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Experimental Warming Alters Productivity and Isotopic Signatures of Tundra Mosses

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Abstract

In the tundra, mosses play an important functional role regulating belowground and ecosystem processes, but there is still considerable uncertainty about how tundra moss communities will respond to climate change. We examined the effects of 5 years of in situ air and soil warming on net primary productivity (NPP), carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotope signatures (δ13C and δ15N), and C:N in dominant Alaskan tundra mosses. Air warming increased mean air temperatures by up to 0.5°C and resulted in an 80–90% reduction in NPP in the feather moss Pleurozium and the peat moss Sphagnum. Soil warming increased permafrost thaw depth by 12–18%, upper soil water content by 23–27%, and resulted in a threefold increase in Sphagnum NPP. δ13C was positively correlated with moss NPP, and increased by 0.5–1‰ in all mosses under soil warming. C:N was reduced in Sphagnum and Pleurozium, due to increases in tissue %N in the soil warming treatment, suggesting that moss N availability could increase as temperatures increases. Higher N availability in warmer conditions, however, may be offset by unfavorable moisture conditions for moss growth. Similar to responses in tundra vascular plant communities, our results forecast interspecific differences in productivity among tundra mosses. Specifically, air warming may reduce productivity in Sphagnum and Pleurozium, but soil warming could offset this response in Sphagnum. Such responses may lead to changes in tundra moss community structure and function as temperatures increase that have the potential to alter tundra C and N cycling in a future climate.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Sciences Division Terrestrial Ecosystem Sciences program under Award Number DE-SC0006982. Support was also provided by NSF LTER #1026415 and NSF ARC #1203777 as well as the National Parks Vital Signs Inventory and Monitoring Program. We also wish to thank John Krapek, Elizabeth Webb, J. Simon McClung, and Catherine Johnston for assistance with field sampling and site maintenance, and Elaine Pegoraro for compiling moss point-framing data for biomass and NPP analyses. Sarah Stehn was invaluable in field identification of mosses at our site.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Kirsten K. Deane-Coe

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, 86011, USA

    Marguerite Mauritz & Edward A. G. Schuur

  3. Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32601, USA

    Kirsten K. Deane-Coe, Marguerite Mauritz, Gerardo Celis, Verity Salmon, Kathryn G. Crummer & Edward A. G. Schuur

  4. School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32601, USA

    Kathryn G. Crummer

  5. Woods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, Massachusetts, 02540, USA

    Susan M. Natali

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  1. Kirsten K. Deane-Coe
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  2. Marguerite Mauritz
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Correspondence to Kirsten K. Deane-Coe.

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KKDC conceived and designed the study, performed research, analyzed data, and wrote the manuscript. MM and GC analyzed data and contributed to manuscript revisions. VS performed field research, developed models, and contributed to manuscript revisions. KGC performed isotopic analyses. SMN implemented the original field experiment and contributed to manuscript revisions. EAGS designed and supervised the field experiment and contributed to manuscript revisions.

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Deane-Coe, K.K., Mauritz, M., Celis, G. et al. Experimental Warming Alters Productivity and Isotopic Signatures of Tundra Mosses. Ecosystems 18, 1070–1082 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9884-7

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