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JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning
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Complex biotic interactions drive long-term vegetation dynamics in a subarctic ecosystem.

Johan Olofsson1, Mariska te Beest, Lars Ericson

  • 1Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden. johan.olofsson@emg.umu.se

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|July 10, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Long-term Arctic ecosystem monitoring reveals that climate change amplifies biotic interactions, impacting plant biomass. Understanding these complex dynamics is crucial for predicting future ecosystem changes under global warming.

Keywords:
herbivorylemmingsmothplant community compositionreindeervoles

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Area of Science:

  • Arctic ecology
  • Ecosystem dynamics
  • Climate change impacts

Background:

  • Predicting global warming impacts necessitates understanding plant biomass regulation by bottom-up and top-down factors.
  • Arctic ecosystems exhibit complex biotic interactions influenced by various trophic levels and environmental conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the long-term effects of biotic interactions and climate on Arctic plant community composition and biomass.
  • To identify key drivers of ecosystem change in the Arctic through manipulative experiments and long-term monitoring.

Main Methods:

  • Annual monitoring of community composition in grazed plots and herbivore-free exclosures over 15 years.
  • Observational studies on rodent cycles, reindeer herbivory, plant pathogenic fungi, and geometrid moth outbreaks.
  • Analysis of climate data to assess its influence on biotic interactions.

Main Results:

  • Rodent cycles drove vegetation biomass fluctuations; reindeer impacted shrub biomass.
  • Plant pathogenic fungi increased with host plant density in exclosures.
  • Geometrid moth outbreaks caused severe biomass reduction, especially in exclosures, leading to dwarf-shrub decline due to herbivory and disease interactions.
  • Climate significantly affected biotic interactions both directly and indirectly.

Conclusions:

  • Long time-series data are essential for identifying key biotic interactions in ecosystems.
  • The importance of biotic interactions is modulated by climatic conditions.
  • Manipulative experiments are crucial for mechanistic understanding and robust predictions of future ecosystem changes and feedbacks.