0000000000327142
AUTHOR
Sylvi M. Sandvik
Disjunct populations of European vascular plant species keep the same climatic niches
Aim Previous research on how climatic niches vary across species ranges has focused on a limited number of species, mostly invasive, and has not, to date, been very conclusive. Here we assess the d ...
Relationships between vegetation, air and soil temperatures on Norwegian mountain summits
ABSTRACTGeographic variations in air and soil temperatures are dependent on several biotic and abiotic factors. Air temperature has mostly been used to characterize thermal conditions for plant life, and studies of bioclimatic gradients. From a biological point of view, it is also essential to know to what extent soil temperature is coupled with air temperature. In this study, we have quantified the deviations between soil and air temperatures along gradients in latitude, altitude, and possible effects of the vegetation. Sixteen different temperature variables were estimated from 49 vegetation plots on 19 mountain summits along the high mountain range in Norway, ranging from 230 to 1780 m a…
Experimental warming had little effect on carbon-based secondary compounds, carbon and nitrogen in selected alpine plants and lichens
Accepted version of an article published in the journal: Environmental and Experimental Botany. Published version available on Science Direct: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2011.04.011 Global warming is expected to change plant defence through its influence on plant primary resources. Increased temperature (T) will increase photosynthesis, and thus carbon (C) availability, but may also increase soil mineralization and availability of nitrogen (N). More access to C and N is expected to mainly increase plant growth, and, according to hypotheses on resource based defence, this could lower plant concentrations of carbon-based secondary compounds (CBSCs). We used two already established …
Experimental warming had little effect on carbon-based secondary compounds, carbon and nitrogen in selected alpine plants and lichens
Accepted version of an article published in the journal: Environmental and Experimental Botany. Published version available on Science Direct: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2011.04.011
Influence of Two N-Fixing Legumes on Plant Community Properties and Soil Nutrient Levels in an Alpine Ecosystem
Abstract Low nitrogen (N) supply is a limiting factor for plant growth in most terrestrial ecosystems. N-fixing legumes therefore have the potential to facilitate surrounding vegetation by increasing soil N levels. This effect should be especially pronounced in low-productivity habitats where ambient soil N levels are low, such as in alpine areas. We examined whether plant species composition, community diversity measures, and soil N levels differed with and without the presence of two alpine legumes, Oxytropis lapponica (Wahlenb.) Gay and Astragalus alpinus L., in a Dryas octopetala heath at Finse, Norway. Species composition and richness differed between plots with and without Oxytropis i…
Effects of simulated environmental changes on growth and growth form in a late snowbed population of pohlia wahlenbergii (Web. et Mohr) Andr
In a factorial field experiment we increased the temperature (Open Top Chambers) and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium [NPK]) to simulate predicted future climate changes and studied the growth response of the acrocarpous bryophyte Pohlia wahlenbergii (Bryaceae) in a wet snowbed environment. The species shows a positive growth-length response to added nutrients and increased temperature. The stronger response to nutrients indicates a strong limitation of nutrients in the snowbed environment. There was an immediate response to nutrient treatment, whereas the temperature response was delayed. The growth response shows a clear interaction between temperature and nutrients. The imm…
Local temperatures inferred from plant communities suggest strong spatial buffering of climate warming across Northern Europe
Recent studies from mountainous areas of small spatial extent (2500 km(2) ) suggest that fine-grained thermal variability over tens or hundreds of metres exceeds much of the climate warming expected for the coming decades. Such variability in temperature provides buffering to mitigate climate-change impacts. Is this local spatial buffering restricted to topographically complex terrains? To answer this, we here study fine-grained thermal variability across a 2500-km wide latitudinal gradient in Northern Europe encompassing a large array of topographic complexities. We first combined plant community data, Ellenberg temperature indicator values, locally measured temperatures (LmT) and globally…
Quantitative importance of staminodes for female reproductive success inParnassia palustrisunder contrasting environmental conditions
The five sterile stamens, or staminodes, in Parnassia palustris act both as false and as true nectaries. They attract pollinators with their conspicuous, but non-rewarding tips, and also produce nectar at the base. We removed staminodes experimentally and compared pollinator visitation rate and duration and seed set in flowers with and without staminodes in two different populations. We also examined the relative importance of the staminode size to other plant traits. Finally, we bagged, emasculated, and supplementary cross-pollinated flowers to determine the pollination strategy and whether reproduction was limited by pollen availability. Flowers in both populations were highly dependent o…
Changes in alpine snowbed-wetland vegetation over three decades in northern Norway
We have quantified floristic changes in alpine snowbeds and wetland vegetation during three decades and analyzed to what extent these changes are related to initial variations in snow cover duration and distance to groundwater level. Vascular plant species richness and total plant cover were estimated along three transects in northern Norway. Three different vegetation zones were identified along the original transects: relatively dry snowbeds, wet snowbeds and wetlands. The resampling shows major changes in species richness and plant cover. In general, there was a net immigration of species and 13 new species were found. Five rare species with initial low cover were lost. In the dry and we…