High sensitivity of herbaceous legumes to freezing: Insights from a multiyear snow removal study

IF 2.7 3区 环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY
Ecosphere Pub Date : 2025-03-09 DOI:10.1002/ecs2.70219
Samuel L. Rycroft, Hugh A. L. Henry
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Abstract

Reductions in snow cover resulting from winter climate change are anticipated to increase the intensity of freezing exposure for overwintering herbaceous plants in many northern temperate regions. We examined whether herbaceous legumes, a key functional group responsible for increasing soil nitrogen inputs, are more sensitive to freezing than nonleguminous plants in northern temperate plant communities. We conducted snow removal experiments for three years in three herbaceous plant communities (a fallow area, an old field and a restored prairie) and recorded plant cover and biomass responses. For all three years, there were substantial decreases in legume biomass in response to snow removal for the fallow area (reductions of 70%, 90% and 50%; primarily Melilotus albus and M. officinalis) and old field (reductions of 50%, 60% and 50%; primarily Trifolium pratense and Lotus corniculatus), whereas there were no consistent significant reductions in biomass across years for the other herbaceous functional groups (graminoids and nonleguminous forbs). In contrast, in the restored prairie, dominated by the native legume Desmodium canadense, there were no consistent snow removal effects on the biomass of legumes or any other functional groups across years, although snow removal did reduce the percent cover of this species early in the growing season. Our results suggest that increased soil freezing via reductions in snow cover can have a stronger negative effect on some legumes than on other functional groups in northern temperate herbaceous plant communities, potentially reducing soil nitrogen inputs.

Abstract Image

草本豆科植物对冰冻的高度敏感性:来自多年除雪研究的见解
预计冬季气候变化导致的积雪减少将增加许多北温带地区越冬草本植物的冰冻暴露强度。我们研究了在北温带植物群落中,作为增加土壤氮输入的关键功能群的草本豆科植物是否比非豆科植物对冰冻更敏感。我们在3个草本植物群落(休耕区、老田和恢复草原)进行了为期3年的除雪实验,记录了植被覆盖度和生物量的响应。在所有三年中,豆科植物生物量都因休耕区除雪而大幅减少(减少70%、90%和50%;主要是木犀草(Melilotus albus和M. officinalis))和老田(减少50%,60%和50%;主要是三叶草(Trifolium pratense)和莲花(Lotus corniculatus)),而其他草本功能类群(禾本科植物和非豆科植物)的生物量在多年间没有一致的显著减少。与此相反,在以本地豆科植物加拿大铁杉(Desmodium canadense)为主的恢复草原上,除雪对豆科植物和其他功能类群的生物量没有持续的影响,尽管除雪确实降低了该物种在生长季节早期的覆盖百分比。我们的研究结果表明,在北温带草本植物群落中,由于积雪减少而增加的土壤冻结对某些豆科植物的负面影响比对其他功能群的负面影响更大,可能会减少土壤氮的输入。
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来源期刊
Ecosphere
Ecosphere ECOLOGY-
CiteScore
4.70
自引率
3.70%
发文量
378
审稿时长
15 weeks
期刊介绍: The scope of Ecosphere is as broad as the science of ecology itself. The journal welcomes submissions from all sub-disciplines of ecological science, as well as interdisciplinary studies relating to ecology. The journal''s goal is to provide a rapid-publication, online-only, open-access alternative to ESA''s other journals, while maintaining the rigorous standards of peer review for which ESA publications are renowned.
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