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Direct and indirect effects of temperature on arctic plants

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Summary

Most physiological processes of arctic plants are less temperature sensitive than those of temperate counterparts and consequently are most strongly limited by factors other than temperature. Annual carbon gains is limited primarily by length of growing season and secondarily by light, temperature, and nitrogen. Nutrient absorption is limited much more strongly by nutrient availability than by temperature. Nutrient availability in turn is restricted by a variety of factors stemming indirectly from low temperature. The in situ growth rate of arctic plants is comparable to or higher than that of temperate plants despite a 15–20°C difference in average air temperature. I conclude that temperature limits in several ways the rate at which resources become available to arctic plants and thereby the rates of resource acquisition and growth that can be maintained in an arctic environment, but that temperature is not a strong direct limitation to plant growth in the Arctic.

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  1. Institute of Aretic Biology, University of Alaska, 99701, Fairbanks, AK, USA

    F. S. Chapin III

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Chapin, F.S. Direct and indirect effects of temperature on arctic plants. Polar Biology 2, 47–52 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00258285

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00258285

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