Impacts of warming and elevated CO2 on a semi‐arid grassland are non‐additive,shift with precipitation,and reverse over time

It is unclear how elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) and the corresponding shifts in temperature and precipitation will interact to impact ecosystems over time. During a 7‐year experiment in a semi‐arid grassland, the response of plant biomass to eCO₂ and warming was largely regulated by interannual precipitation, while the response of plant community composition was more sensitive to experiment duration. The combined effects of eCO₂ and warming on aboveground plant biomass were less positive in ‘wet’ growing seasons, but total plant biomass was consistently stimulated by ~ 25% due to unique, supra‐additive responses of roots. Independent of precipitation, the combined effects of eCO₂ and warming on C₃ graminoids became increasingly positive and supra‐additive over time, reversing an initial shift toward C₄ grasses. Soil resources also responded dynamically and non‐additively to eCO₂ and warming, shaping the plant responses. Our results suggest grasslands are poised for drastic changes in function and highlight the need for long‐term, factorial experiments.     

Sensitivity of plant species to warming and altered precipitation dominates the community productivity in a semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau

Global warming and changes in precipitation patterns can critically influence the structure and productivity of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We conducted two independent but complementary experiments (one with warming and precipitation manipulation (+ or – 30%) and another with selective plant removal) in a semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau, northwestern China, to assess how warming and altered precipitation affect plant community. Our results showed that warming and altered precipitation affected community aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) through impacting soil moisture. Results of the removal experiment showed competitive relationships among dominant grasses, the dominant subshrub and nondominant species, which played a more important role than soil moisture in the response of plant community to warming and altered precipitation. Precipitation addition intensified the competition but primarily benefited the dominant subshrub. Warming and precipitation reduction enhanced water stresses but increased ANPP of the dominant subshrub and grasses, indicating that plant tolerance to drought critically meditated the community responses. These findings suggest that specie competitivity for water resources as well as tolerance to environmental stresses may dominate the responses of plant communities on the Loess Plateaus to future climate change factors.     

凋落物输入变化和氮添加对半干旱草原群落生产力及功能群组成的影响

不同的草原利用方式(围封、放牧和割草等)随着大气氮沉降的不断加剧, 改变了凋落物输入量。凋落物作为连接地上-地下碳循环过程的关键环节, 对草原生态系统生产力和碳循环过程影响显著。氮是草原生产力的主要限制因子, 凋落物输入量的变化对草原生态系统结构和功能的影响仍缺乏长期实验证据支持。该研究在内蒙古半干旱典型草原建立一个凋落物输入变化和氮添加控制实验平台, 通过连续6年对群落生产力和功能群组成的监测, 研究了凋落物添加与去除和氮添加对半干旱草原群落生产力和功能群组成的影响。研究发现: 1)凋落物输入量增加和氮添加均显著提高了群落生产力, 在对照和氮添加处理下, 凋落物去除处理导致生产力分别降低了8.4%和7.6%, 而凋落物添加处理使生产力分别提高了10.7%和6.3%; 2)不同植物功能群对凋落物输入变化和氮添加的响应存在差异, 导致群落功能群结构发生变化。随着凋落物输入量增加和氮添加, 群落优势功能群多年生禾草(包括多年生丛生禾草和多年生根茎禾草)的生物量显著提高, 对群落生产力的贡献增加, 在群落中的优势地位增强; 而另一优势功能群多年生杂类草生物量对凋落物和氮添加处理均无显著响应, 进而导致在氮添加处理下其对群落生物量的贡献比例显著降低; 3)凋落物输入主要改善土壤水分状况, 而氮添加则主要通过提高土壤养分含量, 促进群落生产力, 并通过影响主要功能群生物量, 导致群落结构发生变化。以上结果表明, 适当的草原管理方式如围封禁牧和降低放牧强度等都能通过增加凋落物的输入来提高草原生产力, 维持生态系统稳定性。而适量的氮等养分添加管理也有助于提高草原生产力, 促进其恢复。     

