Tree sapling responses to 10 years of experimental manipulation of temperature, nutrient availability, and shrub cover at the Pyrenean treeline
Angulo, Maria A. (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Ninot Sugrañes, Josep M. (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Cornelissen, J. H. C. (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Department of Ecological Science)
Grau Fernández, Oriol (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)

Fecha:	2018
Resumen:	Treelines are sensitive to environmental changes, but few studies provide a mechanistic approach to understand treeline dynamics based on field experiments. The aim of this study was to determine how changes in the abiotic and/or biotic conditions associated with global change affect the performance of tree seedlings (later saplings) at the treeline in a 10-year experiment. A fully factorial experiment in the Central Pyrenees was initiated in autumn 2006; 192 Pinus uncinata seedlings were transplanted into microplots with contrasting environmental conditions of (1) increased vs. ambient temperature, (2) increased nutrient availability vs. no increase, and (3) presence vs. absence of the dominant shrub Rhododendron ferrugineum. We assessed the performance of young pines on several occasions over 10 years. The pines were removed at the end of the experiment in autumn 2016 to characterize their morphology and to conduct chemical and isotopic analyses on their needles. Both the warming and the fertilization treatments increased seedling growth soon after the start of the experiment. R. ferrugineum facilitated the survival and development of pine seedlings during the early years and affected the chemical composition of the needles. Toward the end of the experiment, the transplanted P. uncinata individuals, by then saplings, competed with R. ferrugineum for light and nutrients; the presence of the shrub probably altered the strategy of P. uncinata for acquiring nutrients and buffered the effects of warming and fertilization. The pines were highly sensitive to all factors and their interactions throughout the entire experimental period. These findings indicated that the interactive effects of several key abiotic and biotic drivers associated with global change should be investigated simultaneously for understanding the contribution of young trees to treeline dynamics.
Ayudas:	European Commission 610028
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Materia:	Chemical composition ; Competition ; Facilitation ; Fertilization ; Open-top chamber ; Pinus uncinata seedlings ; Pyrenees ; Rhododendron ferrugineum
Publicado en:	Frontiers in plant science, Vol. 9 (January 2019) , art. 1871, ISSN 1664-462X

DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01871
PMID: 30671066

13 p, 8.1 MB

El registro aparece en las colecciones:
Documentos de investigación > Documentos de los grupos de investigación de la UAB > Centros y grupos de investigación (producción científica) > Ciencias > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals) > Imbalance-P
Artículos > Artículos de investigación
Artículos > Artículos publicados