Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden.
Ambio. 2012;41 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):246-55. doi: 10.1007/s13280-012-0310-5.
Winter climate and snow cover are the important drivers of plant community development in polar regions. However, the impacts of changing winter climate and associated changes in snow regime have received much less attention than changes during summer. Here, we synthesize the results from studies on the impacts of extreme winter weather events on polar heathland and lichen communities. Dwarf shrubs, mosses and soil arthropods were negatively impacted by extreme warming events while lichens showed variable responses to changes in extreme winter weather events. Snow mould formation underneath the snow may contribute to spatial heterogeneity in plant growth, arthropod communities and carbon cycling. Winter snow cover and depth will drive the reported impacts of winter climate change and add to spatial patterns in vegetation heterogeneity. The challenges ahead lie in obtaining better predictions on the snow patterns across the landscape and how these will be altered due to winter climate change.
冬季气候和积雪是极地植物群落发展的重要驱动因素。然而，与夏季变化相比，冬季气候变化及其相关的积雪变化所产生的影响受到的关注要少得多。在这里，我们综合了有关极端冬季天气事件对极地石楠地和地衣群落影响的研究结果。极暖事件对矮灌木、苔藓和土壤节肢动物产生了负面影响，而地衣对极端冬季天气事件的变化表现出不同的反应。积雪下的雪霉形成可能导致植物生长、节肢动物群落和碳循环的空间异质性。冬季积雪覆盖和深度将推动对冬季气候变化报告影响的研究，并增加植被异质性的空间模式。未来的挑战在于获得更好的关于景观上的积雪模式的预测，以及由于冬季气候变化这些模式将如何发生变化。
