Climate and multiple dimensions of plant diversity regulate ecosystem carbon exchange along an elevational gradient
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Climate and multiple dimensions of plant diversity regulate ecosystem carbon exchange along an elevational gradient. / Prager, Case M.; Jing, Xin; Henning, Jeremiah A.; Read, Quentin D.; Meidl, Peter; Lavorel, Sandra; Sanders, Nathan J.; Sundqvist, Maja; Wardle, David A.; Classen, Aimee T.
In: Ecosphere, Vol. 12, No. 4, e03472, 2021.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Climate and multiple dimensions of plant diversity regulate ecosystem carbon exchange along an elevational gradient
AU - Prager, Case M.
AU - Jing, Xin
AU - Henning, Jeremiah A.
AU - Read, Quentin D.
AU - Meidl, Peter
AU - Lavorel, Sandra
AU - Sanders, Nathan J.
AU - Sundqvist, Maja
AU - Wardle, David A.
AU - Classen, Aimee T.
N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge the staff of Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). We thank Monique Garrett, Jahaziel Gutierrez, and Mary Glover for assistance with field measurements. This work was supported by graduate assistantships at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee (Q.D.R., J.A.H.), graduate fellowships from RMBL: the Dr. Jean Langenheim Fellowship (Q.D.R.), the Dr. Lee R. G. Snyder Memorial Fellowship (J.A.H.) and the Fran Hunter Fellowship (J.A.H.), and a Semper Ardens grant from the Carlsberg Foundation (N.J.S.). ATC and JAH were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Sciences Program under Award Number DE‐SC0010562. MKS was funded by FORMAS—The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (2013‐00533). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The impacts of warming on communities and ecosystems are predicted to be significant in mountain ecosystems because physiological processes, including rates of carbon (C) cycling, are often more temperature-sensitive in colder environments. Plant biodiversity can also influence C exchange, yet few studies integrate how biotic and abiotic factors may directly or interactively impact ecosystem C flux. Here, we examine the link between simultaneous changes in multiple dimensions of plant diversity and peak growing season ecosystem C uptake across a climatic gradient in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA. We found that taxonomic diversity (species richness), functional diversity (functional evenness), and phylogenetic diversity (mean pairwise distance) were significantly and positively related to peak growing season ecosystem C uptake (i.e., net ecosystem exchange) when considered independently. However, when abiotic and biotic factors were integrated in a structural equation model, only plant phylogenetic diversity was significantly related to C uptake. In addition, we found that actual evapotranspiration (AET—a measure that integrates precipitation and temperature) affected ecosystem C exchange indirectly via its impact on the three dimensions of plant diversity that we examined. These findings highlight complex relationships among key measures of biodiversity and ecosystem C uptake in a rapidly warming ecosystem, and the possible mechanisms that underlie relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. They also point to the need for integrating multiple dimensions of biodiversity into studies of community and ecosystem ecology.
AB - The impacts of warming on communities and ecosystems are predicted to be significant in mountain ecosystems because physiological processes, including rates of carbon (C) cycling, are often more temperature-sensitive in colder environments. Plant biodiversity can also influence C exchange, yet few studies integrate how biotic and abiotic factors may directly or interactively impact ecosystem C flux. Here, we examine the link between simultaneous changes in multiple dimensions of plant diversity and peak growing season ecosystem C uptake across a climatic gradient in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA. We found that taxonomic diversity (species richness), functional diversity (functional evenness), and phylogenetic diversity (mean pairwise distance) were significantly and positively related to peak growing season ecosystem C uptake (i.e., net ecosystem exchange) when considered independently. However, when abiotic and biotic factors were integrated in a structural equation model, only plant phylogenetic diversity was significantly related to C uptake. In addition, we found that actual evapotranspiration (AET—a measure that integrates precipitation and temperature) affected ecosystem C exchange indirectly via its impact on the three dimensions of plant diversity that we examined. These findings highlight complex relationships among key measures of biodiversity and ecosystem C uptake in a rapidly warming ecosystem, and the possible mechanisms that underlie relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. They also point to the need for integrating multiple dimensions of biodiversity into studies of community and ecosystem ecology.
KW - abiotic
KW - biodiversity
KW - ecosystem carbon dynamics
KW - elevational gradient
KW - NEE
KW - net ecosystem exchange
KW - plant
U2 - 10.1002/ecs2.3472
DO - 10.1002/ecs2.3472
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85104941708
VL - 12
JO - Ecosphere (Washington, D.C.)
JF - Ecosphere (Washington, D.C.)
SN - 2150-8925
IS - 4
M1 - e03472
ER -
ID: 274172130