尺度上,二者相互作用但难以统一;（2）植被破坏带来的气候影响在气温效应方面与生态系统的类型及地理分布相关：热带森林破坏带来增温效应,北方森林破坏带来降温效应,温带森林破坏则会通过增加森林反照率抵消丢失的固碳降温效应,气温效应表现不明显;（3）当前研究对关键过程机制考虑不够完善,不同研究方法的结果差异较大,且缺乏高质量观测数据的验证;同时考虑生物地球物理和生物地球化学的净气候反馈研究尚无法支撑植树造林对气候变化单一减缓作用的常规理解。本文可为科学评估植树造林对气候变化作用的方向与强度提供理论依据。