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Sandra’s research on the RBGE blog

January 30, 2016February 8, 2016 | imyerssmith

Check out Sandra’s awesome post on the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh webpage:

Reading between the rings: detecting competition between tundra shrubs using dendrochronology

Typical of Sandra’s work, it is beautifully written with gorgeous photos accompanying the excellently explained science.

Sandra's photo — Shrubs have been expanding in tundra ecosystems over the last half-century. On this photo, dense, knee-high dwarf birch (Betula glandulosa) has become dominant on previously lichen-covered land in Umiujaq, Northern Québec.

by Isla

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Rapid change is underway on Qikiqtaruk - Herschel Island in the Canadian Arctic. Shrub canopies are getting taller, the timing of events in the lives of plants, such as first leaf out and first flower, are also shifting earlier, and bareground is decreasing as shrubs and grass species are increasing in abundance. These are all examples of how global change is altering Arctic ecosystems, but on Qikiqtaruk we find that the vegetation changes are likely due to the indirect, rather than the direct, effects of rising temperatures, such as the deepening of the active layer and the increasing length of the growing season in the summer. To find out more, check out our paper here: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecm.1351 And our press release here: https://teamshrub.com/2019/03/15/collaboration-is-key-for-arctic-change-research/l This research was possible thank to a unique long-term collaboration between researchers, government scientists and local rangers. If you would like to read about the perspectives of local Yukon Parks rangers Ed McLeod and Ricky Joe on Qikiqtaruk’s Ecological Monitoring Program, you can check out their blog posts - https://teamshrub.com/2017/09/28/qikiqtaruk-perspectives-by-ranger-edward-mcleod/ and https://teamshrub.com/2017/08/14/changes-on-qikiqtaruk-perspectives-from-ranger-ricky-joe/ Video by Noah Bell. To find out more about the adventures of being an Arctic drone pilot check out Noah’s blog post - https://teamshrub.com/2019/02/01/a-drone-pilots-misadventures-during-arctic-field-season/ #Qikiqtaruk #YukonParks #TeamShrub #UKinArctic #AuroraResearchInstitute #Arctic #ecology #canadianarctic #plants #flora #fauna #tundra #arcticwildlife #wildlife #canadagram #northerncanada #yukon #discoveryukon #Aklavik #NWT #earthoutdoors #earthcapture #discoverwildlife #biodiversity @apecs.polar @polar.knowledge @caff_arctic_biodiversity @cbcyukon @yukonnews @yukonnorthofordinary @edinburghuniversity @edinunigeosciences @nercscience

Across the planet, there is a wonderful diversity of plants, from delicate yellow arctic poppies to tall willow shrubs and even taller sequoia trees. All of these plants have different traits - characteristics like height, leaf area, seed mass and more. We recently explored what the world of plant traits can tell us about tundra responses to global change. Plant traits provide an essential link between ongoing vegetation change and feedbacks to key ecosystem functions like carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. The paper is published as a Tansley Insight in the journal New Phytologist and you can read more about plant traits in a time of rapid tundra ecosystem change here https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15592 Arthur Tansley was a botanist and the founder of the journal New Phytologist. His work brought ecosystems, plant species and their surrounding environment, into focus, highlighting the interconnectedness of the world around us. Photo by Anne Bjorkman taken at Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada #NewPhytologist #tansleyinsight #TeamShrub #Arctic #biodiversity #ecology #plants #plantsofinstagram #tundra #flora #Qikiqtaruk #EllesmereIsland #AlexandraFiord #Yukon #Nunavut #canadagram #earthoutdoors #earthcapture #arctic_circle #arcticadventures

All across the tree of life, we see variation - big leaves, needle-like leaves, stems that swing in the wind and hardy woody stems that only the harshest of winds can break. Summarising all this variation in species’ traits in a meaningful way is a challenging task, and one way that ecologists have used is functional groups - categories that bring together different species with similar functions within ecosystems. ~ This arctic lupine is a distinct part of the tundra landscape, with its dazzling blue flowers standing tall above lower, ground-hugging, shrubs. The arctic lupine is part of the forb functional group. Across the tundra landscape, there are many other forb species, all differing in the myriad ways that make our flowers so diverse - just as there are many shrubs and grasses. They all have to find resources to survive from the same harsh tundra environment, but their traits differ - both among different species, but also within species. When we study changes in plant communities, we often use functional groups to categorise different species. But do the functional groups accurately represent variation in plant traits? ~ We found that the characteristics of tundra plant species varied a lot within functional groups such as shrubs, forbs and grasses. This variation wasn’t always well explained by the traditional categories. Functional groups explained significant amounts of the variation in traits that relate to how plants use resources - for example specific leaf area, the ratio of leaf area to dry mass. On the other hand, size-related traits such as plant height, showed few significant differences between groups. Combining functional groups with trait variation within the different groups can complement patterns derived using just functional groups and provide new insights into how tundra plant communities are responding to global change. ~ To find out more, check out our paper in Global Ecology & Biogeography (open access) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/geb.12783 #TeamShrub #Arctic #biodiversity #ecology #plants #plantsofinstagram #tundra #flora #Qikiqtaruk #canadagram #earthoutdoors #earthcapture #arctic_circle #arcticadventures

Sea ice movements mark the arrival of different seasons on Qikiqtaruk-Herschel Island in the Canadian Arctic. Sea ice break up and retreat signifies the onset of summer, but even when we think all the sea is gone, the tundra winds can bring ice back to the shores of Qikiqtaruk. During the summers of 2018 and 2019, the ice often came and went, disappearing into the distance, only to appear amidst the fog the day ofter. As the sea ice is moving, so is the entire ecosystem - birds flock to the island to breed, shrub leaf buds burst open and the tundra carpet brightens up with the many colours of Arctic flowers. As the winter is rolling in, continuous ice has once again covered the shores of Qikiqtaruk, and although it may appear still from afar, the Arctic tundra is one of the most dynamic ecosystems on the planet - all year round. Among the ice, life in the Arctic persists even in the coldest of winters, as animals like polar bears, walruses and narwals are perfectly suited to the chilly conditions. With another return of the ice, we also see another year coming to an end. It was a big year for Team Shrub with lots of science, three PhD vivas, a beautiful field season and many exciting wildlife sightings. If you're curious to find out more about what we were up to in 2018 - you can check out our blog https://teamshrub.com/lab-blog/ #inthefield2018 #Arctic #ecology #fieldwork #TeamShrub #canadianarctic #landscape #landscapephotography #tundra #arcticwildlife #wildlife #Qikiqtaruk #canadagram #northerncanada #yukon #discoveryukon #earthoutdoors #earthcapture #discoverwildlife @apecs.polar @polar.knowledge @edinburghuniversity @edinunigeosciences

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