Pub Date : 2024-05-06DOI: 10.1007/s10021-024-00906-z
Daniel E. B. Swann, Peter J. Bellingham, Patrick H. Martin
Interactions between tropical cyclones and wildfires occur widely and can tip closed forests into open-canopy structures that initiate a ‘grass–fire’ cycle. We examined cyclone–fire interactions in a monodominant tropical montane pine forest in the Dominican Republic using remotely-sensed imagery to quantify damage from fires between 1986 and 2004, a category 1 cyclone in 1998, and an extensive wildfire in 2005. We also measured forest structure and composition 14.7 years after the 2005 fire. The area inside the 2005 burn scars (fire perimeters) totaled 25,206 ha, of which 81% burned and 14% was cyclone damaged. Cyclone damage made the fire markedly more extensive and severe—high-severity fires were > 3 times more frequent with high-severity cyclone damage than no cyclone damage—but these markedly synergistic effects were restricted to areas that had not burned for at least 19 years before the 2005 fire. Though earlier fires from 1986 to 2004 were small and low-severity, they were sufficient, when present, to prevent high-severity fire in 2005 irrespective of cyclone severity. In areas with strong cyclone–fire interactions, there was a complete loss of pine canopies, yet these stands had abundant pine canopy recruitment by 2019 and showed no evidence of compositional shifts toward open-canopy structures with pyrogenic herbaceous understories, illustrating the resilience of this ecosystem to a range of cyclone–fire synergies. However, the future resilience of tropical montane pine forests to cyclone–fire synergies is uncertain as climate change increases the intensity of cyclones and frequency of drought-triggered fires in these ecosystems.
{"title":"Cyclone–Fire Interactions Enhance Fire Extent and Severity in a Tropical Montane Pine Forest","authors":"Daniel E. B. Swann, Peter J. Bellingham, Patrick H. Martin","doi":"10.1007/s10021-024-00906-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-024-00906-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Interactions between tropical cyclones and wildfires occur widely and can tip closed forests into open-canopy structures that initiate a ‘grass–fire’ cycle. We examined cyclone–fire interactions in a monodominant tropical montane pine forest in the Dominican Republic using remotely-sensed imagery to quantify damage from fires between 1986 and 2004, a category 1 cyclone in 1998, and an extensive wildfire in 2005. We also measured forest structure and composition 14.7 years after the 2005 fire. The area inside the 2005 burn scars (fire perimeters) totaled 25,206 ha, of which 81% burned and 14% was cyclone damaged. Cyclone damage made the fire markedly more extensive and severe—high-severity fires were > 3 times more frequent with high-severity cyclone damage than no cyclone damage—but these markedly synergistic effects were restricted to areas that had not burned for at least 19 years before the 2005 fire. Though earlier fires from 1986 to 2004 were small and low-severity, they were sufficient, when present, to prevent high-severity fire in 2005 irrespective of cyclone severity. In areas with strong cyclone–fire interactions, there was a complete loss of pine canopies, yet these stands had abundant pine canopy recruitment by 2019 and showed no evidence of compositional shifts toward open-canopy structures with pyrogenic herbaceous understories, illustrating the resilience of this ecosystem to a range of cyclone–fire synergies. However, the future resilience of tropical montane pine forests to cyclone–fire synergies is uncertain as climate change increases the intensity of cyclones and frequency of drought-triggered fires in these ecosystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140882616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-30DOI: 10.1007/s10021-024-00907-y
Philip S. Barton, Nick Schultz, Nathan J. Butterworth, Michael D. Ulyshen, Patricia Mateo-Tomás, Thomas M. Newsome
Global environmental change has redistributed earth’s biomass and the inputs and dynamics of basal detrital resources in ecosystems, contributing to the decline of biodiversity. Yet efforts to manage detrital necromass for biodiversity conservation are often overlooked or consider only singular resource types for focal species groups. We argue there is a significant opportunity to broaden our perspective of the spatiotemporal complexity among multiple necromass types for innovative biodiversity conservation. Here, we introduce an ecosystem-scale perspective to disentangling the spatial and temporal characteristics of multiple and distinct forms of necromass and their associated biota. We show that terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems contain a diversity of necromass types, each with contrasting temporal frequencies and magnitudes, and spatial density and configurations. By conceptualising an ecosystem in this way, we demonstrate that specific necromass dynamics can be identified and targeted for management that benefits the unique spatiotemporal requirements of dependent decomposer organisms and their critical role in ecosystem biomass conversion and nutrient recycling. We encourage conservation practitioners to think about necromass quantity, timing of inputs, spatial dynamics, and to engage with researchers to deepen our knowledge of how necromass might be manipulated to exploit the distinct attributes of different necromass types to help meet biodiversity conservation goals.