藏北高寒草甸群落结构与物种组成对增温与施氮的响应

气候变暖和氮沉降增加作为全球环境问题,将严重影响陆地生态系统的结构与功能.研究发现,近几十年来青藏高原增温显著,其中冬季升温最明显.而已有的研究更多关注全年增温,对冬季增温研究较少.本文基于高寒草甸地区增温和氮素添加影响研究的不足,在青藏高原高寒草甸区开展模拟增温和氮添加试验,研究长期增温与氮添加对高寒草甸群落结构与物种组成的影响.试验布设于2010年7月,地点在西藏当雄高寒草甸区,共有3种增温方式:对照、全年增温、冬季增温;每种增温处理下设置5个氮素添加梯度:0、10、20、40、80 kg N·hm^-2·a^-1,系统研究气候变暖与氮添加对高寒草甸生态系统群落结构与物种组成的影响.结果表明: 2012—2014年,增温与施氮处理均显著影响群落总盖度:全年增温处理降低了群落总盖度;在不施氮处理下,冬季增温降低了群落盖度,但在施氮处理下,随着氮剂量的提高群落盖度逐渐升高.增温与施氮对不同功能群植物的影响不同,增温处理降低了禾草与莎草植物盖度,而施氮提高了禾草植物盖度.相关分析表明,植被群落总盖度与生长旺盛期土壤含水量呈正相关关系,推测在降雨较少的季节增温导致的土壤含水量降低是群落盖度降低的主要原因.半干旱区高寒草甸土壤水分主要受降雨的调控,未来气候变化情景下,降雨时空格局的改变会显著影响植被群落盖度及组成,且大气氮沉降的增加对植被群落的影响也依赖于降雨条件的变化.     

Contrasting effects of summer and winter warming on body mass explain population dynamics in a food‐limited Arctic herbivore

The cumulative effects of climate warming on herbivore vital rates and population dynamics are hard to predict, given that the expected effects differ between seasons. In the Arctic, warmer summers enhance plant growth which should lead to heavier and more fertile individuals in the autumn. Conversely, warm spells in winter with rainfall (rain‐on‐snow) can cause ‘icing’, restricting access to forage, resulting in starvation, lower survival and fecundity. As body condition is a ‘barometer’ of energy demands relative to energy intake, we explored the causes and consequences of variation in body mass of wild female Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) from 1994 to 2015, a period of marked climate warming. Late winter (April) body mass explained 88% of the between‐year variation in population growth rate, because it strongly influenced reproductive loss, and hence subsequent fecundity (92%), as well as survival (94%) and recruitment (93%). Autumn (October) body mass affected ovulation rates but did not affect fecundity. April body mass showed no long‐term trend (coefficient of variation, CV = 8.8%) and was higher following warm autumn (October) weather, reflecting delays in winter onset, but most strongly, and negatively, related to ‘rain‐on‐snow’ events. October body mass (CV = 2.5%) increased over the study due to higher plant productivity in the increasingly warm summers. Density‐dependent mass change suggested competition for resources in both winter and summer but was less pronounced in recent years, despite an increasing population size. While continued climate warming is expected to increase the carrying capacity of the high Arctic tundra, it is also likely to cause more frequent icing events. Our analyses suggest that these contrasting effects may cause larger seasonal fluctuations in body mass and vital rates. Overall our findings provide an important ‘missing’ mechanistic link in the current understanding of the population biology of a keystone species in a rapidly warming Arctic.     

The response of boreal peatland community composition and NDVI to hydrologic change,warming, and elevated carbon dioxide

Widespread changes in arctic and boreal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values captured by satellite platforms indicate that northern ecosystems are experiencing rapid ecological change in response to climate warming. Increasing temperatures and altered hydrology are driving shifts in ecosystem biophysical properties that, observed by satellites, manifest as long‐term changes in regional NDVI. In an effort to examine the underlying ecological drivers of these changes, we used field‐scale remote sensing of NDVI to track peatland vegetation in experiments that manipulated hydrology, temperature, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels. In addition to NDVI, we measured percent cover by species and leaf area index (LAI). We monitored two peatland types broadly representative of the boreal region. One site was a rich fen located near Fairbanks, Alaska, at the Alaska Peatland Experiment (APEX), and the second site was a nutrient‐poor bog located in Northern Minnesota within the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment. We found that NDVI decreased with long‐term reductions in soil moisture at the APEX site, coincident with a decrease in photosynthetic leaf area and the relative abundance of sedges. We observed increasing NDVI with elevated temperature at the SPRUCE site, associated with an increase in the relative abundance of shrubs and a decrease in forb cover. Warming treatments at the SPRUCE site also led to increases in the LAI of the shrub layer. We found no strong effects of elevated CO₂ on community composition. Our findings support recent studies suggesting that changes in NDVI observed from satellite platforms may be the result of changes in community composition and ecosystem structure in response to climate warming.     

