Wang Ya-Feng, Wang Ya-Lei, Huang Ru, Liang Er-Yuan
College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System Science (LATPES), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Ying Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao. 2021 Oct;32(10):3724-3732. doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.202110.006.
Treeline ecotone is an alpine ecological transition zone characterized by strong biotic interactions, which are closely related to treeline ecological processes. Herein, we reviewed the research progress regarding the impacts of plant-plant, plant-animal, and plant-microbe interactions on the ecological processes of treeline ecotone under climate change. Both facilitation and competition among individual plants are important factors mediating dynamics of treeline processes under climate change. However, there is a dearth of dendroecological evidence. Impacts of higher-order interactions on the ecological processes of treeline ecotone remain to be tested. Herbivory and microbe-plant interactions could enhance or reduce the couplings of treeline and climate through affecting soil conditions or altering dynamics of ecological processes such as tree growth and recruitment. How the linkages between aboveground and belowground processes affect treeline responses to climate change remain unclear. In addition, biotic interactions across trophic levels might regulate the responses of ecological processes of treeline ecotone to climate change. Tibetan Plateau provides an excellent opportunity to explore the effects of biotic interactions on the changes of ecological process of treeline ecotone.
林线交错带是一个以强烈生物相互作用为特征的高山生态过渡带，这些相互作用与林线生态过程密切相关。在此，我们综述了气候变化下植物-植物、植物-动物和植物-微生物相互作用对林线交错带生态过程影响的研究进展。个体植物之间的促进作用和竞争都是介导气候变化下林线过程动态的重要因素。然而，缺乏树木年轮生态学证据。高阶相互作用对林线交错带生态过程的影响仍有待检验。食草作用和微生物-植物相互作用可通过影响土壤条件或改变树木生长和更新等生态过程的动态，增强或减弱林线与气候的耦合。地上与地下过程之间的联系如何影响林线对气候变化的响应仍不清楚。此外，跨营养级的生物相互作用可能调节林线交错带生态过程对气候变化的响应。青藏高原为探索生物相互作用对林线交错带生态过程变化的影响提供了绝佳机会。
