TY - JOUR
T1 - Microclimate moderates plant responses to macroclimate warming
AU - De Frenne, P.
AU - Rodríguez-Sánchez, F.
AU - Coomes, D.
AU - Baeten, L.
AU - Verstraeten, G.
AU - Hommel, P.W.F.M.
N1 - niet alle auteurs vermeld (5 + Alterra)
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Recent global warming is acting across marine, freshwater, and
terrestrial ecosystems to favor species adapted to warmer conditions
and/or reduce the abundance of cold-adapted organisms
(i.e., “thermophilization” of communities). Lack of community responses
to increased temperature, however, has also been reported
for several taxa and regions, suggesting that “climatic
lags” may be frequent. Here we show that microclimatic effects
brought about by forest canopy closure can buffer biotic responses
to macroclimate warming, thus explaining an apparent
climatic lag. Using data from 1,409 vegetation plots in European
and North American temperate forests, each surveyed at least
twice over an interval of 12–67 y, we document significant thermophilization
of ground-layer plant communities. These changes
reflect concurrent declines in species adapted to cooler conditions
and increases in species adapted to warmer conditions. However,
thermophilization, particularly the increase of warm-adapted species,
is attenuated in forests whose canopies have become denser,
probably reflecting cooler growing-season ground temperatures
via increased shading. As standing stocks of trees have increased
in many temperate forests in recent decades, local microclimatic
effects may commonly be moderating the impacts of macroclimate
warming on forest understories. Conversely, increases in harvesting
woody biomass—e.g., for bioenergy—may open forest canopies
and accelerate thermophilization of temperate forest biodiversity.
AB - Recent global warming is acting across marine, freshwater, and
terrestrial ecosystems to favor species adapted to warmer conditions
and/or reduce the abundance of cold-adapted organisms
(i.e., “thermophilization” of communities). Lack of community responses
to increased temperature, however, has also been reported
for several taxa and regions, suggesting that “climatic
lags” may be frequent. Here we show that microclimatic effects
brought about by forest canopy closure can buffer biotic responses
to macroclimate warming, thus explaining an apparent
climatic lag. Using data from 1,409 vegetation plots in European
and North American temperate forests, each surveyed at least
twice over an interval of 12–67 y, we document significant thermophilization
of ground-layer plant communities. These changes
reflect concurrent declines in species adapted to cooler conditions
and increases in species adapted to warmer conditions. However,
thermophilization, particularly the increase of warm-adapted species,
is attenuated in forests whose canopies have become denser,
probably reflecting cooler growing-season ground temperatures
via increased shading. As standing stocks of trees have increased
in many temperate forests in recent decades, local microclimatic
effects may commonly be moderating the impacts of macroclimate
warming on forest understories. Conversely, increases in harvesting
woody biomass—e.g., for bioenergy—may open forest canopies
and accelerate thermophilization of temperate forest biodiversity.
KW - recent climate-change
KW - forest
KW - vegetation
KW - communities
KW - ecosystem
KW - scale
KW - debt
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1311190110
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1311190110
M3 - Article
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 110
SP - 18561
EP - 18565
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 46
ER -