Lichens buffer tundra microclimate more than the expanding shrub Betula nana

In tundra systems, soil-borne lichens are often the dominant groundcover organisms, and act to buffer microclimate extremes within or at the surface of the soil. However, shrubs are currently expanding across tundra systems, potentially causing major shifts in the microclimate landscape.

Here, we compared soil temperature and moisture underneath the dwarf birch Betula nana and seven abundant lichen species in sub-alpine Norway. We also examined mixtures of lichens and dwarf birch - an intermediate phase of shrubification - and measured several functional traits relating to microclimate.

We found that all lichen species strongly buffered the daily temperature range, on average reducing maximum temperatures by 6.9 °C (± 0.7 s.d.) and increasing minimum temperatures by 1.0 °C (± 0.2 s.d.) during summer. The dwarf birch had a much weaker effect (maximum reduced by 2.4 ± 5.0 °C and minimum raised by 0.2 ± 0.9 °C). In species mixtures, the lichen effect predominated, affecting temperature extremes by more than would be expected from their abundance. Lichens also tended to reduce soil moisture, which could be explained by their ability to intercept rainfall. Our trait measurements under laboratory conditions suggest that, on average, lichens can completely absorb a 4.09 mm (± 1.81 s.d.) rainfall event, which might be an underappreciated part of lichen-vascular plant competition in areas where summer rainfall events are small.

In the context of shrubification across tundra systems, our findings suggest that lichens will continue to have a large effect on microclimate until they are fully excluded, at which point microclimate extremes will increase greatly.