{"title":"Disentangling Ecosystem Necromass Dynamics for Biodiversity Conservation","authors":"Philip S. Barton, Nick Schultz, Nathan J. Butterworth, Michael D. Ulyshen, Patricia Mateo-Tomás, Thomas M. Newsome","doi":"10.1007/s10021-024-00907-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-024-00907-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Global environmental change has redistributed earth’s biomass and the inputs and dynamics of basal detrital resources in ecosystems, contributing to the decline of biodiversity. Yet efforts to manage detrital necromass for biodiversity conservation are often overlooked or consider only singular resource types for focal species groups. We argue there is a significant opportunity to broaden our perspective of the spatiotemporal complexity among multiple necromass types for innovative biodiversity conservation. Here, we introduce an ecosystem-scale perspective to disentangling the spatial and temporal characteristics of multiple and distinct forms of necromass and their associated biota. We show that terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems contain a diversity of necromass types, each with contrasting temporal frequencies and magnitudes, and spatial density and configurations. By conceptualising an ecosystem in this way, we demonstrate that specific necromass dynamics can be identified and targeted for management that benefits the unique spatiotemporal requirements of dependent decomposer organisms and their critical role in ecosystem biomass conversion and nutrient recycling. We encourage conservation practitioners to think about necromass quantity, timing of inputs, spatial dynamics, and to engage with researchers to deepen our knowledge of how necromass might be manipulated to exploit the distinct attributes of different necromass types to help meet biodiversity conservation goals.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140828987","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-02DOI: 10.1007/s10021-024-00905-0
Cristina Montiel-González, Ángel E. Bravo-Monzón, José Israel Flores-Puerto, Fabiola Valadez-Cortés, Luz Elena Azcoytia-Escalona, Felipe García-Oliva, María Leticia Arena-Ortiz, Mariana Yolotl Alvarez-Añorve, Luis Daniel Avila-Cabadilla
Hurricanes are extreme climatic events frequently affecting tropical regions such as the tropical dry forests (TDFs) in Mexico, where its frequency/intensity is expected to increase toward the year 2100. To answer how resistant is a Mexican tropical dry forest to a high-intensity hurricane, and if its degree of resistance was mediated by its conservation degree, we evaluated the effect of a category 4 hurricane over the tree community, soil nutrients, and soil enzymatic activity in two contrasting TDF ecosystems: Old-Growth Forest (OGF) and Secondary Forest (SF). In general, vegetation richness and diversity showed very high resistance one year after the hurricane, but several structural attributes did not, especially in the OGF where the tree mortality related to vegetation structure and spatial distribution of individuals was higher. Then, in the short term, SF vegetation appeared to be more resistant, whereas the OGF, with more biomass to lose, appeared to be more vulnerable. Conversely, most soil attributes showed low resistance in both stages, but especially in SF which could face more severe nutrient limitations. The response of TDF to high-intensity hurricanes, in terms of above- and belowground processes, was in part dependent on its disturbance level. Moreover, an increase in the intensity/frequency of hurricanes could lead this TDF toward a high nutrient limitation (especially by phosphorus) for the plants and consequently toward a loss of soil functioning, especially in the SF. This eventually could produce a severe degradation in fundamental attributes and functions of the ecosystem.
{"title":"Disturbance Level Mediates the Differential Resistance of Tropical Dry Forest Soil and Vegetation Attributes to High-Intensity Hurricanes","authors":"Cristina Montiel-González, Ángel E. Bravo-Monzón, José Israel Flores-Puerto, Fabiola Valadez-Cortés, Luz Elena Azcoytia-Escalona, Felipe García-Oliva, María Leticia Arena-Ortiz, Mariana Yolotl Alvarez-Añorve, Luis Daniel Avila-Cabadilla","doi":"10.1007/s10021-024-00905-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-024-00905-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Hurricanes are extreme climatic events frequently affecting tropical regions such as the tropical dry forests (TDFs) in Mexico, where its frequency/intensity is expected to increase toward the year 2100. To answer how resistant is a Mexican tropical dry forest to a high-intensity hurricane, and if its degree of resistance was mediated by its conservation degree, we evaluated the effect of a category 4 hurricane over the tree community, soil nutrients, and soil enzymatic activity in two contrasting TDF ecosystems: Old-Growth Forest (OGF) and Secondary Forest (SF). In general, vegetation richness and diversity showed very high resistance one year after the hurricane, but several structural attributes did not, especially in the OGF where the tree mortality related to vegetation structure and spatial distribution of individuals was higher. Then, in the short term, SF vegetation appeared to be more resistant, whereas the OGF, with more biomass to lose, appeared to be more vulnerable. Conversely, most soil attributes showed low resistance in both stages, but especially in SF which could face more severe nutrient limitations. The response of TDF to high-intensity hurricanes, in terms of above- and belowground processes, was in part dependent on its disturbance level. Moreover, an increase in the intensity/frequency of hurricanes could lead this TDF toward a high nutrient limitation (especially by phosphorus) for the plants and consequently toward a loss of soil functioning, especially in the SF. This eventually could produce a severe degradation in fundamental attributes and functions of the ecosystem.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140596268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-06DOI: 10.1007/s10021-023-00882-w
Monika Ruwaimana, Daniel G. Gavin, Gusti Anshari
The function of tropical peatland as a carbon sink is a balance between peat accumulation and peat loss; however, various interacting factors are involved affecting this process. In this study, we collected and intensively radiocarbon dated peat cores from two peat domes, visualized their cross-sectional profiles of geochemical properties, and developed three macrocharcoal records from each peat dome. We find that the young (4500 y calBP) and shallow (6 m) coastal peat has a simple and linear age–depth relationship, showing stable accumulation of carbon during the late Holocene. In contrast, the older (ca. 40,000 y cal BP) and deeper (15 m) inland peat shows a more complex history, where we observed age reversals and hiatuses, likely caused by climate variability from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the Holocene. The charcoal record reveals a continuous presence of low-severity fire as indicated by charcoal morphotypes, though fire frequency increased after agriculture was established. An age reversal during the LGM was likely caused by a flood. Two periods of hiatuses occurred, each several millennia in length, at the end of the LGM and during the early Holocene. One cause of the hiatuses may have been a climatically halted peat formation from low precipitation and cooler climate during the LGM. Another cause may have been that severe fires consumed thousands of years of accumulated peat. If the hiatuses were entirely due to fire, the carbon released from these paleo-fire events (600 t C ha−1) suggests several times the impact of the most intense modern peat fires.
热带泥炭地作为碳汇的功能是泥炭积累和泥炭流失之间的平衡;然而,影响这一过程的因素多种多样。在这项研究中,我们采集了两个泥炭穹丘的泥炭岩芯并对其进行了深入的放射性碳年代测定,对其地球化学性质的横截面剖面进行了可视化分析,并对每个泥炭穹丘建立了三条宏观炭记录。我们发现,年轻(4500 y calBP)、浅(6 m)的沿海泥炭具有简单的线性年龄-深度关系,显示了全新世晚期碳的稳定积累。相比之下,较古老(约 40000 y cal BP)和较深(15 m)的内陆泥炭则显示出更为复杂的历史,我们观察到了年龄逆转和间断,这可能是由从末次冰川极盛期(LGM)到全新世的气候变异造成的。木炭记录显示,从木炭形态上看,低强度火灾持续存在,但在农业发展之后,火灾频率有所增加。大冰期的年龄逆转很可能是由洪水造成的。在全新世末期和全新世早期,出现了两次断代,每次长达几千年。造成间断的原因之一可能是,在上新世期间,由于降水量较少和气候较冷,泥炭的形成在气候上停止了。另一个原因可能是严重的火灾烧毁了数千年积累的泥炭。如果间断完全是由于火灾造成的,那么这些古火灾事件释放的碳(600 吨碳公顷-1)表明其影响是现代最强烈泥炭火灾的数倍。
{"title":"Interplay of Climate, Fires, Floods, and Anthropogenic Impacts on the Peat Formation and Carbon Dynamic of Coastal and Inland Tropical Peatlands in West Kalimantan, Indonesia","authors":"Monika Ruwaimana, Daniel G. Gavin, Gusti Anshari","doi":"10.1007/s10021-023-00882-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00882-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The function of tropical peatland as a carbon sink is a balance between peat accumulation and peat loss; however, various interacting factors are involved affecting this process. In this study, we collected and intensively radiocarbon dated peat cores from two peat domes, visualized their cross-sectional profiles of geochemical properties, and developed three macrocharcoal records from each peat dome. We find that the young (4500 y calBP) and shallow (6 m) coastal peat has a simple and linear age–depth relationship, showing stable accumulation of carbon during the late Holocene. In contrast, the older (ca. 40,000 y cal BP) and deeper (15 m) inland peat shows a more complex history, where we observed age reversals and hiatuses, likely caused by climate variability from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the Holocene. The charcoal record reveals a continuous presence of low-severity fire as indicated by charcoal morphotypes, though fire frequency increased after agriculture was established. An age reversal during the LGM was likely caused by a flood. Two periods of hiatuses occurred, each several millennia in length, at the end of the LGM and during the early Holocene. One cause of the hiatuses may have been a climatically halted peat formation from low precipitation and cooler climate during the LGM. Another cause may have been that severe fires consumed thousands of years of accumulated peat. If the hiatuses were entirely due to fire, the carbon released from these paleo-fire events (600 t C ha<sup>−1</sup>) suggests several times the impact of the most intense modern peat fires.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140046055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-03-04DOI: 10.1007/s10021-024-00903-2