Climate change and fire effects on a prairie–woodland ecotone: projecting species range shifts with a dynamic global vegetation model

Large shifts in species ranges have been predicted under future climate scenarios based primarily on niche‐based species distribution models. However, the mechanisms that would cause such shifts are uncertain. Natural and anthropogenic fires have shaped the distributions of many plant species, but their effects have seldom been included in future projections of species ranges. Here, we examine how the combination of climate and fire influence historical and future distributions of the ponderosa pine–prairie ecotone at the edge of the Black Hills in South Dakota, USA, as simulated by MC1, a dynamic global vegetation model that includes the effects of fire, climate, and atmospheric CO₂ concentration on vegetation dynamics. For this purpose, we parameterized MC1 for ponderosa pine in the Black Hills, designating the revised model as MC1‐WCNP. Results show that fire frequency, as affected by humidity and temperature, is central to the simulation of historical prairies in the warmer lowlands versus woodlands in the cooler, moister highlands. Based on three downscaled general circulation model climate projections for the 21st century, we simulate greater frequencies of natural fire throughout the area due to substantial warming and, for two of the climate projections, lower relative humidity. However, established ponderosa pine forests are relatively fire resistant, and areas that were initially wooded remained so over the 21st century for most of our future climate x fire management scenarios. This result contrasts with projections for ponderosa pine based on climatic niches, which suggest that its suitable habitat in the Black Hills will be greatly diminished by the middle of the 21st century. We hypothesize that the differences between the future predictions from these two approaches are due in part to the inclusion of fire effects in MC1, and we highlight the importance of accounting for fire as managed by humans in assessing both historical species distributions and future climate change effects.     

Elevated [CO2] effects on crops: Advances in understanding acclimation,nitrogen dynamics and interactions with drought and other organisms

Future rapid increases in atmospheric CO₂ concentration [CO₂] are expected, with values likely to reach ~550 ppm by mid‐century. This implies that every terrestrial plant will be exposed to nearly 40% more of one of the key resources determining plant growth. In this review we highlight selected areas of plant interactions with elevated [CO₂] (e[CO₂]), where recently published experiments challenge long‐held, simplified views. Focusing on crops, especially in more extreme and variable growing conditions, we highlight uncertainties associated with four specific areas. (1) While it is long known that photosynthesis can acclimate to e[CO₂], such acclimation is not consistently observed in field experiments. The influence of sink–source relations and nitrogen (N) limitation on acclimation is investigated and current knowledge about whether stomatal function or mesophyll conductance (g_m) acclimate independently is summarised. (2) We show how the response of N uptake to e[CO₂] is highly variable, even for one cultivar grown within the same field site, and how decreases in N concentrations ([N]) are observed consistently. Potential mechanisms contributing to [N] decreases under e[CO₂] are discussed and proposed solutions are addressed. (3) Based on recent results from crop field experiments in highly variable, non‐irrigated, water‐limited environments, we challenge the previous opinion that the relative CO₂ effect is larger under drier environmental conditions. (4) Finally, we summarise how changes in growth and nutrient concentrations due to e[CO₂] will influence relationships between crops and weeds, herbivores and pathogens in agricultural systems.     

The effects of climate warming on the migratory status of early summer populations of Mythimna separata (Walker) moths: A case‐study of enhanced corn damage in central‐northern China, 1980–2016

Mythimna separata (Walker) moths captured in light traps were monitored in Luohe, central‐northern China, from 1980 to 2016. Annual average temperature recorded an increase of 0.298°C/10 years in this region in the period. Our results indicate that a rising April and May average temperature and earlier occurrences of days recording the highest day temperature (30°C) caused an advanced peak and increasing proportion of high ovarian development levels of first‐generation females in earlier summers. Results using Johnson's formulation of “oogenesis‐flight syndrome” indicate that increasing sexual maturity proportion has resulted in more emigrant individuals in the local first‐generation moth becoming residents, and then increased individuals rapidly in the local second‐generation moth since 2006. Consequences of this action have a boom in corn damage since 2007 in this region. Advanced peak dates of the first and second‐generation moth revealed the same response to increasing average monthly temperatures in the monitoring period. Increasing temperatures, the average May temperature exceeds or equal to 22°C, during the early 2000's may represent a physiological threshold for M. separata development. Our results suggest that climate warming may impact M. separata migratory status and cause a problem of crop production in this region.     

Subalpine vegetation pattern three decades after stand‐replacing fire: effects of landscape context and topography on plant community composition,tree regeneration,and diversity

Objective: Our purpose was to characterize vegetation compositional patterns, tree regeneration, and plant diversity, and their relationships to landscape context, topography, and light availability across the margins of four stand‐replacing subalpine burns. Location: Four 1977 to 1978 burns east of the Continental Divide in Colorado: the Ouzel burn, a burn near Kenosha Pass, the Badger Mountain burn, and the Maes Creek burn. Methods: Vegetation and environmental factors were sampled in 200 0.01‐ha plots on transects crossing burn edges, and stratified by elevation. We utilized dissimilarity indices, mixed‐effects models, and randomization tests to assess relationships between vegetation and environment. Results: Three decades after wildfire, plant communities exhibited pronounced compositional shifts across burn edges. Tree regeneration decreased with increasing elevation and distance into burn interiors; concomitant increases in forbs and graminoids were linked to greater light availability. Richness was roughly doubled in high‐severity burn interiors due to the persistence of a suite of native species occurring primarily in this habitat. Richness rose with distance into burns, but declined with increasing elevation. Only three of 188 plant species were non‐native; these were widespread, naturalized species that comprised <1% total cover. Conclusions: These subalpine wildfires generated considerable, persistent increases in plant species richness at local and landscape scales, and a diversity of plant communities. The findings suggest that fire suppression in such systems must lead to reduced diversity. Concerns about post‐fire invasion by exotic plants appear unwarranted in high‐elevation wilderness settings.     

