Global Change Biology最新文献

Climate-driven shifts in herbivores, temperature, and nutrient runoff threaten coastal ecosystem resilience. However, ecological resilience, particularly for foundation species, remains poorly understood due to the scarcity of field experiments conducted across appropriate spatial and temporal scales that investigate multiple stressors. This study evaluates the resilience of a widespread tropical marine plant (turtlegrass) to disturbances across its geographic range and examines how environmental gradients in (a)biotic factors influence recovery. We assessed turtlegrass resilience by following recovery rates for a year after a simulated pulse disturbance (complete above- and belowground biomass removal). Contrary to studies in temperate areas, higher temperature generally enhanced seagrass recovery. While nutrients had minimal individual effects, they reduced aboveground recovery when combined with high levels of herbivore grazing (meso and megaherbivore). Belowground recovery was also affected by combined high levels of nutrients and grazing (megaherbivores only). Light availability had minimal effects. Our results suggest that the resilience of some tropical species, particularly in cooler subtropical waters, may initially benefit from warming. However, continuing shifts in nutrient supply and changes in grazing pressure may ultimately serve to compromise seagrass recovery.

In the current warming climate, many organisms in seasonal environments advance their timing of reproduction to benefit from resource peaks earlier in spring. For migrants, the potential to advance reproduction may be constrained by their migration strategies, notably their ability to advance arrival at the breeding grounds. Recent studies show various changes in migration strategies, including wintering closer to the breeding grounds, earlier departure from the wintering grounds or faster travels by spending less time at stopover sites. However, whether such changes lead to earlier arrival or earlier breeding remains an open question. We studied changes in migration and reproduction timing in 12 populations of nine migratory birds, including seabirds, shorebirds, birds of prey and waterfowl breeding at Arctic sites bordering the Greenland and Barents Sea, a region undergoing rapid climate warming. The timing of migration and reproduction was derived from tracking and field data and analysed to study (1) how timing has changed in response to the changing moment of snowmelt at the breeding grounds and (2) what adjustments in migration strategies this involved. We found that in years with early snowmelt, egg-laying in multiple populations advanced, but only two waterfowl populations also advanced arrival in the Arctic. In contrast, arrival in the Arctic generally advanced with time, even when snowmelt or egg-laying dates did not advance. Earlier arrival with time was mostly explained by populations traveling to the Arctic faster, likely spending less time at stopover sites. Inability to forecast conditions in the Arctic may limit birds to adjust migration timing to annually varying snowmelt, but we show that several species, particularly waterfowl, are able to travel faster and advance the timing of migration over the years. The question remains whether this reflects adaptations to Arctic climate change or other factors, for example, environmental changes along the migratory route.

Freshwater diversity is declining at an alarming rate worldwide, and climate change is a key driver. However, attributing biological shifts solely to climate warming remains challenging because of confounding anthropogenic stressors. Peatbogs, being highly conserved, strictly protected, and minimally disturbed, offer a unique study system to isolate climate effects. We compared odonate assemblages in 27 Central European raised and transitional bogs between two sets of standardized surveys approximately 20 years apart (1998–2006 and 2020–2024). During this period, the mean annual air temperature has increased by 1.23°C. We tracked species richness, composition, taxonomic diversity, and functional traits (thermal tolerance, conservation value indicators, and selected morphological and life-history traits) and also examined phylogenetic patterns of species turnover. Although species richness remained stable, assemblage composition shifted markedly from cold-adapted, vulnerable bog specialists toward warm-adapted habitat generalists with lower conservation value. Notably, Ponto-Mediterranean species and those with a lower upper elevational limit increased their occupancy. Although the phylogenetic signal across the evolutionary tree of odonates was low, implying that the responses of the species to climate change were independent of their phylogenetic position, we revealed frequent genus-level replacements. These findings reinforce the position of odonates as a model group for detecting climate-driven changes in freshwater communities. Our study has revealed that climate warming alone can trigger profound reorganization of insect communities in inherently stable peatbog habitats. Specific traits linked to vulnerability (e.g., thermal index, red list status) and specialization proved to be promising predictors of future shifts in odonatofauna of temperate peatlands. The pronounced changes documented here may precede irreversible transformations of these unique ecosystems, highlighting the urgency of monitoring bog habitats and maintaining their stability under ongoing global change.

