The application of dendrometers to alpine dwarf shrubs – a case study to investigate stem growth responses to environmental conditions
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Published:2022-04-05
Issue:7
Volume:19
Page:1933-1958
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ISSN:1726-4189
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Container-title:Biogeosciences
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Biogeosciences
Author:
Dobbert Svenja, Pape Roland, Löffler JörgORCID
Abstract
Abstract. Considering the recent widespread greening and browning trends
associated with shrubs in arctic–alpine ecosystems, further understanding of
how these shrubs respond in a rapidly changing environment is of crucial
importance. We here monitor shrub growth, using high-precision dendrometers to produce
fine-scale intra-annual growth patterns from hourly stem diameter
variability in a widespread evergreen species (Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum). Measurements were
taken at a micrometer scale for the period 2015 till 2018 on exposed and
mostly snow-free ridge positions. With the same temporal resolution, we
collected near-ground environmental data and identified on-site controls of
growth behavior. We found high inter-plant variability in radial stem growth but strong
similarities in response patterns to the local environment. Our results
suggest that the evergreen species is highly adapted to the specific local
conditions, remaining partly photosynthetically active during the snow-free
winter, which facilitates carbohydrate accumulation for early-season
physiological activities. Additionally, we discovered a phase of radial stem
shrinkage during the winter months, which can be attributed to an active
cell water reduction to protect the plant from frost damage. We conclude that soil moisture availability and winter snow conditions are
the main drivers of radial stem growth of E. hermaphroditum in arctic and alpine regions and
could negatively affect the species' distribution in a warming climate.
Funder
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Subject
Earth-Surface Processes,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
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