Horizontal growth in arctic-alpine clonal plants is not affected by climatic variability among regions

Witte, Lucienne C. de; Stöcklin, Jürg

doi:10.1080/17550874.2012.667454

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…The mean shoot lengths registered during our study were similar to those registered in other E. nigrum studies (Wipf, Rixen & Mulder, 2006; De Witte & Stöcklin, 2011; Bienau et al, 2014). The small variation in shoot length between years confirms that E. nigrum is a slow growing species with a conservative growth strategy.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

High resistance to climatic variability in a dominant tundra shrub species

González

Moriana-Armendariz

Hagen

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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Climate change is modifying temperature and precipitation regimes across all seasons in northern ecosystems. Summer temperatures are higher, growing seasons extend into spring and fall and snow cover conditions are more variable during winter. The resistance of dominant tundra species to these season-specific changes, with each season potentially having contrasting effects on their growth and survival, can determine the future of tundra plant communities under climate change. In our study, we evaluated the effects of several spring/summer and winter climatic variables (i.e., summer temperature, growing season length, growing degree days, and number of winter freezing days) on the resistance of the dwarf shrub Empetrum nigrum. We measured over six years the ability of E. nigrum to keep a stable shoot growth, berry production, and vegetative cover in five E. nigrum dominated tundra heathlands, in a total of 144 plots covering a 200-km gradient from oceanic to continental climate. Overall, E. nigrum displayed high resistance to climatic variation along the gradient, with positive growth and reproductive output during all years and sites. Climatic conditions varied sharply among sites, especially during the winter months, finding that exposure to freezing temperatures during winter was correlated with reduced shoot length and berry production. These negative effects however, could be compensated if the following growing season was warm and long. Our study demonstrates that E. nigrum is a species resistant to fluctuating climatic conditions during the growing season and winter months in both oceanic and continental areas. Overall, E. nigrum appeared frost hardy and its resistance was determined by interactions among different season-specific climatic conditions with contrasting effects.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

High resistance to climatic variability in a dominant tundra shrub species

González

Moriana-Armendariz

Hagen

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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show abstract

“…The mean shoot lengths registered during our study were similar to those registered in other E. nigrum studies (Wipf, Rixen et al 2006, de Witte and Stöcklin 2011, Bienau, Hattermann et al 2014). The small variation in shoot length between years confirms that E. nigrum is a slow PeerJ reviewing PDF | (2019:01:34104:1:2:NEW 5 Apr 2019)…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Peer Review #2 of "High resistance to climatic variability in a dominant tundra shrub species (v0.1)"

Koller¹

2019

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Climate change is modifying temperature and precipitation regimes across all seasons in northern ecosystems. Summer temperatures are higher, growing seasons extend into spring and fall and snow cover conditions are more variable during winter. The resistance of dominant tundra species to these season-specific changes, with each season potentially having contrasting effects on their growth and survival, can determine the future of tundra plant communities under climate change. In our study, we evaluated the effects of several spring/summer and winter climatic variables (i.e. summer temperature, growing season length, growing degree days, and number of winter freezing days) on the resistance of the dwarf shrub Empetrum nigrum. We measured over six years the ability of E.nigrum to keep a stable shoot growth, berry production, and vegetative cover in five E. nigrum dominated tundra heathlands, in a total of 144 plots covering a 200-km gradient from oceanic to continental climate. Overall, E. nigrum displayed high resistance to climatic variation along the gradient, with positive growth and reproductive output during all years and sites. Climatic conditions varied sharply among sites, especially during the winter months, finding that exposure to freezing temperatures during winter was correlated with reduced shoot length and berry production. These negative effects however, could be compensated if the following growing season was warm and long.Our study demonstrates that E. nigrum is a species resistant to fluctuating climatic conditions during the growing season and winter months in both oceanic and continental areas. Overall, E. nigrum appeared frost hardy and its resistance was determined by interactions among different season-specific climatic conditions with contrasting effects.

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“…Using molecular markers, the aforementioned study defined the clonal structure of these populations and found genets up to 60 m in diameter. Such genet size is one order of magnitude larger than the largest previously reported in core populations (Reisch et al, 2007; Stamati et al, 2007; de Witte and Stöcklin, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 56%

The oldest known clones of Salix herbacea growing in the Northern Apennines, Italy are at least 2000 years old

Centenaro,

Petraglia,

Carbognani

et al. 2023

American J of Botany

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PremiseDominant in many ecosystems around the world, clonal plants can reach considerable ages and sizes. Due to their modular growth patterns, individual clonal plants (genets) can consist of many subunits (ramets). Since single ramets do not reflect the actual age of genets, the ratio between genet size (radius) and longitudinal annual growth rate (LAGR) of living ramets is often used to approximate the age of clonal plants. However, information on how the LAGR changes along ramets and how LAGR variability may affect age estimates of genets is still limited.MethodsWe assessed the variability of LAGR based on wood‐section position along the ramets and on the duration of the growing season on three genetically distinct genets of Salix herbacea growing in the Northern Apennines (Italy). We compared genet ages estimated by dividing genet radius by the LAGRs of its ramets.ResultsLAGR increased significantly from the stem apex to the root collar; indicating that ramet growth rate decreased with time. Furthermore, a difference of ca. 2 weeks in the onset of the growing period did not impact LAGR. Considering the high LAGR variability, we estimated that the three genets started to grow between ~2100 and ~7000 years ago, which makes them the oldest known clones of S. herbacea even considering the most conservative age estimate.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that analyzing ramets at the root collar provides an integrative measurement of their overall LAGR, which is crucial for estimating the age of genets.

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Horizontal growth in arctic-alpine clonal plants is not affected by climatic variability among regions

Cited by 12 publications

References 66 publications

High resistance to climatic variability in a dominant tundra shrub species

High resistance to climatic variability in a dominant tundra shrub species

Peer Review #2 of "High resistance to climatic variability in a dominant tundra shrub species (v0.1)"

The oldest known clones of Salix herbacea growing in the Northern Apennines, Italy are at least 2000 years old

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