Experimental climate change impacts on Baltic coastal wetland plant communities

Thaisa Fernandes Bergamo, Raymond Ward, Chris Joyce, Miguel Villoslada, Kalev Sepp

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Coastal wetlands provide a range of important ecosystem services, yet they are under threat from a range of stressors including climate change. This is predominantly as a result of alterations to the hydroregime and associated edaphic factors. We used a three-year mesocosm experiment to assess changes in coastal plant community composition for three plant communities in response to altered water level and salinity scenarios. Species richness and abundance were calculated by year and abundance was plotted using rank abundance curves. The permutational multivariate analysis of variance with Bray–Curtis dissimilarity was used to examine differences among treatments in plant community composition. A Non-metric Multi-dimensional Scaling analysis (NMDS) was used to visualize the responses of communities to treatments by year. Results showed that all three plant communities responded differently to altered water levels and salinity. Species richness and abundance increased significantly in an Open Pioneer plant community while Lower and Upper Shore plant communities showed less change. Species abundances changed in all plant communities with shifts in species composition significantly influenced by temporal effects and treatment. The observed responses to experimentally altered conditions highlight the need for conservation of these important ecosystems in the face of predicted climate change, since these habitats are important for wading birds and livestock grazing.
Original languageEnglish
Article number20362
JournalScientific Reports
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
All the plant experiments were in compliance with relevant institutional, national, and international guidelines and legislation. The samples collection was granted by the Estonian Environmental Board (28.05.2018 nr 7-9/18/8603). This research was supported by European Social Fund’s Dora Plus Programme. The authors are grateful to Raul Sampaio de Lima and Kai-Yun Li for the help given during the data collection, and Henri Järv and Janar Raet for the mesocosm construction.

Funding Information:
All the plant experiments were in compliance with relevant institutional, national, and international guidelines and legislation. The samples collection was granted by the Estonian Environmental Board (28.05.2018 nr 7-9/18/8603). This research was supported by European Social Fund’s Dora Plus Programme. The authors are grateful to Raul Sampaio de Lima and Kai-Yun Li for the help given during the data collection, and Henri Järv and Janar Raet for the mesocosm construction.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Climate Change
  • Ecosystem
  • Plants
  • Water
  • Wetlands

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