Treeline ecotone is an alpine ecological transition zone characterized by strong biotic interactions, which are closely related to treeline ecological processes. Herein, we reviewed the research progress regarding the impacts of plant-plant, plant-animal, and plant-microbe interactions on the ecological processes of treeline ecotone under climate change. Both facilitation and competition among individual plants are important factors mediating dynamics of treeline processes under climate change. However, there is a dearth of dendroecological evidence. Impacts of higher-order interactions on the ecological processes of treeline ecotone remain to be tested. Herbivory and microbe-plant interactions could enhance or reduce the couplings of treeline and climate through affecting soil conditions or altering dynamics of ecological processes such as tree growth and recruitment. How the linkages between aboveground and belowground processes affect treeline responses to climate change remain unclear. In addition, biotic interactions across trophic levels might regulate the responses of ecological processes of treeline ecotone to climate change. Tibetan Plateau provides an excellent opportunity to explore the effects of biotic interactions on the changes of ecological process of treeline ecotone.
树线交错带是具有强烈生物交互作用的高寒生态过渡带,生物互作与树线生态过程密切相关。本研究系统综述了气候变化下植物间、动植物间和微生物与植物间互作因子对树线生态过程的影响。植物间互利或竞争作用的强度调控变暖背景下树线生态过程的变化,目前尚缺少树轮生态学证据,且亟待检验高阶互作的适用性;动物采食活动、微生物与植物间互作可通过影响土壤状况、改变树木生长和更新等生态过程动态,增强或削弱树线与气候间耦合关系。迄今为止,地下与地上过程联系如何影响气候变暖下的树线动态尚不明晰,而营养级间互作可能调制树线生态过程对气候响应。青藏高原等高寒区具有开展此类研究的优势与潜力。.
Keywords: climate change; competition; facilitation; timberline; tree ring.