Microclimate and demography interact to shape stable population dynamics across the range of an alpine plant.
New Phytol
; 222(1): 193-205, 2019 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30372539
ABSTRACT
Heterogeneous terrain in montane systems results in a decoupling of climatic gradients. Population dynamics across species' ranges in these heterogeneous landscapes are shaped by relationships between demographic rates and these interwoven climate gradients. Linking demography and climate variables across species' ranges refines our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of species' current and future ranges. We explored the importance of multiple microclimatic gradients in shaping individual demographic rates and population growth rates in 16 populations across the elevational distribution of an alpine plant (Ivesia lycopodioides var. scandularis). Using integral projection modeling, we ask how each rate varies across three microclimate gradients accumulated degree-days, growing-season soil moisture, and days of snow cover. Range-wide variation in demographic rates was best explained by the combined influence of multiple microclimatic variables. Different pairs of demographic rates exhibited both similar and inverse responses to the same microclimatic gradient, and the microclimatic effects often varied with plant size. These responses resulted in range-wide projected population persistence, with no declining populations at either elevational range edge or at the extremes of the microclimate gradients. The complex relationships between topography, microclimate and demography suggest that populations across a species' range may have unique demographic pathways to stable population dynamics.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ecossistema
/
Rosaceae
/
Microclima
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
New Phytol
Assunto da revista:
BOTANICA
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos