An ecosystem-wide reproductive failure with more snow in the Arctic

TY - JOUR

T1 - An ecosystem-wide reproductive failure with more snow in the Arctic

AU - Schmidt, Niels Martin

AU - Reneerkens, Jeroen

AU - Christensen, Jens Hesselbjerg

AU - Olesen, Martin

AU - Roslin, Tomas

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - 2018: Arctic researchers have just witnessed another extreme summer - but in a new sense of the word. Although public interest has long been focused on general warming trends and trends towards a lower sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, this summer saw the realization of another predicted trend: that of increasing precipitation during the winter months and of increased year-to-year variability. In a well-studied ecosystem in Northeast Greenland, this resulted in the most complete reproductive failure encountered in the terrestrial ecosystem during more than two decades of monitoring: only a few animals and plants were able to reproduce because of abundant and late melting snow. These observations, we suggest, should open our eyes to potentially drastic consequences of predicted changes in both the mean and the variability of arctic climate.

AB - 2018: Arctic researchers have just witnessed another extreme summer - but in a new sense of the word. Although public interest has long been focused on general warming trends and trends towards a lower sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, this summer saw the realization of another predicted trend: that of increasing precipitation during the winter months and of increased year-to-year variability. In a well-studied ecosystem in Northeast Greenland, this resulted in the most complete reproductive failure encountered in the terrestrial ecosystem during more than two decades of monitoring: only a few animals and plants were able to reproduce because of abundant and late melting snow. These observations, we suggest, should open our eyes to potentially drastic consequences of predicted changes in both the mean and the variability of arctic climate.

KW - PLANT

KW - PREDATOR

KW - PREDICTING TIPPING POINTS

KW - RESPONSES

KW - TRENDS

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073443414&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000392

DO - 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000392

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31613872

SN - 1544-9173

VL - 17

JO - PLoS Biology

JF - PLoS Biology

IS - 10

M1 - e3000392

ER -