Competitors alter selection on alpine plants exposed to experimental climate change
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PROVIDER: PRJEB59753 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
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Project description:The seasonal timing of lifecycle events is closely linked to individual fitness and hence, maladaptation in phenological traits may impact population dynamics. However, few studies have analysed whether and why climate change will alter selection pressures and hence possibly induce maladaptation in phenology. To fill this gap, we here use a theoretical modelling approach. In our models, the phenologies of consumer and resource are (potentially) environmentally sensitive and depend on two different but correlated environmental variables. Fitness of the consumer depends on the phenological match with the resource. Because we explicitly model the dependence of the phenologies on environmental variables, we can test how differential (heterogeneous) versus equal (homogeneous) rates of change in the environmental variables affect selection on consumer phenology. As expected, under heterogeneous change, phenotypic plasticity is insufficient and thus selection on consumer phenology arises. However, even homogeneous change leads to directional selection on consumer phenology. This is because the consumer reaction norm has historically evolved to be flatter than the resource reaction norm, owing to time lags and imperfect cue reliability. Climate change will therefore lead to increased selection on consumer phenology across a broad range of situations.
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Project description:Here, we show that alpine lake ecosystems are responsive to interannual variation in climate, based on long-term limnological and meteorological data from the Canadian Rockies. In the 2000s, in years with colder winter temperatures, higher winter snowfall, later snowmelt, shorter ice-free seasons, and dryer summers, relative to the 1990s, alpine lakes became clearer, warmer, and mixed to deeper depths. Further, lakes became more dilute and nutrient-poor, the latter leading to significant declines in total phytoplankton biomass. However, increased concentrations of dissolved organic carbon in lake water stimulated the appearance of small mixotrophic algal species, partially offsetting the decline in autotrophic phytoplankton biomass and increasing algal species richness. The climate regime in the 2000s altered the physical, chemical, and biological character and the function of high-elevation aquatic ecosystems. Forecasts of increased climatic variability in the future pose serious ramifications for both the biodiversity and ecosystem function of high-elevation lakes.
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Project description:Background and aimsAlpine cushion plants can initially facilitate other species during ecological succession, but later on can be negatively affected by their development, especially when beneficiaries possess traits allowing them to overrun their host. This can be reinforced by accelerated warming favouring competitively strong species over cold-adapted cushion specialists. However, little empirical research has addressed the trait-based mechanisms of these interactions. The ecological strategies of plants colonizing the cushion plant Thylacospermum caespitosum (Caryophyllaceae), a dominant pioneer of subnival zones, were studied in the Western Himalayas.MethodsTo assess whether the cushion colonizers are phylogenetically and functionally distinct, 1668 vegetation samples were collected, both in open ground outside the cushions and inside their live and dead canopies, in two mountain ranges, Karakoram and Little Tibet. More than 50 plant traits related to growth, biomass allocation and resource acquisition were measured for target species, and the phylogenetic relationships of these species were studied [or determined].Key resultsSpecies-based trait-environment analysis with phylogenetic correction showed that in both mountain ranges Thylacospermum colonizers are phylogenetically diverse but functionally similar and are functionally different from species preferring bare soil outside cushions. Successful colonizers are fast-growing, clonal graminoids and forbs, penetrating the cushion by rhizomes and stolons. They have higher root-to-shoot ratios, leaf nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, and soil moisture and nutrient demands, sharing the syndrome of competitive species with broad elevation ranges typical of the late stages of primary succession. In contrast, the species from open ground have traits typical of stress-tolerant specialists from high and dry environments.ConclusionSpecies colonizing tight cushions of T. caespitosum are competitively strong graminoids and herbaceous perennials from alpine grasslands. Since climate change in the Himalayas favours these species, highly specialized subnival cushion plants may face intense competition and a greater risk of decline in the future.
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2023-05-23 | GSE229037 | GEO
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