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Elevation alters ecosystem properties across temperate treelines globally

Author

Listed:
  • Jordan R. Mayor

    (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

  • Nathan J. Sanders

    (Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, The Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen DK-2100
    The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
    †Present addresses: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA (N.J.S., A.T.C.); Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (D.A.W.).)

  • Aimée T. Classen

    (Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, The Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen DK-2100
    The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
    †Present addresses: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA (N.J.S., A.T.C.); Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (D.A.W.).)

  • Richard D. Bardgett

    (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester)

  • Jean-Christophe Clément

    (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Grenoble Alpes, CS 40700
    CARRTEL, UMR 0042 Université Savoie Mont-Blanc – INRA)

  • Alex Fajardo

    (Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia (CIEP) R10C1003, Universidad Austral de Chile, Camino Baguales s/n)

  • Sandra Lavorel

    (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Grenoble Alpes, CS 40700)

  • Maja K. Sundqvist

    (Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, The Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen DK-2100
    Umeå University)

  • Michael Bahn

    (Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck)

  • Chelsea Chisholm

    (Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, The Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen DK-2100)

  • Ellen Cieraad

    (Landcare Research
    Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University)

  • Ze’ev Gedalof

    (University of Guelph)

  • Karl Grigulis

    (Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Grenoble Alpes, CS 40700)

  • Gaku Kudo

    (Hokkaido University, Faculty of Environmental Earth Science)

  • Daniel L. Oberski

    (Utrecht University)

  • David A. Wardle

    (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    †Present addresses: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA (N.J.S., A.T.C.); Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 (D.A.W.).)

Abstract

Examination of the ecosystem properties of treeline ecotones in seven temperate regions of the world shows that the reduction in temperature with increasing elevation does not affect tree leaf nutrient concentrations, but does reduce ground-layer community-weighted plant nitrogen levels, leading to a strong stoichiometric convergence of ground-layer plant community nitrogen to phosphorus ratios across all regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jordan R. Mayor & Nathan J. Sanders & Aimée T. Classen & Richard D. Bardgett & Jean-Christophe Clément & Alex Fajardo & Sandra Lavorel & Maja K. Sundqvist & Michael Bahn & Chelsea Chisholm & Ellen Cie, 2017. "Elevation alters ecosystem properties across temperate treelines globally," Nature, Nature, vol. 542(7639), pages 91-95, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:542:y:2017:i:7639:d:10.1038_nature21027
    DOI: 10.1038/nature21027
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Friedrich-Karl Holtmeier & Gabriele Broll, 2017. "Treelines—Approaches at Different Scales," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-19, May.
    2. Núria Catalán & Carina Rofner & Charles Verpoorter & María Teresa Pérez & Thorsten Dittmar & Lars Tranvik & Ruben Sommaruga & Hannes Peter, 2024. "Treeline displacement may affect lake dissolved organic matter processing at high latitudes and altitudes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Peipei Miao & Cansong Li & Baichuan Xia & Xiaoqing Zhao & Yingmei Wu & Chao Zhang & Junen Wu & Feng Cheng & Junwei Pu & Pei Huang & Xiongfei Zhang & Yi Chai, 2024. "Incorporating Ecosystem Service Trade-Offs and Synergies with Ecological Sensitivity to Delineate Ecological Functional Zones: A Case Study in the Sichuan-Yunnan Ecological Buffer Area, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-22, September.
    4. Kerri Lu & Dan M. Kluger & Stephen Bates & Sherrie Wang, 2024. "Regression coefficient estimation from remote sensing maps," Papers 2407.13659, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2025.
    5. Lili Bai & Wenying Wang & Zhe Chen & Xiaoyue Chen & Youcai Xiong, 2025. "The Variations in Soil Microbial Communities and Their Mechanisms Along an Elevation Gradient in the Qilian Mountains, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Huizhao Yang & Sailesh Ranjitkar & Wenxuan Xu & Lei Han & Jianbo Yang & Liqing Wu & Jianchu Xu, 2021. "Crop-climate model in support of adjusting local ecological calendar in the Taxkorgan, eastern Pamir Plateau," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 1-19, August.

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