Abstract
Decomposition is a key determinant of forest functioning, controlling nutrient and carbon cycling. Although litter-mixing effects on decomposition (that is, using mixtures of litter of different species) have been studied extensively, less is known about the indirect effects of modified microenvironments via overstory tree species mixing. To investigate the effects of tree species diversity on decomposition, we installed 384 standardized litterbags, filled with leaf litter of four broadleaved tree species with contrasting litter quality, in a large, 10-year-old tree diversity experiment. To quantify microenvironments, we used microclimate sensors, below-canopy rain gauges and measured soil characteristics. We then analysed indirect tree species diversity effects, that is, tree species richness effects on mass loss rates via tree species-induced alterations in the microclimate, throughfall and soil characteristics. We found that understory microenvironmental conditions indeed affect mass loss rates, with the main drivers differing among incubation stages. Predominantly soil phosphorus, but also vapour pressure deficit and throughfall amounts, was negatively associated with mass loss rates across litter types during the first 2 months of the decomposition process. After 6 months of the decomposition, soil moisture was found to be the key determinant positively affecting mass loss rates. In sum, our research contributes to a better understanding of the determinants of decomposition and shows an important pathway in which tree species diversity affects decomposition, via modified microenvironmental conditions acting via the soil, microclimate and throughfall.
{"title":"Tree Species Diversity Affects Litter Decomposition via Modification of the Microenvironment","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s10021-024-00903-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-024-00903-2","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>Decomposition is a key determinant of forest functioning, controlling nutrient and carbon cycling. Although litter-mixing effects on decomposition (that is, using mixtures of litter of different species) have been studied extensively, less is known about the indirect effects of modified microenvironments via overstory tree species mixing. To investigate the effects of tree species diversity on decomposition, we installed 384 standardized litterbags, filled with leaf litter of four broadleaved tree species with contrasting litter quality, in a large, 10-year-old tree diversity experiment. To quantify microenvironments, we used microclimate sensors, below-canopy rain gauges and measured soil characteristics. We then analysed indirect tree species diversity effects, that is, tree species richness effects on mass loss rates via tree species-induced alterations in the microclimate, throughfall and soil characteristics. We found that understory microenvironmental conditions indeed affect mass loss rates, with the main drivers differing among incubation stages. Predominantly soil phosphorus, but also vapour pressure deficit and throughfall amounts, was negatively associated with mass loss rates across litter types during the first 2 months of the decomposition process. After 6 months of the decomposition, soil moisture was found to be the key determinant positively affecting mass loss rates. In sum, our research contributes to a better understanding of the determinants of decomposition and shows an important pathway in which tree species diversity affects decomposition, via modified microenvironmental conditions acting via the soil, microclimate and throughfall.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140032789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-21DOI: 10.1007/s10021-023-00894-6
Ryota Aoyagi, Nobuo Imai, Benjamin L. Turner, Kanehiro Kitayama
Ecosystem dynamics are shaped by plant adaptation to environmental stress, yet the conditions under which this occurs remain poorly understood. We developed a theoretical framework to predict how strategies used by tropical trees to cope with low-phosphorus (P) availability (that is, traits related to P uptake, and use) influence growth under P limitation. We then tested this framework against data on tree species in Borneo and a meta-analysis of results from pantropical nutrient addition experiments. Our theoretical framework predicts that plant traits associated with low-P environments, including enhanced P allocation to leaves, efficient P resorption, and root phosphatase activity, alleviate the negative effects of P scarcity more strongly for “inefficiently” growing plants, represented by large trees and old-growth forests, compared with saplings or secondary forests. In agreement with this prediction, changes in traits related to low-P environments increased the potential relative growth rate of large trees more than small trees in Borneo. Finally, theoretical expectation was supported by a meta-analysis which revealed stronger P limitation in saplings and secondary forests than in old-growth forests. Together, these findings provide a novel framework to interpret the relationship between resource constraints and plant performance and reinforce the importance of accounting for plant adaption to predict ecosystem responses to P limitation in tropical forests.
