---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
_id: '22585'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Most of the currently experienced global environmental changes (rising atmospheric
    CO2 concentrations, warming, altered amount and pattern of precipitation, and
    increased nutrient load) directly or indirectly affect ecosystem surface energy
    balance and plant transpiration. As a consequence, the relative humidity of the
    air surrounding the vegetation changes, thus creating a feedback loop whose net
    effect on transpiration and finally productivity is not trivial to quantify. Forcedly,
    in any global change experiment with the above drivers, we can only treat small
    plots, or ‘islands’, of vegetation. This means that the treated plots will likely
    experience the ambient humidity conditions influenced by the surrounding, non-treated
    vegetation. Experimental assessments of global change effects will thus systematically
    lack modifications originating from these potentially important feedback mechanisms,
    introducing a bias of unknown magnitude in all measurements of processes directly
    or indirectly depending on plant transpiration. We call this potential bias the
    ‘island effect’. Here, we discuss its implications in various global change experiments
    with plants. We also suggest ways to complement experiments using modelling approaches
    and observational studies. Ultimately, there is no obvious solution to deal with
    the island effect in field experiments and only models can provide an estimate
    of modification of responses by these feedbacks. However, we suggest that increasing
    the awareness of the island effect among both experimental researchers and modellers
    will greatly improve the interpretation of vegetation responses to global change.
article_number: plv092
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Sebastian
  full_name: Leuzinger, Sebastian
  last_name: Leuzinger
- first_name: Simone
  full_name: Fatichi, Simone
  id: cf8e546b-a9b0-11f0-a43b-aa89ed1b56d6
  last_name: Fatichi
- first_name: Jarrod
  full_name: Cusens, Jarrod
  last_name: Cusens
- first_name: Christian
  full_name: Körner, Christian
  last_name: Körner
- first_name: Pascal A.
  full_name: Niklaus, Pascal A.
  last_name: Niklaus
citation:
  ama: 'Leuzinger S, Fatichi S, Cusens J, Körner C, Niklaus PA. The ‘island effect’
    in terrestrial global change experiments: a problem with no solution? <i>AoB Plants</i>.
    2015;7. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plv092">10.1093/aobpla/plv092</a>'
  apa: 'Leuzinger, S., Fatichi, S., Cusens, J., Körner, C., &#38; Niklaus, P. A. (2015).
    The ‘island effect’ in terrestrial global change experiments: a problem with no
    solution? <i>AoB Plants</i>. Oxford University Press. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plv092">https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plv092</a>'
  chicago: 'Leuzinger, Sebastian, Simone Fatichi, Jarrod Cusens, Christian Körner,
    and Pascal A. Niklaus. “The ‘Island Effect’ in Terrestrial Global Change Experiments:
    A Problem with No Solution?” <i>AoB Plants</i>. Oxford University Press, 2015.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plv092">https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plv092</a>.'
  ieee: 'S. Leuzinger, S. Fatichi, J. Cusens, C. Körner, and P. A. Niklaus, “The ‘island
    effect’ in terrestrial global change experiments: a problem with no solution?,”
    <i>AoB Plants</i>, vol. 7. Oxford University Press, 2015.'
  ista: 'Leuzinger S, Fatichi S, Cusens J, Körner C, Niklaus PA. 2015. The ‘island
    effect’ in terrestrial global change experiments: a problem with no solution?
    AoB Plants. 7, plv092.'
  mla: 'Leuzinger, Sebastian, et al. “The ‘Island Effect’ in Terrestrial Global Change
    Experiments: A Problem with No Solution?” <i>AoB Plants</i>, vol. 7, plv092, Oxford
    University Press, 2015, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plv092">10.1093/aobpla/plv092</a>.'
  short: S. Leuzinger, S. Fatichi, J. Cusens, C. Körner, P.A. Niklaus, AoB Plants
    7 (2015).
das_tickbox: '1'
date_created: 2026-07-27T12:30:25Z
date_published: 2015-07-27T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-12T08:09:20Z
day: '27'
doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plv092
extern: '1'
external_id:
  pmid:
  - '26216468'
intvolume: '         7'
keyword:
- DGVM
- Elevated CO2
- FACE
- Hydrology
- Land–atmosphere coupling
- Vegetation feedback effects
- Warming
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plv092
month: '07'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
pmid: 1
publication: AoB Plants
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 2041-2851
publication_status: published
publisher: Oxford University Press
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: 'The ‘island effect’ in terrestrial global change experiments: a problem with
  no solution?'
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
volume: 7
year: '2015'
...