scholarly journals Winter warming is ecologically more relevant than summer warming in a cool-temperate grassland

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juergen Kreyling ◽  
Kerstin Grant ◽  
Verena Hammerl ◽  
Mohammed A. S. Arfin-Khan ◽  
Andrey V. Malyshev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Frost Damage ◽  
Temperate Grassland ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Causal Explanations ◽  
Winter Warming ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Cool Temperate ◽  
Summer Warming

Abstract Climate change affects all seasons, but warming is more pronounced in winter than summer at mid- and high latitudes. Winter warming can have profound ecological effects, which are rarely compared to the effects of summer warming, and causal explanations are not well established. We compared mild aboveground infrared warming in winter to warming in summer in a semi-natural, cool-temperate grassland in Germany for four years. Aboveground plant biomass increased following winter warming (+18%) and was unaffected by summer warming. Winter warming affected the composition of the plant community more than summer warming, favoring productive species. Winter warming increased soil respiration more than summer warming. Prolonged growing seasons and changes in plant-community composition accounted for the increased aboveground biomass production. Winter warming stimulated ecological processes, despite causing frost damage to plant roots and microorganisms during an extremely cold period when warming reduced the thermal insulation provided by snow. Future warming beyond such intermittent frosts may therefore further increase the accelerating effects of winter warming on ecological processes.

scholarly journals Short-Term Plant Community Responses to Warming and Defoliation in a Northern Temperate Grassland

ISRN Ecology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliza S. Deutsch ◽  
Edward W. Bork ◽  
James F. Cahill ◽  
Scott X. Chang
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Temperate Grassland ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Native Plant ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Canadian Prairies ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Second Year

Little is known about the short-term impacts of warming on native plant community dynamics in the northern Canadian prairies. This study examined the immediate effects of elevated temperature and defoliation on plant community diversity, composition, and biomass within a native rough fescue (Festuca hallii (Vasey) Piper) grassland over two growing seasons. We used open-top chambers to simulate climate change and defoliated vegetation in midsummer of the first year to simulate biomass loss associated with periodic ungulate grazing. Warming marginally increased plant species diversity and changed community composition shortly after treatment, but effects were not apparent the second year, and there were no apparent impacts on plant biomass. Nonetheless, warming may have impacted community diversity indirectly through reduced soil moisture content, a pattern that persisted into the second year. Overall, this northern temperate grassland demonstrated limited community-level changes to warming even in the presence of defoliation.

scholarly journals Responses of carbon dioxide flux and plant biomass to water table drawdown in a treed peatland in northern Alberta: a climate change perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 807-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Munir ◽  
B. Xu ◽  
M. Perkins ◽  
M. Strack
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Flux ◽  
Control Site ◽  
Change Scenario ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
Incremental Growth

Abstract. Northern peatland ecosystems represent large carbon (C) stocks that are susceptible to changes such as accelerated mineralization due to water table lowering expected under a climate change scenario. During the growing seasons (1 May to 31 October) of 2011 and 2012 we monitored CO2 fluxes and plant biomass along a microtopographic gradient (hummocks-hollows) in an undisturbed dry continental boreal treed bog (control) and a nearby site that was drained (drained) in 2001. Ten years of drainage in the bog significantly increased coverage of shrubs at hummocks and lichens at hollows. Considering measured hummock coverage and including tree incremental growth, we estimate that the control site was a sink of −92 in 2011 and −70 g C m−2 in 2012, while the drained site was a source of 27 and 23 g C m−2 over the same years. We infer that, drainage-induced changes in vegetation growth led to increased biomass to counteract a portion of soil carbon losses. These results suggest that spatial variability (microtopography) and changes in vegetation community in boreal peatlands will affect how these ecosystems respond to lowered water table potentially induced by climate change.

scholarly journals Early Spring Snowmelt and Summer Droughts Strongly Impair the Resilience of Key Microbial Communities in Subalpine Grassland Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhan Hafeez ◽  
Lionel Bernard ◽  
Jean-Christophe Clement ◽  
Franck Poly ◽  
Thomas Pommier
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Climatic Extremes ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Cascading Effect ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Grassland Ecosystems ◽  
Microbial Responses ◽  
Early Snowmelt

Subalpine grassland ecosystems are important from biodiversity, agriculture, and touristic perspectives but their resilience to seasonally occurring climatic extremes is increasingly challenged with climate change, accelerating their vulnerability to tipping points. Microbial communities, which are central in ecosystem functioning, are usually considered as more resistant and highly resilient to such extreme events due to their functional redundancy and strong selection in residing habitats. To investigate this, we explored the soil microbial responses upon recurrent summer droughts associated with early snowmelt in grasslands mesocosms set-up at the Lautaret Pass (French Alps). Potential respiration, nitrification and denitrification were monitored over a period of two growing seasons along with quantification of community gene abundances of total bacteria as well as (de)nitrifiers. Results revealed that droughts had a low and short-term impact on bacterial total respiration supporting their hypothesized high resistance and ability to recover. Nitrification and abundances of the corresponding functional guilds showed relatively strong resistance to summer droughts but declined in response to early snowmelt. This triggered a cascading effect on denitrification but also on the abundances of denitrifying communities which could recover from all climatic extremes except from the summer droughts where nitrifiers were collapsed. Denitrification and the respective functional groups faced high impact of applied stresses with strong reduction in the abundance and activity of this specialized community. Although, the consequently lower microbial competition for nitrate may be positive for plant biomass production, warnings exist when considering the potential nitrogen leaching from these ecosystems as well as risks of greenhouses gases emission such as N2O

scholarly journals Upland rice gas exchange, nutrient uptake and grain yield as affected by potassium fertilization and inoculation of the diazotrophic bacteria Serratia spp.

