Published November 17, 2020 | Version v1
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Data from: Dwarf shrubs impact tundra soils: drier, colder, and less organic carbon

Description

In the tundra, woody plants are dispersing towards higher latitudes and altitudes due to increasingly favourable climatic conditions. The coverage and height of woody plants are increasing, which may influence the soils of the tundra ecosystem. Here, we use structural equation modelling to analyse 171 study plots and to examine if the coverage and height of woody plants affect the growing-season topsoil moisture and temperature (< 10 cm) as well as soil organic carbon stocks (< 80 cm). In our study setting, we consider the hierarchy of the ecosystem by controlling for other factors, such as topography, wintertime snow depth and the overall plant coverage that potentially influence woody plants and soil properties in this dwarf-shrub dominated landscape in northern Fennoscandia. We found strong links from topography to both vegetation and soil. Further, we found that woody plants influence multiple soil properties: the dominance of woody plants inversely correlated with soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil organic carbon stocks (standardised regression coefficients = -0.39; -0.22; -0.34, respectively), even when controlling for other landscape features. Our results indicate that the dominance of dwarf shrubs may lead to soils that are drier, colder, and contain less organic carbon. Thus, there are multiple mechanisms through which woody plants may influence tundra soils.

Kemppinen, Niittynen, Virkkala, Happonen, Riihimäki, Aalto & Luoto (2021). Dwarf shrubs impact tundra soils: drier, colder, and less organic carbon. Ecosystems.

These are the data from Kemppinen et al. (2021).

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Related works

Is documented by
Journal article: 10.1007/s10021-020-00589-2 (DOI)

Funding

Topoclimate, land surface conditions and atmospheric feedbacks 307761
Academy of Finland
Geomorphic sensitivity of the Arctic region: geohazards and infrastructure (INFRAHAZARD) / Consortium: INFRAHAZARD 286950
Academy of Finland