Feeding the growing human population sustainably amidst climate change is one of the most important challenges in the 21st century. Current practices often lead to the overuse of agronomic inputs, such as synthetic fertilizers and water, resulting in environmental contamination and diminishing returns on crop productivity. The complexity of agricultural systems, involving plant-environment interactions and human management, presents significant scientific and technical challenges for developing sustainable practices. Addressing these challenges necessitates transdisciplinary research, involving intense collaboration among fields such as plant science, engineering, computer science, and social sciences. Five case studies are presented here demonstrating successful transdisciplinary approaches toward more sustainable water and fertilizer use. These case studies span multiple scales. By leveraging whole-plant signaling, reporter plants can transform our understanding of plant communication and enable efficient application of water and fertilizers. The use of new fertilizer technologies could increase the availability of phosphorus in the soil. To accelerate advancements in breeding new cultivars, robotic technologies for high-throughput plant screening in different environments at a population scale are discussed. At the ecosystem scale, phosphorus recovery from aquatic systems and methods to minimize phosphorus leaching are described. Finally, as agricultural outputs affect all people, integration of stakeholder perspectives and needs into research is outlined. These case studies highlight how transdisciplinary research and cross-training among biologists, engineers, and social scientists bring diverse expertise to tackling grand challenges in sustainable agriculture, driving discovery and innovation.

Increased aridity is emerging as a key impact of climate change in terrestrial ecosystems globally. Forest biomes are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of changing environmental conditions due to their long-lived and sessile nature. Microbiomes have coevolved with plants under changing environmental conditions with shared fitness outcomes. However, both the movement of plants via domestication and rapid pace of environmental change may impact the ability of plants to recruit microbial symbionts that support environmental stress tolerance. This study investigates the effects of aridity on tree-root microbiome symbiosis, focusing on the widely planted Pinus radiata. By sampling a broad geographic range and diverse environmental gradients, we reveal how aridity, soil and climatic variables shape microbial communities in P. radiata roots and soils. Our findings highlight that while aridity significantly predicts microbial community assembly, other environmental variables such as soil pH and organic carbon, strongly influence bacterial diversity. Groups of both bacterial and fungal taxa were identified as conditionally present with aridity, underscoring their importance in P. radiata resilience under increasingly environmental stress. Based on the transition of current mesic ecosystems to arid conditions under climate change, we found these arid associated taxa vary in their frequency in bulk soils projected to become arid. These results highlight the risk that these taxa will need to be recruited by other means. Ecological filtering by the host and environmental conditions fosters a “friends with benefits” relationship, wherein certain microbial taxa provide key benefits, such as extension of phenotypic tolerance to water limitation, to the host. Both bacterial and fungal communities are shaped more by stochastic than deterministic assembly processes, suggesting a complex interplay of host and environmental factors in community structure formation. The insights gained have implications for understanding the resilience of tree species and the ecosystem services they provide under future climate scenarios.

Rewetting is considered a strategy for mitigating carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from drained peatlands, with associated climate benefits often derived by applying emission factors (EFs). However, data from rewetted sites are lacking, particularly for boreal peatland forests established on drained nutrient-poor fens. Instead, their EFs have been developed primarily based on data from natural mires, implying similar carbon (C) cycles. In this study, we integrated eddy covariance measurements of ecosystem CO₂ and methane (CH₄) exchanges with dissolved C export estimates to compare the net ecosystem C balance (NECB) of a recently rewetted minerogenic peatland and two nearby undisturbed fen-type mires in northern Sweden. We found that the rewetted peatland was an annual C source with a mean NECB of +77 ± 34 g C m⁻² year⁻¹ (±SD) over the initial 3 years following rewetting. In comparison, the mires were nearly C neutral or a C sink with their 3-year mean NECB ranging between +11 and −34 g C m⁻² year⁻¹. The net CO₂ emission of the rewetted peatland declined to about half by the third year coinciding with an increase in gross primary production. Annual CH₄ emissions from the rewetted peatland steadily increased but remained at 32% and 49% in the first and third year, respectively, relative to the mires. We further noted differences in key environmental response functions of CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes between the rewetted and natural peatlands. Relative to the mires, the dissolved C loss was significantly greater in the rewetted peatland during the first year, but similar in subsequent years. Thus, our study demonstrates that the C balance of a recently rewetted minerogenic peatland may not immediately resemble that of natural mires. This further highlights the need for separate and dynamic EFs to improve estimates of the short-term climate benefit of rewetting measures.