Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
Calluna AB, Hästholmsvägen 28, 131 30 Nacka, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 15;7:44489. doi: 10.1038/srep44489.
High-altitude and alpine areas are predicted to experience rapid and substantial increases in future temperature, which may have serious impacts on soil carbon, nutrient and soil fauna. Here we report the impact of 20 years of experimental warming on soil properties and soil mites in three contrasting plant communities in alpine/subarctic Sweden. Long-term warming decreased juvenile oribatid mite density, but had no effect on adult oribatids density, total mite density, any major mite group or the most common species. Long-term warming also caused loss of nitrogen, carbon and moisture from the mineral soil layer in mesic meadow, but not in wet meadow or heath or from the organic soil layer. There was a significant site effect on the density of one mite species, Oppiella neerlandica, and all soil parameters. A significant plot-scale impact on mites suggests that small-scale heterogeneity may be important for buffering mites from global warming. The results indicated that juvenile mites may be more vulnerable to global warming than adult stages. Importantly, the results also indicated that global warming may cause carbon and nitrogen losses in alpine and tundra mineral soils and that its effects may differ at local scale.
高海拔和高山地区预计将在未来经历快速和实质性的温度升高，这可能对土壤碳、养分和土壤动物区系产生严重影响。在这里，我们报告了 20 年的实验性增温对瑞典高山/亚北极地区三个不同植物群落土壤性质和土壤螨的影响。长期增温降低了幼年食真菌螨的密度，但对成年食真菌螨的密度、总螨密度、任何主要螨类群或最常见的物种没有影响。长期增温还导致湿润草地、湿地或石南地的矿质土壤层以及有机土壤层中的氮、碳和水分流失，但在湿润草地中没有流失。一种螨种，Neohalacarus oppiensis 的密度以及所有土壤参数都存在显著的地点效应。对螨类的显著斑块尺度影响表明，小尺度异质性可能对螨类缓冲全球变暖很重要。结果表明，幼螨可能比成螨阶段更容易受到全球变暖的影响。重要的是，结果还表明，全球变暖可能导致高山和冻原矿质土壤中的碳和氮流失，其影响在局部尺度上可能有所不同。
