Hallinger, Martin
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- University of Greifswald
Abstract
Shrubs have increased in abundance and dominance in arctic and alpine regions in recent decades. This often dramatic change, likely due to climate warming, has the potential to alter both the structure and function of tundra ecosystems. The analysis of shrub growth is improving our understanding of tundra vegetation dynamics and environmental changes. However, dendrochronological methods developed for trees, need to be adapted for the morphology and growth eccentricity of shrubs. Here, we review current and developing methods to measure radial and axial growth, estimate age, and assess growth dynamics in relation to environmental variables. Recent advances in sampling methods, analysis and applications have improved our ability to investigate growth and recruitment dynamics of shrubs. However, to extrapolate findings to the biome scale, future dendroecological work will require improved approaches that better address variation in growth within parts of the plant, among individuals within populations and between species. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Shrub; Dendroecology; Dendrochronology; Growth rings; Stem increments; Tundra
Published in
Earth-Science Reviews
2015, volume: 140, pages: 1-13
SLU Authors
Global goals (SDG)
UKÄ Subject classification
Ecology
Forest Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.10.004
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/65990