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Loranger H, Zotz G, Bader MY. Early establishment of trees at the alpine treeline: idiosyncratic species responses to temperature-moisture interactions. AoB Plants. 2016;8doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plw053.
Loranger, H., Zotz, G., & Bader, M. Y. (2016). Early establishment of trees at the alpine treeline: idiosyncratic species responses to temperature-moisture interactions. AoB PLANTS, 8. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plw053
Loranger, Hannah, et al. "Early establishment of trees at the alpine treeline: idiosyncratic species responses to temperature-moisture interactions." AoB PLANTS vol. 8 (2016). doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plw053
Loranger H, Zotz G, Bader MY. Early establishment of trees at the alpine treeline: idiosyncratic species responses to temperature-moisture interactions. AoB Plants. 2016 Aug 17;8. doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plw053. Print 2016. PMID: 27402618; PMCID: PMC4988811.
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AoB Plants. 2016 Aug 17;8. doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plw053. Print 2016.

Early establishment of trees at the alpine treeline: idiosyncratic species responses to temperature-moisture interactions.

AoB PLANTS

Hannah Loranger, Gerhard Zotz, Maaike Y Bader

Affiliations

  1. Functional Ecology of Plants, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Oldenburg, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
  2. Ecological Plant Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Marburg, Deutschhausstraße 10, D-35032 Marburg, Germany [email protected].

PMID: 27402618 PMCID: PMC4988811 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plw053

Abstract

On a global scale, temperature is the main determinant of arctic and alpine treeline position. However on a local scale, treeline form and position vary considerably due to other climatic factors, tree species ecology and life-stage-dependent responses. For treelines to advance poleward or uphill, the first steps are germination and seedling establishment. These earliest life stages may be major bottlenecks for treeline tree populations and will depend differently on climatic conditions than adult trees. We investigated the effect of soil temperature and moisture on germination and early seedling survival in a field experiment in the French Alps near the local treeline (2100 m a.s.l.) using passive temperature manipulations and two watering regimes. Five European treeline tree species were studied: Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus cembra, Pinus uncinata and Sorbus aucuparia In addition, we monitored the germination response of three of these species to low temperatures under controlled conditions in growth chambers. The early establishment of these trees at the alpine treeline was limited either by temperature or by moisture, the sensitivity to one factor often depending on the intensity of the other. The results showed that the relative importance of the two factors and the direction of the effects are highly species-specific, while both factors tend to have consistent effects on both germination and early seedling survival within each species. We show that temperature and water availability are both important contributors to establishment patterns of treeline trees and hence to species-specific forms and positions of alpine treelines. The observed idiosyncratic species responses highlight the need for studies including several species and life-stages to create predictive power concerning future treeline dynamics.

© The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company.

Keywords: Alpine treelines; climate change; early seedling survival; germination; temperature–moisture interactions; time-to-event analysis

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