The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX): 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems: 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems1

Greg H.R. Henry; Robert D. Hollister; Kari Klanderud; Robert G. Björk; Anne D. Bjorkman; Cassandra Elphinstone; Ingibjörg Svala Jónsdóttir; Ulf Molau; Alessandro Petraglia; Steven F. Oberbauer; Christian Rixen; Philip A. Wookey

doi:10.1139/as-2022-0041

The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX): 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems: 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems¹

Greg H.R. Henry^*, Robert D. Hollister, Kari Klanderud, Robert G. Björk, Anne D. Bjorkman, Cassandra Elphinstone, Ingibjörg Svala Jónsdóttir, Ulf Molau, Alessandro Petraglia, Steven F. Oberbauer, Christian Rixen, Philip A. Wookey

^*Corresponding author for this work

Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) was founded in 1990 as a network of scientists studying responses of tundra ecosystems to ambient and experimental climate change at Arctic and alpine sites across the globe. Common measurement and experimental design protocols have facilitated synthesis of results across sites to gain biome-wide insights of climate change impacts on tundra. This special issue presents results from more than 30 years of ITEX research. The importance of snow regimes, bryophytes, and herbivory are highlighted, with new protocols and studies proposed. The increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme climate events is shown to have strong effects on plant reproduction. The most consistent plant trait response across sites is an increase in vegetation height, especially for shrubs. This will affect surface energy balance, carbon and nutrient dynamics and trophic level interactions. Common garden studies show adaptation responses in tundra species to climate change but they are species and regionally specific. Recommendations are made including establishing sites near northern communities to increase reciprocal engagement with local knowledge holders and establishing multi-factor experiments. The success of ITEX is based on collegial cooperation among researchers and the network remains focused on documenting and understanding impacts of environmental change on tundra ecosystems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	550-571
Number of pages	22
Journal	Arctic Science
Volume	8
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0041
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank all of the authors of the papers in this special issue who have produced a set of studies that increases our ability to understand and predict responses of tundra ecosystems to future environmental change. We also thank the many reviewers of the manuscripts as they helped to improve each paper and increased the quality of the special issue. Each of the studies involved many students, postdocs, and colleagues who contributed to the field-work and in the labs over the years, and they are the backbone of ITEX. We also thank all the funding agencies in each of the countries that have supported ITEX related research for the past 30 years. We also thank Courtney Collins for the ITEX map. GHRH would like to thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Polar Continental Shelf Program and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for their support for the ITEX research at Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, NU, Canada – where much of the first draft of this paper was written.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s).

Other keywords

climate change
coordinated distributed experiments
ecosystems
International Tundra Experiment (ITEX)
tundra

Access to Document

10.1139/as-2022-0041

Cite this

Henry, G. H. R., Hollister, R. D., Klanderud, K., Björk, R. G., Bjorkman, A. D., Elphinstone, C., Jónsdóttir, I. S., Molau, U., Petraglia, A., Oberbauer, S. F., Rixen, C., & Wookey, P. A. (2022). The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX): 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems: 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems¹. Arctic Science, 8(3), 550-571. https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0041

@article{67a206fd10a34c32b5be74314b2d9293,

title = "The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX): 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems: 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems1",

abstract = "The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) was founded in 1990 as a network of scientists studying responses of tundra ecosystems to ambient and experimental climate change at Arctic and alpine sites across the globe. Common measurement and experimental design protocols have facilitated synthesis of results across sites to gain biome-wide insights of climate change impacts on tundra. This special issue presents results from more than 30 years of ITEX research. The importance of snow regimes, bryophytes, and herbivory are highlighted, with new protocols and studies proposed. The increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme climate events is shown to have strong effects on plant reproduction. The most consistent plant trait response across sites is an increase in vegetation height, especially for shrubs. This will affect surface energy balance, carbon and nutrient dynamics and trophic level interactions. Common garden studies show adaptation responses in tundra species to climate change but they are species and regionally specific. Recommendations are made including establishing sites near northern communities to increase reciprocal engagement with local knowledge holders and establishing multi-factor experiments. The success of ITEX is based on collegial cooperation among researchers and the network remains focused on documenting and understanding impacts of environmental change on tundra ecosystems.",

keywords = "climate change, coordinated distributed experiments, ecosystems, International Tundra Experiment (ITEX), tundra",

