Warming-induced tipping points of Arctic and alpine shrub recruitment.
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Publication Date
2022-03-01Journal Title
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
0027-8424
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
119
Issue
9
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
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Lu, X., Liang, E., Babst, F., Camarero, J. J., & Büntgen, U. (2022). Warming-induced tipping points of Arctic and alpine shrub recruitment.. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 119 (9) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2118120119
Abstract
Shrub recruitment, a key component of vegetation dynamics beyond forests, is a highly sensitive indicator of climate and environmental change. Warming-induced tipping points in Arctic and alpine treeless ecosystems are, however, little understood. Here, we compare two long-term recruitment datasets of 2,770 shrubs from coastal East Greenland and from the Tibetan Plateau against atmospheric circulation patterns between 1871 and 2010 Common Era. Increasing rates of shrub recruitment since 1871 reached critical tipping points in the 1930s and 1960s on the Tibetan Plateau and in East Greenland, respectively. A recent decline in shrub recruitment in both datasets was likely related to warmer and drier climates, with a stronger May to July El Niño Southern Oscillation over the Tibetan Plateau and a stronger June to July Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation over Greenland. Exceeding the thermal optimum of shrub recruitment, the recent warming trend may cause soil moisture deficit. Our findings suggest that changes in atmospheric circulation explain regional climate dynamics and associated response patterns in Arctic and alpine shrub communities, knowledge that should be considered to protect vulnerable high-elevation and high-latitude ecosystems from the cascading effects of anthropogenic warming.
Keywords
Climate change, Arctic, Alpine, Tipping Point, Shrub Recruitment, Ecosystem, Temperature, Greenland, Arctic Regions, Tibet, Climate Change, Plant Development
Sponsorship
Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2021066)
National Natural Science Foundation of China (42030508, 41807444)
Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (2019QZKK0301)
Identifiers
35193980, PMC8917345
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2118120119
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335411
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