Radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species: relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest–tundra ecotone of subarctic Québec, Canada
Climate change has resulted in a widespread increase in primary productivity in northern regions. This “greening” can alter terrestrial ecosystems dynamics and trigger positive climate feedbacks but often exhibits spatial heterogeneity. Few studies have focused on the differential responses of plant...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Arctic Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2023-0030 |
| _version_ | 1797263246764277760 |
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| author | Julie-Pascale Labrecque-Foy Anna Gaspard Martin Simard Stéphane Boudreau |
| author_facet | Julie-Pascale Labrecque-Foy Anna Gaspard Martin Simard Stéphane Boudreau |
| author_sort | Julie-Pascale Labrecque-Foy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate change has resulted in a widespread increase in primary productivity in northern regions. This “greening” can alter terrestrial ecosystems dynamics and trigger positive climate feedbacks but often exhibits spatial heterogeneity. Few studies have focused on the differential responses of plant functional groups to warming as a potential driver of heterogeneity in greening rates. Our objective was to determine whether climate–growth relationships are species-specific, and whether they can explain the heterogeneity of the subarctic greening rates. We compared climate–growth relationships and associations to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of the dominant tree (Picea mariana) and shrub (Betula glandulosa) species at two locations in the forest–tundra ecotone in Nunavik (Québec, Canada). Correlation coefficients of the climate–growth relationship varied between species and locations, being higher for P. mariana and at the northernmost location. The lower association between NDVI and P. mariana radial growth at the northernmost location appeared to be compensated by a stronger association between NDVI and B. glandulosa radial growth. Our results show that response to climate varies spatially and between species, both of which could potentially be used to explain the heterogeneity of subarctic greening rates. This improved understanding of the species-specific response to climate change will help predict forthcoming changes in primary productivity and their potential positive feedback on climate change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T23:59:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3cbaade978344b63bc44a6faa9c43db7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2368-7460 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T00:09:58Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Science Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arctic Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-3cbaade978344b63bc44a6faa9c43db72024-03-13T14:16:57ZengCanadian Science PublishingArctic Science2368-74602024-03-0110120121410.1139/as-2023-0030Radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species: relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest–tundra ecotone of subarctic Québec, CanadaJulie-Pascale Labrecque-Foy0Anna Gaspard1Martin Simard2Stéphane Boudreau3Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Québec City, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaDépartement de Biologie, Université Laval, Québec City, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaCentre for Northern Studies (CEN), Québec City, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaDépartement de Biologie, Université Laval, Québec City, QC G1V 0A6, CanadaClimate change has resulted in a widespread increase in primary productivity in northern regions. This “greening” can alter terrestrial ecosystems dynamics and trigger positive climate feedbacks but often exhibits spatial heterogeneity. Few studies have focused on the differential responses of plant functional groups to warming as a potential driver of heterogeneity in greening rates. Our objective was to determine whether climate–growth relationships are species-specific, and whether they can explain the heterogeneity of the subarctic greening rates. We compared climate–growth relationships and associations to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of the dominant tree (Picea mariana) and shrub (Betula glandulosa) species at two locations in the forest–tundra ecotone in Nunavik (Québec, Canada). Correlation coefficients of the climate–growth relationship varied between species and locations, being higher for P. mariana and at the northernmost location. The lower association between NDVI and P. mariana radial growth at the northernmost location appeared to be compensated by a stronger association between NDVI and B. glandulosa radial growth. Our results show that response to climate varies spatially and between species, both of which could potentially be used to explain the heterogeneity of subarctic greening rates. This improved understanding of the species-specific response to climate change will help predict forthcoming changes in primary productivity and their potential positive feedback on climate change.https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2023-0030climate changeclimate–growth relationshipsgreeningtreeshrubradial growth |
| spellingShingle | Julie-Pascale Labrecque-Foy Anna Gaspard Martin Simard Stéphane Boudreau Radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species: relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest–tundra ecotone of subarctic Québec, Canada Arctic Science climate change climate–growth relationships greening tree shrub radial growth |
| title | Radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species: relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest–tundra ecotone of subarctic Québec, Canada |
| title_full | Radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species: relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest–tundra ecotone of subarctic Québec, Canada |
| title_fullStr | Radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species: relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest–tundra ecotone of subarctic Québec, Canada |
| title_full_unstemmed | Radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species: relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest–tundra ecotone of subarctic Québec, Canada |
| title_short | Radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species: relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest–tundra ecotone of subarctic Québec, Canada |
| title_sort | radial growth of subarctic tree and shrub species relationships with climate and association with the greening of the forest tundra ecotone of subarctic quebec canada |
| topic | climate change climate–growth relationships greening tree shrub radial growth |
| url | https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2023-0030 |
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