Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, MT, USA.
State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
Glob Chang Biol. 2020 Dec;26(12):6644-6656. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15362. Epub 2020 Oct 19.
Alpine regions are changing rapidly due to loss of snow and ice in response to ongoing climate change. While studies have documented ecological responses in alpine lakes and streams to these changes, our ability to predict such outcomes is limited. We propose that the application of fundamental rules of life can help develop necessary predictive frameworks. We focus on four key rules of life and their interactions: the temperature dependence of biotic processes from enzymes to evolution; the wavelength dependence of the effects of solar radiation on biological and ecological processes; the ramifications of the non-arbitrary elemental stoichiometry of life; and maximization of limiting resource use efficiency across scales. As the cryosphere melts and thaws, alpine lakes and streams will experience major changes in temperature regimes, absolute and relative inputs of solar radiation in ultraviolet and photosynthetically active radiation, and relative supplies of resources (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus), leading to nonlinear and interactive effects on particular biota, as well as on community and ecosystem properties. We propose that applying these key rules of life to cryosphere-influenced ecosystems will reduce uncertainties about the impacts of global change and help develop an integrated global view of rapidly changing alpine environments. However, doing so will require intensive interdisciplinary collaboration and international cooperation. More broadly, the alpine cryosphere is an example of a system where improving our understanding of mechanistic underpinnings of living systems might transform our ability to predict and mitigate the impacts of ongoing global change across the daunting scope of diversity in Earth's biota and environments.
高山地区由于冰雪消融，正在迅速变化，以应对持续的气候变化。虽然研究已经记录了高山湖泊和溪流对这些变化的生态响应，但我们预测这些结果的能力有限。我们提出，生命基本规则的应用可以帮助建立必要的预测框架。我们关注生命的四个关键规则及其相互作用：从酶到进化的生物过程的温度依赖性；太阳辐射对生物和生态过程影响的波长依赖性；生命非任意元素化学计量的后果；以及在各个尺度上最大限度地提高限制资源的利用效率。随着冰冻圈的融化和解冻，高山湖泊和溪流将经历温度制度、绝对和相对输入的太阳辐射在紫外线和光合有效辐射、以及资源（如碳、氮和磷）的相对供应方面的重大变化，这将对特定生物群以及群落和生态系统特性产生非线性和相互作用的影响。我们提出，将这些生命关键规则应用于受冰冻圈影响的生态系统，将减少对全球变化影响的不确定性，并有助于建立对快速变化的高山环境的综合全球认识。然而，要做到这一点，需要加强跨学科合作和国际合作。更广泛地说，高山冰冻圈是一个系统，在这个系统中，提高我们对生命系统机制基础的理解可能会改变我们预测和缓解当前全球变化影响的能力，这种变化影响贯穿于地球生物多样性和环境的令人望而生畏的范围。
