Global warming alters Himalayan alpine shrub growth dynamics and climate sensitivity

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985939%3A_____%2F24%3A00599814" target="_blank" >RIV/67985939:_____/24:00599814 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60460709:41320/24:100553 RIV/60076658:12310/24:43908002 RIV/00216208:11310/24:10494682

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170252" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170252</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170252" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170252</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Global warming alters Himalayan alpine shrub growth dynamics and climate sensitivity

Original language description

Global climate change is having significant effects on plant growth patterns and mountain plants can be particularly vulnerable to accelerated warming. Rising temperatures are releasing plants from cold limitation, such as at high elevations and latitudes, but can also induce drought limitation, as documented for trees from lower elevations and latitudes. Here we test these predictions using a unique natural experiment with Himalayan alpine shrub Rhododendron anthopogon and its growth responses to changing climate over a large portion of its latitudinal and elevational ranges, including steep precipitation and temperature gradients. We determined growth dynamics during the last three decades, representing period of accelerated warming, using annual radial growth increments for nine populations growing on both wet and warm southern localities and drier and cold northern localities in the Himalayas along elevation gradients encompassing the lower and upper species range limits. A significant growth increase over past decades was observed after controlling for confounding effect of shrub age and microsites. However, the magnitude of increase varied among populations. Particularly, populations situated in the lower elevation of the northernmost (cold and dry) locality exhibited most substantial growth enhancement. The relationship between growth variability and climate varied among populations, with the populations from the coldest location displaying the strongest responsiveness to increasing minimum temperatures during July. Minimum temperatures of April and August were the most important factor limiting the growth across most populations. Potential warming-induced drought limitation had no significant impact on growth variation in any part of the species geographic range. Overall, our findings indicate that plant growth is continuously increasing in recent decades and growth-climate relationships are not consistent across populations, with populations from the coldest and wettest localities showing stronger responses. The observed patterns suggest that dwarf-shrubs benefit from ongoing warming, leading to increased shrubification of high elevation alpine ecosystems.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA21-26883S" target="_blank" >GA21-26883S: How global warming affects plant diversity and productivity in Himalayas? Combining in-situ and remote sensing approaches</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Science of the Total Environment

ISSN

0048-9697

e-ISSN

1879-1026

Volume of the periodical

916

Issue of the periodical within the volume

15 March

Country of publishing house

NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Number of pages

11

Pages from-to

170252

UT code for WoS article

001171803100001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85183578669