生态系统的动态是由植物对环境压力的适应性决定的,但人们对发生这种情况的条件仍然知之甚少。我们建立了一个理论框架来预测热带树木应对低磷可用性的策略(即与磷吸收和利用相关的性状)如何影响磷限制下的生长。然后,我们用婆罗洲树种的数据和泛热带营养添加实验结果的荟萃分析对这一框架进行了测试。我们的理论框架预测,与低钾环境相关的植物性状,包括增强叶片的钾分配、高效的钾吸收和根部磷酸酶活性,对 "低效 "生长的植物(以大树和古老森林为代表)来说,与树苗或次生林相比,能更有力地缓解钾短缺的负面影响。与这一预测一致的是,在婆罗洲,与低磷环境相关的性状变化提高了大树的潜在相对生长率,而不是小树。最后,荟萃分析表明,树苗和次生林中的P限制比原始森林中的更强,这也支持了理论预期。总之,这些发现为解释资源限制与植物表现之间的关系提供了一个新的框架,并加强了考虑植物适应性以预测热带森林生态系统对 P 限制反应的重要性。
{"title":"Plant Adaptation and Phosphorus Limitation in Tropical Forests: A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment","authors":"Ryota Aoyagi, Nobuo Imai, Benjamin L. Turner, Kanehiro Kitayama","doi":"10.1007/s10021-023-00894-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00894-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ecosystem dynamics are shaped by plant adaptation to environmental stress, yet the conditions under which this occurs remain poorly understood. We developed a theoretical framework to predict how strategies used by tropical trees to cope with low-phosphorus (P) availability (that is, traits related to P uptake, and use) influence growth under P limitation. We then tested this framework against data on tree species in Borneo and a meta-analysis of results from pantropical nutrient addition experiments. Our theoretical framework predicts that plant traits associated with low-P environments, including enhanced P allocation to leaves, efficient P resorption, and root phosphatase activity, alleviate the negative effects of P scarcity more strongly for “inefficiently” growing plants, represented by large trees and old-growth forests, compared with saplings or secondary forests. In agreement with this prediction, changes in traits related to low-P environments increased the potential relative growth rate of large trees more than small trees in Borneo. Finally, theoretical expectation was supported by a meta-analysis which revealed stronger P limitation in saplings and secondary forests than in old-growth forests. Together, these findings provide a novel framework to interpret the relationship between resource constraints and plant performance and reinforce the importance of accounting for plant adaption to predict ecosystem responses to P limitation in tropical forests.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139918958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-20DOI: 10.1007/s10021-024-00901-4
Abstract
Fishing-down-marine-food-webs has resulted in alarming declines of various species worldwide. Benthic rays are one examples of such overexploited species. On tidal flats, these rays are highly abundant and play an ecologically important role. They use tidal flats as refuge, feeding and resting grounds, during which they bury into the sediment, which results in sediment bioturbation. Changes in bioturbation intensity, following ray removal, may affect the biogeomorphology of tidal flats with possible cascading effects on the macrozoobenthic community. However, it is poorly understood how these indirect effects could influence ecosystem function. We therefore studied the geomorphic impact of benthic rays (specifically the pearl whipray/stingray Fontitrygon margaritella) on the tropical tidal flats of the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau, on a landscape scale. We investigated 1) bioturbation rates by rays using drone and ground surveys, 2) the spatial distribution of ray pits on multiple tidal flats, 3) the impact of rays on sediment properties and macrozoobenthos by experimental exclusion (15 months). Benthic rays bioturbated 3.7 ± 0.35% of the tidal flat’s sediment surface per day over one single 24-h period, which equals a complete top-sediment-surface turnover every 27 days. The spatial distribution of ray pits was affected by tidal flat geomorphology since pits decayed faster at areas exposed to strong hydrodynamic forces. Predator exclusion altered sediment properties, leading to changes in sedimentation (− 17%) and erosion (− 43%) rates. In addition, macrozoobenthic species composition changed, marked by an increase in Capitellidae worms and a greater biomass of Malacostraca over time. These changes indicated substantial effects of ray bioturbation on the biotic and geomorphic landscape of tidal flats. Overall, we conclude that changing abundances of benthic rays can have clear landscape-wide geomorphological effects on intertidal ecosystems. These indirect consequences of fisheries should be incorporated in integrative management plans to preserve tidal flats and connected ecosystems.
