Performance of mountain ecosystems along elevation gradients under changing environmental conditions
To quantify the effects of climate change on nutrient (C, N, P) cycles and microbial community in soils along a mountain gradient from forest to scree area, and the effects of related changes in nutrient leaching on lake chemistry, biota and trajectories of their recovery from acidification.
Changes in chemical and biological composition of mountain lakes currently accelerate, being more pronounced at higher elevations. These trends reflect not only differences in nutrient pools and microbial biomass (decreasing with increasing elevation), but also in the increasing intensity of terrestrial system’s response to environmental changes (recovery from acidification and climate) with elevation. Our study along the elevation gradient of the Tatra Mts. will evaluate responses of different soil types (from forest, through alpine meadows, to till soils in scree) to current changes in temperature and precipitation regimes (differences in speed and temperature sensitivity of microbial processes involved in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling). Using field and laboratory experiments, we will identify differences in key processes of nutrient retention, mobilization, and leaching from soils. The leaching mechanisms will be used to understand long-term trends in chemical and biological composition of lakes and their current differences along the elevation gradient.
