Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1111/gcb.15378
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Mammalian herbivory shapes intraspecific trait responses to warmer climate and nutrient enrichment
Author Jessen, M.-T. ORCID logo ; Kaarlejärvi, E.; Olofsson, J.; Eskelinen, A.
Source Titel Global Change Biology
Year 2020
Department BZF; iDiv; PHYDIV
Volume 26
Issue 12
Page From 6742
Page To 6752
Language englisch
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13019738.v1
Supplements https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1111%2Fgcb.15378&file=gcb15378-sup-0001-Supinfo.pdf
Keywords anthropogenic change; climate warming; grazing; herbivory; intraspecific trait plasticity; nutrient addition; open‐top chamber; plant performance; reindeer; trait–environment relationship
Abstract Variation in intraspecific traits is one important mechanism that can allow plant species to respond to global changes. Understanding plant trait responses to environmental changes such as grazing patterns, nutrient enrichment and climate warming is, thus, essential for predicting the composition of future plant communities. We measured traits of eight common tundra species in a fully‐factorial field experiment with mammalian herbivore exclusion, fertilization, and passive warming, and assessed how trait responsiveness to the treatments was associated with abundance changes in those treatments. Herbivory exhibited the strongest impact on traits. Exclusion of herbivores increased vegetative plant height by 50% and specific leaf area (SLA) by 19%, and decreased foliar C:N by 11%; fertilization and warming also increased height and SLA but to a smaller extent. Herbivory also modulated intraspecific height, SLA, and foliar C:N responses to fertilization and warming, and these interactions were species‐specific. Furthermore, herbivory affected how trait change translated into relative abundance change: increased height under warming and fertilization was more positively related to abundance change inside fences than in grazed plots. Our findings highlight the key role of mammalian herbivory when assessing intraspecific trait change in tundra and its consequences for plant performance under global changes.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=23692
Jessen, M.-T., Kaarlejärvi, E., Olofsson, J., Eskelinen, A. (2020):
Mammalian herbivory shapes intraspecific trait responses to warmer climate and nutrient enrichment
Glob. Change Biol. 26 (12), 6742 - 6752 10.1111/gcb.15378