author = "Henry, {Greg H.R.} and Hollister, {Robert D.} and Kari Klanderud and Bj{\"o}rk, {Robert G.} and Bjorkman, {Anne D.} and Cassandra Elphinstone and J{\'o}nsd{\'o}ttir, {Ingibj{\"o}rg Svala} and Ulf Molau and Alessandro Petraglia and Oberbauer, {Steven F.} and Christian Rixen and Wookey, {Philip A.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank all of the authors of the papers in this special issue who have produced a set of studies that increases our ability to understand and predict responses of tundra ecosystems to future environmental change. We also thank the many reviewers of the manuscripts as they helped to improve each paper and increased the quality of the special issue. Each of the studies involved many students, postdocs, and colleagues who contributed to the field-work and in the labs over the years, and they are the backbone of ITEX. We also thank all the funding agencies in each of the countries that have supported ITEX related research for the past 30 years. We also thank Courtney Collins for the ITEX map. GHRH would like to thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Polar Continental Shelf Program and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for their support for the ITEX research at Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, NU, Canada – where much of the first draft of this paper was written. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s).",

year = "2022",

month = sep,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1139/as-2022-0041",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

pages = "550--571",

journal = "Arctic Science",

issn = "2368-7460",

publisher = "Canadian Science Publishing",

number = "3",

}

Henry, GHR, Hollister, RD, Klanderud, K, Björk, RG, Bjorkman, AD, Elphinstone, C, Jónsdóttir, IS, Molau, U, Petraglia, A, Oberbauer, SF, Rixen, C & Wookey, PA 2022, 'The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX): 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems: 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems¹', Arctic Science, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 550-571. https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0041

TY - JOUR

T1 - The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX): 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems

T2 - 30 years of research on tundra ecosystems1

AU - Henry, Greg H.R.

AU - Hollister, Robert D.

AU - Klanderud, Kari

AU - Björk, Robert G.

AU - Bjorkman, Anne D.

AU - Elphinstone, Cassandra

AU - Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg Svala

AU - Molau, Ulf

AU - Petraglia, Alessandro

AU - Oberbauer, Steven F.

AU - Rixen, Christian

AU - Wookey, Philip A.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank all of the authors of the papers in this special issue who have produced a set of studies that increases our ability to understand and predict responses of tundra ecosystems to future environmental change. We also thank the many reviewers of the manuscripts as they helped to improve each paper and increased the quality of the special issue. Each of the studies involved many students, postdocs, and colleagues who contributed to the field-work and in the labs over the years, and they are the backbone of ITEX. We also thank all the funding agencies in each of the countries that have supported ITEX related research for the past 30 years. We also thank Courtney Collins for the ITEX map. GHRH would like to thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Polar Continental Shelf Program and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for their support for the ITEX research at Alexandra Fiord, Ellesmere Island, NU, Canada – where much of the first draft of this paper was written. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s).

PY - 2022/9/1

Y1 - 2022/9/1

N2 - The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) was founded in 1990 as a network of scientists studying responses of tundra ecosystems to ambient and experimental climate change at Arctic and alpine sites across the globe. Common measurement and experimental design protocols have facilitated synthesis of results across sites to gain biome-wide insights of climate change impacts on tundra. This special issue presents results from more than 30 years of ITEX research. The importance of snow regimes, bryophytes, and herbivory are highlighted, with new protocols and studies proposed. The increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme climate events is shown to have strong effects on plant reproduction. The most consistent plant trait response across sites is an increase in vegetation height, especially for shrubs. This will affect surface energy balance, carbon and nutrient dynamics and trophic level interactions. Common garden studies show adaptation responses in tundra species to climate change but they are species and regionally specific. Recommendations are made including establishing sites near northern communities to increase reciprocal engagement with local knowledge holders and establishing multi-factor experiments. The success of ITEX is based on collegial cooperation among researchers and the network remains focused on documenting and understanding impacts of environmental change on tundra ecosystems.

AB - The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) was founded in 1990 as a network of scientists studying responses of tundra ecosystems to ambient and experimental climate change at Arctic and alpine sites across the globe. Common measurement and experimental design protocols have facilitated synthesis of results across sites to gain biome-wide insights of climate change impacts on tundra. This special issue presents results from more than 30 years of ITEX research. The importance of snow regimes, bryophytes, and herbivory are highlighted, with new protocols and studies proposed. The increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme climate events is shown to have strong effects on plant reproduction. The most consistent plant trait response across sites is an increase in vegetation height, especially for shrubs. This will affect surface energy balance, carbon and nutrient dynamics and trophic level interactions. Common garden studies show adaptation responses in tundra species to climate change but they are species and regionally specific. Recommendations are made including establishing sites near northern communities to increase reciprocal engagement with local knowledge holders and establishing multi-factor experiments. The success of ITEX is based on collegial cooperation among researchers and the network remains focused on documenting and understanding impacts of environmental change on tundra ecosystems.

KW - climate change

KW - coordinated distributed experiments

KW - ecosystems

KW - International Tundra Experiment (ITEX)

KW - tundra

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139997980&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1139/as-2022-0041

DO - 10.1139/as-2022-0041

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85139997980

SN - 2368-7460

VL - 8

SP - 550

EP - 571

JO - Arctic Science

JF - Arctic Science

IS - 3

ER -