TY - JOUR
T1 - Increased sensitivity to climate change in disturbed ecosystems
AU - Kroël-Dulay, György
AU - Ransijn, Johannes
AU - Schmidt, Inger Kappel
AU - Beier, Claus
AU - De Angelis, Paolo
AU - De Dato, Giovanbattista
AU - Dukes, Jeffrey S.
AU - Emmett, Bridget
AU - Estiarte, Marc
AU - Garadnai, János
AU - Kongstad, Jane
AU - Kovács-Láng, Edit
AU - Larsen, Klaus Steenberg
AU - Liberati, Dario
AU - Ogaya, Romà
AU - Riis-Nielsen, Torben
AU - Smith, Andrew R.
AU - Sowerby, Alwyn
AU - Tietema, Albert
AU - Penuelas, Josep
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Human domination of the biosphere includes changes to disturbance regimes, which push many ecosystems towards early-successional states. Ecological theory predicts that early-successional ecosystems are more sensitive to perturbations than mature systems, but little evidence supports this relationship for the perturbation of climate change. Here we show that vegetation (abundance, species richness and species composition) across seven European shrublands is quite resistant to moderate experimental warming and drought, and responsiveness is associated with the dynamic state of the ecosystem, with recently disturbed sites responding to treatments. Furthermore, most of these responses are not rapid (2-5 years) but emerge over a longer term (7-14 years). These results suggest that successional state influences the sensitivity of ecosystems to climate change, and that ecosystems recovering from disturbances may be sensitive to even modest climatic changes. A research bias towards undisturbed ecosystems might thus lead to an underestimation of the impacts of climate change.
AB - Human domination of the biosphere includes changes to disturbance regimes, which push many ecosystems towards early-successional states. Ecological theory predicts that early-successional ecosystems are more sensitive to perturbations than mature systems, but little evidence supports this relationship for the perturbation of climate change. Here we show that vegetation (abundance, species richness and species composition) across seven European shrublands is quite resistant to moderate experimental warming and drought, and responsiveness is associated with the dynamic state of the ecosystem, with recently disturbed sites responding to treatments. Furthermore, most of these responses are not rapid (2-5 years) but emerge over a longer term (7-14 years). These results suggest that successional state influences the sensitivity of ecosystems to climate change, and that ecosystems recovering from disturbances may be sensitive to even modest climatic changes. A research bias towards undisturbed ecosystems might thus lead to an underestimation of the impacts of climate change.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84925738686&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/ncomms7682
DO - 10.1038/ncomms7682
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 25801187
AN - SCOPUS:84925738686
VL - 6
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
SN - 2041-1723
M1 - 6682
ER -