Inexperimentally heated plots that each span asoil moisture gradient in a Rocky Mountain
meadow, aboveground biomass of Artemisia tridentata (a sagebrush) increased in the
drier habitat and that of Pentaphylloides floribunda (a shrub cinquefoil) increased in the
wetter habitat relative to control plots. In contrast, aboveground forb biomass decreased
in the wet and dry habitats of the heated plots. These results, combined with evidence
for enhanced sagebrush seedling establishment rates in the heated plots, suggest that
the increased warming expected under an atmosphere with a concentration of carbon
dioxide twice that of pre-industrial levels could change the dominant vegetation of a
widespread meadow habitat