2019 ◽  
pp. 944-953
Author(s):  
Adriano S. Nascente ◽  
Marta Cristina C. Filippi ◽  
Thatyane P. Sousa ◽  
Amanda A. Chaibub ◽  
Alan Carlos A. Souza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Grain Yield ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Upland Rice ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Brazilian Cerrado ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Grain Yield Components ◽  
Rice Leaves ◽  
K Fertilization

Potassium (K) is the second most uptaken nutrient by upland rice crops. Beneficial microorganisms, such as Rhizobacteria participate in different processes that affect transformation of soil nutrients, making them available to plants. However, there are no information about the use of Rhizobacteria and different rates of K fertilization in this crop. To elucidate this interaction, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of the rhizobacteria Serratia spp. strain BRM 32114 and doses of K at sowing fertilization on upland rice development. The experimental design was a complete randomized block in a factorial 4 × 2 scheme with four replications, under no-tillage systems conducted in the Brazilian Cerrado during 2015/16 and 2016/17 growing seasons. The treatments consisted of four K2O doses (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg ha-1) without or with rhizobacteria applied three times in the field (on the seeds, sprayed over the soil, seven days after sowing and sprayed on the plants, 14 days after sowing). Biomass production, gas exchange, nutrient content in leaves and grain, yield components and grain yield were evaluated. The use of BRM 32114 applied in soil with high levels of K provided increase in the contents of P, Ca, Mg, Fe and Zn in rice leaves. The results showed enhances in plant biomass (7.2%), the number of panicles per plant (10%), and the grain yield of upland rice (16.3%). Therefore, our results allow inferring that the use of microorganism BRM 32114 provided significant improvements in rice growth/development, which resulted in higher grain yield over two consecutive growing seasons under field conditions. It showed that the bioagent Serratia spp. is promising to be incorporated into crop systems.

Impacts of long-term plant biomass management on soil phosphorus under temperate grassland

2017 ◽  
Vol 427 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 163-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Boitt ◽  
Amanda Black ◽  
Steve A. Wakelin ◽  
Richard W. McDowell ◽  
Leo M. Condron
Keyword(s):  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Soil Phosphorus ◽  
Temperate Grassland ◽  
Biomass Management

Vascular plant community dynamics following hexazinone site preparation in the lower Coastal Plain

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2216-2229 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Neal Wilkins ◽  
Wayne R. Marion ◽  
Daniel G. Neary ◽  
George W. Tanner
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
Site Preparation ◽  
Herbaceous Vegetation ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Species Abundance Distributions

Differential responses of vascular plant community compositions, diversities, and species-abundance distributions to hexazinone site preparation were evaluated on three 1-year-old clearcuts, each representing a point along a generalized edaphic gradient (xeric sandhill, mesic flatwoods, and hydric hammock). Foliar cover by species was sampled along four 20-m permanent line transects within each of three blocked replications of hexazinone treatments (0.0, 1.7, 3.4, and 6.8 kg/ha) at pretreatment and after the first and second growing seasons post-treatment. Cover by woody species decreased with increasing hexazinone rates on all sites (P < 0.05). Herbaceous vegetation recovered from first-season reductions to levels that did not vary with treatment (xeric sandhill and mesic flatwoods) or increased with increasing hexazinone rates (hydric hammock). Hexazinone tolerance by Gelsemiumsempervirens (L.) Ait.f. and Vaccinium spp. on the xeric sandhill and Ilexglabra (L.) Gray and G. sempervirens on the mesic flatwoods influenced diversity responses by woody and herbaceous vegetation. With increasing rates, herbaceous diversity decreased on the xeric sandhill, did not vary on the mesic flatwoods, and increased on the hydric hammock. Plant community responses to hexazinone were found to be functions of application rate, edaphic factors, adaptive strategies of resident species, and the presence or absence of hexazinone-tolerant species.

scholarly journals Initial Crown Diameter of Strawberry Bare-root Transplants Affects Early and Total Fruit Yield

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel A. Torres-Quezada ◽  
Lincoln Zotarelli ◽  
Vance M. Whitaker ◽  
Bielinski M. Santos ◽  
Ixchel Hernandez-Ochoa
Keyword(s):  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Fragaria Ananassa ◽  
Subsequent Performance ◽  
Central Florida ◽  
Crown Diameter ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Main Plot ◽  
Bare Root ◽  
Fruit Harvest ◽  
Plot Design

The standard strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) production system in Florida uses bare-root transplants with three to five leaves; however, commercial transplants are typically variable in size. The objective of this experiment was to study the effects of transplant crown diameter on the subsequent performance of three short-day strawberry cultivars under central Florida conditions. Trials were carried out during the 2012–13 and 2013–14 growing seasons with six treatments resulting from the combination of three cultivars and two crown diameter categories. Transplants of ‘Florida Radiance’, ‘Strawberry Festival’, and WinterStar™ were sorted into two initial crown diameter size ranges: <10 mm and >10 mm. Treatments were established in a split-plot design with cultivars as the main plot and four replications. Dry plant biomass was collected at 6 weeks after transplant (WAT). Canopy diameter and crown diameter were measured at 6 and 18 WAT and fruit harvest started at 8 WAT. There were no interactions between cultivar and initial crown diameter for any of the measured variables. For early yield, larger crowns led to 46% (3.5 Mg·ha−1) and 38% (3.9 Mg·ha−1) higher early yield than smaller crowns in 2012–13 and 2013–14, respectively. Crown diameters >10 mm also resulted in 18% (23.5 Mg·ha−1) and 27% (17.4 Mg·ha−1) higher total yields in 2012–13 and 2013–14, respectively.

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