Publication details

Long-term recruitment dynamics of arctic dwarf shrub communities in coastal east Greenland

Authors

BÜNTGEN Ulf BOLZE Nancy HELLMANN Lena SITTLER Benoit FRAUENBERGER Bernhard PIERMATTEI Alma KIRDYANOV Alexander SCHWEINGRUBER Fritz H. LUDEMANN Thomas KRUSIC Paul J.

Year of publication 2018
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source DENDROCHRONOLOGIA
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1125786517301790
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2018.05.005
Keywords Arctic greening; Community ecology; Dwarf shrubs; East Greenland; Global warming; Tundra ecosystems; Vegetation dynamics
Description Warming-induced biological and ecological responses have been reported from high-northern latitude sites, where changes in dwarf shrub communities translate into complex vegetation-climate feedbacks. Most of the available Arctic tree-ring evidence is, however, restricted to a limited number of species and locations. A combination of wood anatomical and 'dendro'-ecological techniques provides insights into past growth rates, recruitment dynamics and even community assemblages of Arctic vegetation. Here, we use thin sectioning and ring counting of 1432 dwarf shrub samples from eight species and two tundra regions in coastal east Greenland to assess community recruitment history and its relation to climate. Site and species-specific annual stem increments, as well as estimated plant ages, range from 0.013-0.720 mm and from 4 to 204 years, respectively. The mean ring width is 0.086 mm, with a mean age of 50 years. Decadal-scale recruitment dynamics of the studied vegetation cover respond to Greenlandic summer temperature variations back to the late 19th century (r = 0.7; 1881-2000).

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