{"title":"Bioturbation by Benthic Stingrays Alters the Biogeomorphology of Tidal Flats","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s10021-024-00901-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-024-00901-4","url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>Fishing-down-marine-food-webs has resulted in alarming declines of various species worldwide. Benthic rays are one examples of such overexploited species. On tidal flats, these rays are highly abundant and play an ecologically important role. They use tidal flats as refuge, feeding and resting grounds, during which they bury into the sediment, which results in sediment bioturbation. Changes in bioturbation intensity, following ray removal, may affect the biogeomorphology of tidal flats with possible cascading effects on the macrozoobenthic community. However, it is poorly understood how these indirect effects could influence ecosystem function. We therefore studied the geomorphic impact of benthic rays (specifically the pearl whipray/stingray <em>Fontitrygon margaritella</em>) on the tropical tidal flats of the Bijagós Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau, on a landscape scale. We investigated 1) bioturbation rates by rays using drone and ground surveys, 2) the spatial distribution of ray pits on multiple tidal flats, 3) the impact of rays on sediment properties and macrozoobenthos by experimental exclusion (15 months). Benthic rays bioturbated 3.7 ± 0.35% of the tidal flat’s sediment surface per day over one single 24-h period, which equals a complete top-sediment-surface turnover every 27 days. The spatial distribution of ray pits was affected by tidal flat geomorphology since pits decayed faster at areas exposed to strong hydrodynamic forces. Predator exclusion altered sediment properties, leading to changes in sedimentation (− 17%) and erosion (− 43%) rates. In addition, macrozoobenthic species composition changed, marked by an increase in Capitellidae worms and a greater biomass of Malacostraca over time. These changes indicated substantial effects of ray bioturbation on the biotic and geomorphic landscape of tidal flats. Overall, we conclude that changing abundances of benthic rays can have clear landscape-wide geomorphological effects on intertidal ecosystems. These indirect consequences of fisheries should be incorporated in integrative management plans to preserve tidal flats and connected ecosystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139919014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-13DOI: 10.1007/s10021-023-00899-1
Katherine M. Standen, Anastasia E. Sniderhan, Oliver Sonnentag, Carolina Voigt, Jennifer L. Baltzer
High-latitude warming is increasing soil temperatures and driving permafrost thaw, potentially altering soil nutrient conditions by enhancing microbial mineralization and making nutrients from previously frozen soils accessible for plant and microbial use. Increases in soil nutrient concentrations may alter plant community processes and, consequently, carbon (C) fluxes. We conducted an experiment in a boreal permafrost peatland, monitoring forest floor C flux and functional traits of the entire moss and vascular plant communities to the addition of nutrients at 20 and 40 cm soil depths and under closed and open canopy conditions. Plant functional trait responses were investigated at both community level (using community-weighted means) and intraspecific scales. Using fertilizer additions, we emulated nutrient increases at different depths in the soil profile, replicated at high and low canopy cover sites to assess the influence of light availability. Our results demonstrate rapid responses of vascular plant community-level traits as well as ecosystem respiration and gross primary productivity to fertilization treatments under low canopy cover, suggesting an influence of local environmental variation. We found that moss community-level traits played a more important role in mediating C flux response to nutrient fertilization than vascular plants but led to little change in C sink–source dynamics. This provides insight into existing ambiguities of the response of boreal C fluxes to increased nutrient availability following soil warming and permafrost thaw: Local environmental conditions and moss community can strongly mediate the response, whereas vascular plant communities may play a more minor role. However, our results suggest that these changes may not alter overall C sink–source dynamics of peatlands in the near term.