Interactive effects of elevated CO2, N deposition and climate change on extracellular enzyme activity and soil density fractionation in a California annual grassland

Elevated CO₂, N deposition and climate change can alter ecosystem‐level nutrient cycling both directly and indirectly. We explored the interactive effects of these environmental changes on extracellular enzyme activity and organic matter fractionation in soils of a California annual grassland. The activities of hydrolases (polysaccharide‐degrading enzymes and phosphatase) increased significantly in response to nitrate addition, which coincided with an increase in soluble C concentrations under ambient CO₂. Water addition and elevated CO₂ had negative but nonadditive effects on the activities of these enzymes. In contrast, water addition resulted in an increase in the activities of lignin‐degrading enzymes (phenol oxidase and peroxidase), and a decrease in the free light fraction (FLF) of soil organic matter. Independent of treatment effects, lignin content in the FLF was negatively correlated with the quantity of FLF across all samples. Lignin concentrations were lower in the aggregate‐occluded light fraction (OLF) than the FLF, and there was no correlation between percent lignin and OLF quantity, which was consistent with the protection of soil organic matter in aggregates. Elevated CO₂ decreased the quantity of OLF and increased the OLF lignin concentration, however, which is consistent with increased degradation resulting from increased turnover of soil aggregates. Overall, these results suggest that the effects of N addition on hydrolase activity are offset by the interactive effects of water addition and elevated CO₂, whereas water and elevated CO₂ may cause an increase in the breakdown of soil organic matter as a result of their effects on lignin‐degrading enzymes and soil aggregation, respectively.     

The effects of insects,nutrients, and plant invasion on community structure and function above‐ and belowground

Soil nutrient availability, invasive plants, and insect presence can directly alter ecosystem structure and function, but less is known about how these factors may interact. In this 6‐year study in an old‐field ecosystem, we manipulated insect abundance (reduced and control), the propagule pressure of an invasive nitrogen‐fixing plant (propagules added and control), and soil nutrient availability (nitrogen added, nitrogen reduced and control) in a fully crossed, completely randomized plot design. We found that nutrient amendment and, occasionally, insect abundance interacted with the propagule pressure of an invasive plant to alter above‐ and belowground structure and function at our site. Not surprisingly, nutrient amendment had a direct effect on aboveground biomass and soil nutrient mineralization. The introduction of invasive nitrogen‐fixing plant propagules interacted with nutrient amendment and insect presence to alter soil bacterial abundance and the activity of the microbial community. While the larger‐scale, longer‐term bulk measurements such as biomass production and nutrient mineralization responded to the direct effects of our treatments, the shorter‐term and dynamic microbial communities tended to respond to interactions among our treatments. Our results indicate that soil nutrients, invasive plants, and insect herbivores determine both above‐ and belowground responses, but whether such effects are independent versus interdependent varies with scale.     

Plant‐facilitated effects of exotic earthworm Pontoscolex corethrurus on the soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics and soil microbial community in a subtropical field ecosystem

Earthworms and plants greatly affect belowground properties; however, their combined effects are more attractive based on the ecosystem scale in the field condition. To address this point, we manipulated earthworms (exotic endogeic species Pontoscolex corethrurus) and plants (living plants [native tree species Evodia lepta] and artificial plants) to investigate their combined effects on soil microorganisms, soil nutrients, and soil respiration in a subtropical forest. The manipulation of artificial plants aimed to simulate the physical effects of plants (e.g., shading and interception of water) such that the biological effects of plants could be evaluated separately. We found that relative to the controls, living plants but not artificial plants significantly increased the ratio of fungal to bacterial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and fungal PLFAs. Furthermore, earthworms plus living plants significantly increased the soil respiration and decreased the soil NH₄⁺‐N, which indicates that the earthworm effects on the associated carbon, and nitrogen processes were greatly affected by living plants. The permutational multivariate analysis of variance results also indicated that living plants but not earthworms or artificial plants significantly changed the soil microbial community. Our results suggest that the effects of plants on soil microbes and associated soil properties in this study were largely explained by their biological rather than their physical effects.