Scholarlink

<p>The Arctic has become warmer and greener in recent decades, mostly attributed to large-scale climatic influences, but greening trends are not ubiquitous. To gain insight into possible drivers of variation in Arctic greening, we investigated how plant functional traits and community composition vary along local gradients of soil disturbance and fertility on the High Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Our goal was to investigate the possible contribution of shifts in community composition and plant traits to overall greening, to deepen our understanding of how rapidly vegetation change may occur under continued warming and associated changes in soil conditions. We found that local variation in soil conditions, particularly nutrient availability, interacts with regional climate to shape species composition, abundance, and trait expression. Nutrient-enriched environments, such as below bird cliffs and in human settlements, host many generalist tundra species that exhibit higher productivity and elevated trait values compared to communities growing in nutrient-poor tundra. These findings suggest that Arctic greening may occur rapidly, by favouring responsive species already present in tundra communities as edaphic and climatic conditions become more favourable.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Shifts in High Arctic tundra vegetation structure linked to variation in soil conditions

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月6日

查看全文
  • Jana Ruethers,
  • Lena Bakker,
  • Sebastian Doetterl,
  • Simone Fior,
  • Jamila Gisler,
  • Cara Magnabosco,
  • Annina Maier,
  • Moritz Mainka,
  • Kristine Bakke Westergaard,
  • Jake Alexander

摘要

The Arctic has become warmer and greener in recent decades, mostly attributed to large-scale climatic influences, but greening trends are not ubiquitous. To gain insight into possible drivers of variation in Arctic greening, we investigated how plant functional traits and community composition vary along local gradients of soil disturbance and fertility on the High Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Our goal was to investigate the possible contribution of shifts in community composition and plant traits to overall greening, to deepen our understanding of how rapidly vegetation change may occur under continued warming and associated changes in soil conditions. We found that local variation in soil conditions, particularly nutrient availability, interacts with regional climate to shape species composition, abundance, and trait expression. Nutrient-enriched environments, such as below bird cliffs and in human settlements, host many generalist tundra species that exhibit higher productivity and elevated trait values compared to communities growing in nutrient-poor tundra. These findings suggest that Arctic greening may occur rapidly, by favouring responsive species already present in tundra communities as edaphic and climatic conditions become more favourable.