“…Plant adaptations to freezing temperatures and short growing seasons include biochemical changes that prevent ice crystals from forming in the cytoplasm, the deployment of proteins and sugars to stabilize cellular membranes when cells become desiccated (Xin & Browse, ), shifts from annual to perennial strategies (Körner, ), as well as additional reproductive investments (Hautier, Randin, Stöcklin, & Guisan, ). Plants further evolved key ecological adaptations in their general morphology, including the evolution of a general lower stature (Körner, ; Pellissier, Pottier, Vittoz, Dubuis, & Guisan, ), tougher leaves (Defossez, Pellissier, & Rasmann, ), more generalist flower shapes (Pellissier et al, ) and a decrease in biomass (Defossez et al, ; Rasmann, Pellissier, Defossez, Jactel, & Kunstler, ). The evolution of ‘trait syndromes’, which represent sets of correlated traits that persist in a given environment, has only occurred in few lineages among vascular plants (Prinzing, ).…”