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- Title
Shrub encroachment in North American grasslands: shifts in growth form dominance rapidly alters control of ecosystem carbon inputs.
- Authors
KNAPP, ALAN K.; BRIGGS, JOHN M.; COLLINS, SCOTT L.; ARCHER, STEVEN R.; BRET-HARTE, M. SYNDONIA; EWERS, BRENT E.; PETERS, DEBRA P.; YOUNG, DONALD R.; SHAVER, GAIUS R.; PENDALL, ELISE; CLEARY, MEAGAN B.
- Abstract
Shrub encroachment into grass-dominated biomes is occurring globally due to a variety of anthropogenic activities, but the consequences for carbon (C) inputs, storage and cycling remain unclear. We studied eight North American graminoid-dominated ecosystems invaded by shrubs, from arctic tundra to Atlantic coastal dunes, to quantify patterns and controls of C inputs via aboveground net primary production (ANPP). Across a fourfold range in mean annual precipitation (MAP), a key regulator of ecosystem C input at the continental scale, shrub invasion decreased ANPP in xeric sites, but dramatically increased ANPP (>1000 g m−2) at high MAP, where shrub patches maintained extraordinarily high leaf area. Concurrently, the relationship between MAP and ANPP shifted from being nonlinear in grasslands to linear in shrublands. Thus, relatively abrupt (<50 years) shifts in growth form dominance, without changes in resource quantity, can fundamentally alter continental-scale pattern of C inputs and their control by MAP in ways that exceed the direct effects of climate change alone.
- Subjects
BIOTIC communities; CLIMATE change; WOODY plants; SHRUBS; PLANT invasions; GRASSLANDS; CARBON
- Publication
Global Change Biology, 2008, Vol 14, Issue 3, p615
- ISSN
1354-1013
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01512.x