{"title":"Response of Boreal Plant Communities and Forest Floor Carbon Fluxes to Experimental Nutrient Additions","authors":"Katherine M. Standen, Anastasia E. Sniderhan, Oliver Sonnentag, Carolina Voigt, Jennifer L. Baltzer","doi":"10.1007/s10021-023-00899-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00899-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>High-latitude warming is increasing soil temperatures and driving permafrost thaw, potentially altering soil nutrient conditions by enhancing microbial mineralization and making nutrients from previously frozen soils accessible for plant and microbial use. Increases in soil nutrient concentrations may alter plant community processes and, consequently, carbon (C) fluxes. We conducted an experiment in a boreal permafrost peatland, monitoring forest floor C flux and functional traits of the entire moss and vascular plant communities to the addition of nutrients at 20 and 40 cm soil depths and under closed and open canopy conditions. Plant functional trait responses were investigated at both community level (using community-weighted means) and intraspecific scales. Using fertilizer additions, we emulated nutrient increases at different depths in the soil profile, replicated at high and low canopy cover sites to assess the influence of light availability. Our results demonstrate rapid responses of vascular plant community-level traits as well as ecosystem respiration and gross primary productivity to fertilization treatments under low canopy cover, suggesting an influence of local environmental variation. We found that moss community-level traits played a more important role in mediating C flux response to nutrient fertilization than vascular plants but led to little change in C sink–source dynamics. This provides insight into existing ambiguities of the response of boreal C fluxes to increased nutrient availability following soil warming and permafrost thaw: Local environmental conditions and moss community can strongly mediate the response, whereas vascular plant communities may play a more minor role. However, our results suggest that these changes may not alter overall C sink–source dynamics of peatlands in the near term.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139760106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-05DOI: 10.1007/s10021-023-00897-3
Marco Diers, Christoph Leuschner, Choimaa Dulamsuren, Thore Christian Schulz, Robert Weigel
More than half of the forest area of the North German Lowlands is stocked with Scots pine-dominated forests, mostly plantations. Climate change suggests a declining suitability of Europe’s temperate zone for conifer plantations, but only a few studies have examined the long-term growth trends of Scots pine in relation to environmental and site factors in this region. We studied the radial growth patterns of Scots pine over the last 60 years at ten sites along a precipitation gradient (830–530 mm mean annual precipitation) from an oceanic to a subcontinental climate, analyzing the spatial and temporal variability of the climate sensitivity of growth to identify the main climatic factors influencing pine growth across this gradient, which covers a large part of the species’ tolerated precipitation range. Annual radial increment was sensitive to late-winter temperatures (February, March) and summer drought and heat (June–August), with sensitivity increasing from the oceanic to the drier continental sites. Warmer late-winter periods apparently have stimulated growth during the last decades, while the sensitivity to summer-drought has remained fairly stable. Until recently, the negative impact of warming summers on growth has been compensated by the positive effect of late-winter warming, resulting in stable (or increasing) growth trends. However, our comparison of the climate sensitivity across sites suggests that the drought effect compensation through winter warming will in future be limited by increasing drought exposure. Thus, future productivity declines are likely in the northern German lowlands despite warming winters, discouraging large-scale pine plantations in the face of climate warming.
