International Tundra Experiment

The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) is a long-term international collaboration of researchers examining the responses of arctic and alpine plants and ecosystems to climate change.[1] Researchers measure plant responses to standardized, small-scale passive warming, snow manipulations, and nutrient additions. Researchers use small open-top chambers (OTCs) to passively increase mean air temperature by 1-2 °C.[2] The ITEX approach has been validated by tundra responses at the plot level.[3] The network has published meta-analyses[4][5][6] on plant phenology, growth, and reproduction,[7] composition and abundance,[8] and carbon flux.[9] The ITEX network consists of more than 50 sites in polar and alpine locations around the world.[10]

* Open top chamber at Alexandra Fiord on Ellesmere Isl
  1. ^ Henry, GHR, and Molau, U. 1997. Tundra plants and climate change: the International Tundra Experiment. Global Change Biology, 3(S1): 1-9.
  2. ^ Marion, G. et al. 1997. Open-top designs for manipulating field temperature in high-latitude ecosystems. Global Change Biology, 3(S1): 20-32.
  3. ^ Hollister, RD and Webber, PJ. 2000. Biotic validation of small open-top chambers in a tundra ecosystem. Global Change Biology, 6: 835-842.
  4. ^ Elmendorf, Sarah C.; Henry, Gregory H. R.; Hollister, Robert D.; Björk, Robert G.; Bjorkman, Anne D.; Callaghan, Terry V.; Collier, Laura Siegwart; Cooper, Elisabeth J.; Cornelissen, Johannes H. C. (February 2012). "Global assessment of experimental climate warming on tundra vegetation: heterogeneity over space and time". Ecology Letters. 15 (2): 164–175. Bibcode:2012EcolL..15..164E. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01716.x. ISSN 1461-0248. PMID 22136670.
  5. ^ Elmendorf, Sarah C.; Henry, Gregory H. R.; Hollister, Robert D.; Björk, Robert G.; Boulanger-Lapointe, Noémie; Cooper, Elisabeth J.; Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.; Day, Thomas A.; Dorrepaal, Ellen (2012-04-08). "Plot-scale evidence of tundra vegetation change and links to recent summer warming". Nature Climate Change. 2 (6): 453–457. Bibcode:2012NatCC...2..453E. doi:10.1038/nclimate1465. ISSN 1758-678X.
  6. ^ Cornelissen, Johannes H.C.; van Bodegom, Peter M.; Aerts, Rien; Callaghan, Terry V.; van Logtestijn, Richard S.P.; Alatalo, Juha; Stuart Chapin, F.; Gerdol, Renato; Gudmundsson, Jon (July 2007). "Global negative vegetation feedback to climate warming responses of leaf litter decomposition rates in cold biomes". Ecology Letters. 10 (7): 619–627. Bibcode:2007EcolL..10..619C. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01051.x. ISSN 1461-023X. PMID 17542940.
  7. ^ Arft, AM, et al. 1999. Responses of tundra plants to experimental warming: Meta-analysis of the International Tundra Experiment. Ecological Monographs, 96(4): 491-511.
  8. ^ Walker, MD, et al. 2006. Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(5): 1342-1346.
  9. ^ Oberbauer, SF, et al. Tundra CO2 fluxes in response to experimental warming across latitudinal and moisture gradients. Ecological Monographs, 77(2): 221-238.
  10. ^ ITEX Sites Spreadsheet