Plant diversity dynamics over space and time in a warming Arctic

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Garcia Criado, Mariana; Myers-Smith, Isla H.; Bjorkman, Anne D.; Elmendorf, Sarah C.; Normand, Signe; Aastrup, Peter; Aerts, Rien; Alatalo, Juha M.; Baeten, Lander; Bjork, Robert G.; Bjorkman, Mats P.; Boulanger-Lapointe, Noemie; Butler, Ethan E.; Cooper, Elisabeth J.; Cornelissen, J. Hans C.; Daskalova, Gergana N.; Fadrique, Belen; Forbes, Bruce C.; Henry, Greg H. R.; Hollister, Robert D.; Hoye, Toke Thomas; Jacobsen, Ida Bomholt Dyrholm; Jagerbrand, Annika K.; Jonsdottir, Ingibjoerg S.; Kaarlejarvi, Elina; Khitun, Olga; Klanderud, Kari; Kolari, Tiina H. M.; Lang, Simone I.; Lecomte, Nicolas; Lenoir, Jonathan; Macek, Petr; Messier, Julie; Michelsen, Anders; Molau, Ulf; Muscarella, Robert; Nielsen, Marie-Louise; Petit Bon, Matteo; Post, Eric; Raundrup, Katrine; Rinnan, Riikka; Rixen, Christian; Ryde, Ingvild; Serra-Diaz, Josep M.; Schaepman-Strub, Gabriela; Schmidt, Niels M.; Schrodt, Franziska; Sjogersten, Sofie; Steinbauer, Manuel J.; Stewart, Laerke; Strandberg, Beate; Tolvanen, Anne; Tweedie, Craig E.; Vellend, Mark
• 署名单位: University of Edinburgh; University of British Columbia; University of Gothenburg; University of Gothenburg; University of Colorado System; University of Colorado Boulder; Aarhus University; Aarhus University; Aarhus University; Qatar University; Ghent University; University of Gothenburg; University of Victoria; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities; UiT The Arctic University of Tromso; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA); University of Leeds; University of Liverpool; University of Lapland; University of British Columbia; Grand Valley State University; Aarhus University; Greenland Institute of Natural Resources; University of Gavle; University of Iceland; University of Helsinki; Norwegian University of Life Sciences; University of Eastern Finland; University of Quebec; University of Quebec Montreal; University Centre Svalbard (UNIS); University of Moncton; Universite de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV); Czech Academy of Sciences; Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences; Estonian University of Life Sciences; University of Waterloo; University of Copenhagen; Uppsala University; Utah System of Higher Education; Utah State University; University of California System; University of California Davis; Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain; Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow & Landscape Research; AgroParisTech; INRAE; Universite de Lorraine; University of Zurich; University of Nottingham; University of Nottingham; University of Bayreuth; University of Bayreuth; University of South-Eastern Norway; Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke); University of Texas System; University of Texas El Paso; University of Sherbrooke
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-3503
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08946-8
• 发表日期: 2025-06-19
• 关键词: community responses; global biodiversity; CLIMATE-CHANGE; r package; tundra; vegetation; homogenization; sensitivity; bryophytes; landscape

摘要

The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average1 and plant communities are responding through shifts in species abundance, composition and distribution2, 3-4. However, the direction and magnitude of local changes in plant diversity in the Arctic have not been quantified. Using a compilation of 42,234 records of 490 vascular plant species from 2,174 plots across the Arctic, here we quantified temporal changes in species richness and composition through repeat surveys between 1981 and 2022. We also identified the geographical, climatic and biotic drivers behind these changes. We found greater species richness at lower latitudes and warmer sites, but no indication that, on average, species richness had changed directionally over time. However, species turnover was widespread, with 59% of plots gaining and/or losing species. Proportions of species gains and losses were greater where temperatures had increased the most. Shrub expansion, particularly of erect shrubs, was associated with greater species losses and decreasing species richness. Despite changes in plant composition, Arctic plant communities did not become more similar to each other, suggesting no biotic homogenization so far. Overall, Arctic plant communities changed in richness and composition in different directions, with temperature and plant-plant interactions emerging as the main drivers of change. Our findings demonstrate how climate and biotic drivers can act in concert to alter plant composition, which could precede future biodiversity changes that are likely to affect ecosystem function, wildlife habitats and the livelihoods of Arctic peoples(5,6).