{"title":"Increasing Winter Temperatures Stimulate Scots Pine Growth in the North German Lowlands Despite Stationary Sensitivity to Summer Drought","authors":"Marco Diers, Christoph Leuschner, Choimaa Dulamsuren, Thore Christian Schulz, Robert Weigel","doi":"10.1007/s10021-023-00897-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00897-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>More than half of the forest area of the North German Lowlands is stocked with Scots pine-dominated forests, mostly plantations. Climate change suggests a declining suitability of Europe’s temperate zone for conifer plantations, but only a few studies have examined the long-term growth trends of Scots pine in relation to environmental and site factors in this region. We studied the radial growth patterns of Scots pine over the last 60 years at ten sites along a precipitation gradient (830–530 mm mean annual precipitation) from an oceanic to a subcontinental climate, analyzing the spatial and temporal variability of the climate sensitivity of growth to identify the main climatic factors influencing pine growth across this gradient, which covers a large part of the species’ tolerated precipitation range. Annual radial increment was sensitive to late-winter temperatures (February, March) and summer drought and heat (June–August), with sensitivity increasing from the oceanic to the drier continental sites. Warmer late-winter periods apparently have stimulated growth during the last decades, while the sensitivity to summer-drought has remained fairly stable. Until recently, the negative impact of warming summers on growth has been compensated by the positive effect of late-winter warming, resulting in stable (or increasing) growth trends. However, our comparison of the climate sensitivity across sites suggests that the drought effect compensation through winter warming will in future be limited by increasing drought exposure. Thus, future productivity declines are likely in the northern German lowlands despite warming winters, discouraging large-scale pine plantations in the face of climate warming.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139690159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-01DOI: 10.1007/s10021-023-00898-2
Daniel Kozar, Bettina Weber, Yu Zhang, Xiaoli Dong
While vascular plants in drylands can spatially self-organize and persist under climatic stress through gradual changes in patch attributes, dryland patch dynamics largely assumes bare soil between plants. Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are communities living in the soil surface of drylands and mediate water redistribution in space. BSCs often occur in patches of light cyanobacteria and dark-mixed aggregates; however, little is known about their spatial patterns and dynamics. Here, we investigate spatial attributes of BSC patches, their spatial interactions with vascular plants, and factors that drive variation in these attributes using ultra-high-resolution (1 cm) maps from UAV imagery across three ecoregions of the southwest United States. Our analysis showed that light cyanobacteria BSCs varied most in patch shape complexity with aridity, while dark-mixed BSCs varied most in abundance. The distribution of dark-mixed BSCs was strongly affected by the soil template (texture and calcareousness) and vascular plants. Light cyanobacteria BSCs and woody plants spatially aggregated with aridity, while slope enhanced the spatial association between BSC functional groups. We conclude that light cyanobacteria BSCs can likely persist under stress through patch shape alterations, while dark-mixed BSC patches may have a lower capacity to do so—corroborating that dark-mixed BSC abundance may decline under altered climatic regimes. Light cyanobacteria BSCs may also buffer the effects of aridity for other biota by promoting runoff. BSCs and vascular plants coordinate in space in response to resource availability, suggesting the need to consider self-organization of multiple unique assemblages to better predict dryland response to climate change.
{"title":"Spatial Signatures of Biological Soil Crusts and Community Level Self-organization in Drylands","authors":"Daniel Kozar, Bettina Weber, Yu Zhang, Xiaoli Dong","doi":"10.1007/s10021-023-00898-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-023-00898-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>While vascular plants in drylands can spatially self-organize and persist under climatic stress through gradual changes in patch attributes, dryland patch dynamics largely assumes bare soil between plants. Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are communities living in the soil surface of drylands and mediate water redistribution in space. BSCs often occur in patches of light cyanobacteria and dark-mixed aggregates; however, little is known about their spatial patterns and dynamics. Here, we investigate spatial attributes of BSC patches, their spatial interactions with vascular plants, and factors that drive variation in these attributes using ultra-high-resolution (1 cm) maps from UAV imagery across three ecoregions of the southwest United States. Our analysis showed that light cyanobacteria BSCs varied most in patch shape complexity with aridity, while dark-mixed BSCs varied most in abundance. The distribution of dark-mixed BSCs was strongly affected by the soil template (texture and calcareousness) and vascular plants. Light cyanobacteria BSCs and woody plants spatially aggregated with aridity, while slope enhanced the spatial association between BSC functional groups. We conclude that light cyanobacteria BSCs can likely persist under stress through patch shape alterations, while dark-mixed BSC patches may have a lower capacity to do so—corroborating that dark-mixed BSC abundance may decline under altered climatic regimes. Light cyanobacteria BSCs may also buffer the effects of aridity for other biota by promoting runoff. BSCs and vascular plants coordinate in space in response to resource availability, suggesting the need to consider self-organization of multiple unique assemblages to better predict dryland response to climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":11406,"journal":{"name":"Ecosystems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139665439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}