Sea-ice induced growth decline in Arctic shrubs. (31st August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Forchhammer, Mads
• Is Part Of: Biology letters. Volume 13:Number 8(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-08-31
• Subjects: Arctic -- dwarf-shrub -- annual growth -- autoregression -- tree-ring time series -- sea-ice; Biology -- Periodicals; 570.5
• DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0122
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-9561

Abstract

Abstract : Measures of increased tundra plant productivity have been associated with the accelerating retreat of the Arctic sea-ice. Emerging studies document opposite effects, advocating for a more complex relationship between the shrinking sea-ice and terrestrial plant productivity. I introduce an autoregressive plant growth model integrating effects of biological and climatic conditions for analysing individual ring-width growth time series. Using 128 specimens of Salix arctica, S. glauca and Betula nana sampled across Greenland to Svalbard, an overall negative effect of the retreating June sea-ice extent was found on the annual growth. The negative effect of the retreating June sea-ice was observed for younger individuals with large annual growth allocations and with little or no trade-off between previous and current year's growth.