Beyond arctic and alpine: the influence of winter climate on temperate ecosystems

Beyond arctic and alpine: the influence of winter climate on temperate ecosystems

Winter climate is expected to change under future climate scenarios, yet the majority of winter ecology research is focused in cold-climate ecosystems. In many temperate systems, it is unclear how winter climate relates to biotic responses during the growing season. The objective of this study was t...

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Published in:Ecology (Durham) Vol. 97; no. 2; pp. 372 - 382
Main Authors: Ladwig, Laura M., Ratajczak, Zak R., Ocheltree, Troy W., Hafich, Katya A., Churchill, Amber C., Frey, Sarah J. K., Fuss, Colin B., Kazanski, Clare E., Muñoz, Juan D., Petrie, Matthew D., Reinmann, Andrew B., Smith, Jane G.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 01-02-2016
Ecological Society of America
Subjects:
Animals
Climate
Correlation analysis
critical climate periods
Ecology
Ecosystem
ecosystem stability
global change
Phenology
Precipitation
Seasons
temperate ecosystem
Temperature
Terrestrial ecosystems
U.S. LTER Network
United States
Weather
Winter
United States
PN, Arctic
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Summary:Winter climate is expected to change under future climate scenarios, yet the majority of winter ecology research is focused in cold-climate ecosystems. In many temperate systems, it is unclear how winter climate relates to biotic responses during the growing season. The objective of this study was to examine how winter weather relates to plant and animal communities in a variety of terrestrial ecosystems ranging from warm deserts to alpine tundra. Specifically, we examined the association between winter weather and plant phenology, plant species richness, consumer abundance, and consumer richness in 11 terrestrial ecosystems associated with the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. To varying degrees, winter precipitation and temperature were correlated with all biotic response variables. Bud break was tightly aligned with end of winter temperatures. For half the sites, winter weather was a better predictor of plant species richness than growing season weather. Warmer winters were correlated with lower consumer abundances in both temperate and alpine systems. Our findings suggest winter weather may have a strong influence on biotic activity during the growing season and should be considered in future studies investigating the effects of climate change on both alpine and temperate systems.
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ISSN:0012-9658
1939-9170
DOI:10.1890/15-0153.1