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Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands

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Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands. / Broadbent, Arthur A D; Bahn, Michael; Pritchard, William J et al.
In: Ecology Letters, Vol. 25, No. 1, 01.01.2022, p. 52-64.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

HarvardHarvard

Broadbent, AAD, Bahn, M, Pritchard, WJ, Newbold, LK, Goodall, T, Guinta, A, Snell, HSK, Cordero, I, Michas, A, Grant, HK, Soto, DX, Kaufmann, R, Schloter, M, Griffiths, RI & Bardgett, RD 2022, 'Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands', Ecology Letters, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 52-64. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13903

APA

Broadbent, A. A. D., Bahn, M., Pritchard, W. J., Newbold, L. K., Goodall, T., Guinta, A., Snell, H. S. K., Cordero, I., Michas, A., Grant, H. K., Soto, D. X., Kaufmann, R., Schloter, M., Griffiths, R. I., & Bardgett, R. D. (2022). Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands. Ecology Letters, 25(1), 52-64. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13903

CBE

Broadbent AAD, Bahn M, Pritchard WJ, Newbold LK, Goodall T, Guinta A, Snell HSK, Cordero I, Michas A, Grant HK, et al. 2022. Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands. Ecology Letters. 25(1):52-64. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13903

MLA

Broadbent, Arthur A D et al. "Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands". Ecology Letters. 2022, 25(1). 52-64. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13903

VancouverVancouver

Broadbent AAD, Bahn M, Pritchard WJ, Newbold LK, Goodall T, Guinta A et al. Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands. Ecology Letters. 2022 Jan 1;25(1):52-64. Epub 2021 Oct 27. doi: 10.1111/ele.13903

Author

Broadbent, Arthur A D ; Bahn, Michael ; Pritchard, William J et al. / Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands. In: Ecology Letters. 2022 ; Vol. 25, No. 1. pp. 52-64.

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands

AU - Broadbent, Arthur A D

AU - Bahn, Michael

AU - Pritchard, William J

AU - Newbold, Lindsay K

AU - Goodall, Tim

AU - Guinta, Andrew

AU - Snell, Helen S K

AU - Cordero, Irene

AU - Michas, Antonios

AU - Grant, Helen K

AU - Soto, David X

AU - Kaufmann, Rüdiger

AU - Schloter, Michael

AU - Griffiths, Robert I

AU - Bardgett, Richard D

N1 - © 2021 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2022/1/1

Y1 - 2022/1/1

N2 - Climate change is disproportionately impacting mountain ecosystems, leading to large reductions in winter snow cover, earlier spring snowmelt and widespread shrub expansion into alpine grasslands. Yet, the combined effects of shrub expansion and changing snow conditions on abiotic and biotic soil properties remains poorly understood. We used complementary field experiments to show that reduced snow cover and earlier snowmelt have effects on soil microbial communities and functioning that persist into summer. However, ericaceous shrub expansion modulates a number of these impacts and has stronger belowground effects than changing snow conditions. Ericaceous shrub expansion did not alter snow depth or snowmelt timing but did increase the abundance of ericoid mycorrhizal fungi and oligotrophic bacteria, which was linked to decreased soil respiration and nitrogen availability. Our findings suggest that changing winter snow conditions have cross-seasonal impacts on soil properties, but shifts in vegetation can modulate belowground effects of future alpine climate change.

AB - Climate change is disproportionately impacting mountain ecosystems, leading to large reductions in winter snow cover, earlier spring snowmelt and widespread shrub expansion into alpine grasslands. Yet, the combined effects of shrub expansion and changing snow conditions on abiotic and biotic soil properties remains poorly understood. We used complementary field experiments to show that reduced snow cover and earlier snowmelt have effects on soil microbial communities and functioning that persist into summer. However, ericaceous shrub expansion modulates a number of these impacts and has stronger belowground effects than changing snow conditions. Ericaceous shrub expansion did not alter snow depth or snowmelt timing but did increase the abundance of ericoid mycorrhizal fungi and oligotrophic bacteria, which was linked to decreased soil respiration and nitrogen availability. Our findings suggest that changing winter snow conditions have cross-seasonal impacts on soil properties, but shifts in vegetation can modulate belowground effects of future alpine climate change.

KW - Climate Change

KW - Ecosystem

KW - Grassland

KW - Seasons

KW - Snow

KW - Soil

U2 - 10.1111/ele.13903

DO - 10.1111/ele.13903

M3 - Article

C2 - 34708508

VL - 25

SP - 52

EP - 64

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

SN - 1461-0248

IS - 1

ER -