Understanding the Functional Traits of Arctic and Alpine Tundra Plant Communities Will Enable Better Model Projections of How They Transform in Warmer Conditions
Changes in climate can affect tundra plants; changes in plants can in turn affect the climate.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Science
Rapid warming in Arctic and alpine regions is driving changes in tundra plant communities, with unknown consequences for the function of these ecosystems. A researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory contributed to an international study that combined more than 56,000 observations over nearly three decades to examine how the functional traits of tundra plants change over time and space.
Results suggest that plant height and closely related tundra ecosystem functions (e.g., carbon uptake) will show the most rapid changes with near-term warming, which is rapidly happening at high latitudes.
The Impact
The tundra is warming more rapidly than any other biome on Earth, and the potential ramifications are far-reaching due to global-scale vegetation-climate feedbacks. This study provides an understanding of how environmental factors shape biotic communities at the coldest extremes of the planet. The findings will enable improved model projections of tundra changes and related Earth system feedbacks with warming temperatures.
PNNL Researcher: Ben Bond-Lamberty
Reference: A.D. Bjorkman et al., "Change in Plant Functional Traits Across a Warming Tundra Biome." Nature (2018). [DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0563-7].
Published: October 22, 2018