Outbreaks by canopy-feeding geometrid moth cause state-dependent shifts in understorey plant communities.

ABSTRACT: The increased spread of insect outbreaks is among the most severe impacts of climate warming predicted for northern boreal forest ecosystems. Compound disturbances by insect herbivores can cause sharp transitions between vegetation states with implications for ecosystem productivity and climate feedbacks. By analysing vegetation plots prior to and immediately after a severe and widespread outbreak by geometrid moths in the birch forest-tundra ecotone, we document a shift in forest understorey community composition in response to the moth outbreak. Prior to the moth outbreak, the plots divided into two oligotrophic and one eutrophic plant community. The moth outbreak caused a vegetation state shift in the two oligotrophic communities, but only minor changes in the eutrophic community. In th

SUBMITTER: Karlsen SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3824357 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature