title: Trophic cascades, invasive species and body-size hierarchies interactively modulate climate change responses of ecotonal temperate-boreal forest.
abstract: As the climate warms, boreal tree species are expected to be gradually replaced by temperate species within the southern boreal forest. Warming will be accompanied by changes in above- and below-ground consumers: large moose (Alces alces) replaced by smaller deer (Odocoileus virginianus) above-ground, and small detritivores replaced by larger exotic earthworms below-ground. These shifts may induce a cascade of ecological impacts across trophic levels that could alter the boreal to temperate forest transition. Deer are more likely to browse saplings of temperate tree species, and European earthworms favour seedlings of boreal tree species more than temperate species, potentially hindering the ability of temperate tree species to expand northwards. We hypothesize that warming-induced changes in consumers will lead to novel plant communities by changing the filter on plant species success, and that above- and below-ground cascades of trophic interactions will allow boreal tree species to persist during early phases of warming, leading to an abrupt change at a later time. The synthesis of evidence suggests that consumers can modify the climate change-induced transition of ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 1530 North Cleveland Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. freli001@umn.edu
authors.forename: Lee E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Frelich
authors.forename: Rolf O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dovčiak
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Reich
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Vucetich
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Eisenhauer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000502:physiology; D018533:Biomass; D049628:Body Size; D057231:Climate Change; D020387:Food Chain; D060434:Herbivory; D058865:Introduced Species; D009835:Oligochaeta / Q000502:physiology; D011156:Population Density; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012987:Soil; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013696:Temperature; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil