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Expansion of Juniperus sibirica Burgsd. as a response to climate change and associated effect on mountain tundra vegetation in the Northern Urals

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Abstract

Shrub expansion into arctic and alpine tundra is one of the prominent vegetation changes currently underway. We studied the expansion of shrub vegetation into high elevation tundra in the Kvarkush Range of the Northern Ural mountains, Russia. Age structure analysis of the dominant shrub Juniperus sibirica Burgsd. seems to support ongoing upslope advance of shrubs, a process particularly active in the second half of the 20th century. We found a close connection between the expansion of shrub vegetation and the general change in climatic conditions of the cold season (months with mean air temperature below 0°C from November to March). In general, the greatest influence on the distribution of J. sibirica is exerted by the climate conditions of the beginning (November–January) and the end (March) of the cold season. With increasing elevation, the correlation coefficients between the establishment of J. sibirica shrubs and the precipitation of the beginning of the cold season increased, and reached maximum values at the top elevation level of the study area. However, the upwards shift of J. sibirica into typical mountain tundra does not lead to changes in the ecological structure of vegetation at this stage, but simply a decrease in the area of mountain tundra.

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Acknowledgments

This work was carried out as part of the state assignment of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (No. AAAA-A19-119111990097-4; No. AAAA-A19-119031890084-6; No. AAAA-A19-119111390057-4).

The authors gratefully acknowledge the help and advice on improving the manuscript from P.A. Moiseev, V.G. Panov and S.G. Shiyatov.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RAS, Laboratory of Geoinformation Technology, Ekaterinburg, Russia

    Andrey A. Grigoriev

  2. Institute of Industrial Ecology UB RAS, Laboratory of Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Medicine, Ekaterinburg, Russia

    Yulia V. Shalaumova

  3. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RAS, Laboratory of Vegetation and Mycobiota Biodiversity, Ekaterinburg, Russia

    Olga V. Erokhina

  4. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RAS, Laboratory of Dynamics of Arctic Ecosystems, Labytnangi, Russia

    Svetlana Yu. Sokovnina

  5. Department of Forest Taxation and Forest Management, Institute of Forest and Nature Management, Ural state Forest Engineering University, Ekaterinburg, Russia

    Elizaveta I. Vatolina

  6. Institute for Botany and Landscape Ecology, Greifswald University, Greifswald, Germany

    Martin Wilmking

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  1. Andrey A. Grigoriev
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Correspondence to Andrey A. Grigoriev.

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Grigoriev, A.A., Shalaumova, Y.V., Erokhina, O.V. et al. Expansion of Juniperus sibirica Burgsd. as a response to climate change and associated effect on mountain tundra vegetation in the Northern Urals. J. Mt. Sci. 17, 2339–2353 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5925-6

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