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The response of forest plant regeneration to temperature variation along a latitudinal gradient

  • The response of forest herb regeneration from seed to temperature variations across latitudes was experimentally assessed in order to forecast the likely response of understorey community dynamics to climate warming. Seeds of two characteristic forest plants (Anemone nemorosa and Milium effusum) were collected in natural populations along a latitudinal gradient from northern France to northern Sweden and exposed to three temperature regimes in growth chambers (first experiment). To test the importance of local adaptation, reciprocal transplants were also made of adult individuals that originated from the same populations in three common gardens located in southern, central and northern sites along the same gradient, and the resulting seeds were germinated (second experiment). Seedling establishment was quantified by measuring the timing and percentage of seedling emergence, and seedling biomass in both experiments. Spring warming increased emergence rates and seedling growth in the early-flowering forb A. nemorosa. Seedlings of theThe response of forest herb regeneration from seed to temperature variations across latitudes was experimentally assessed in order to forecast the likely response of understorey community dynamics to climate warming. Seeds of two characteristic forest plants (Anemone nemorosa and Milium effusum) were collected in natural populations along a latitudinal gradient from northern France to northern Sweden and exposed to three temperature regimes in growth chambers (first experiment). To test the importance of local adaptation, reciprocal transplants were also made of adult individuals that originated from the same populations in three common gardens located in southern, central and northern sites along the same gradient, and the resulting seeds were germinated (second experiment). Seedling establishment was quantified by measuring the timing and percentage of seedling emergence, and seedling biomass in both experiments. Spring warming increased emergence rates and seedling growth in the early-flowering forb A. nemorosa. Seedlings of the summer-flowering grass M. effusum originating from northern populations responded more strongly in terms of biomass growth to temperature than southern populations. The above-ground biomass of the seedlings of both species decreased with increasing latitude of origin, irrespective of whether seeds were collected from natural populations or from the common gardens. The emergence percentage decreased with increasing home-away distance in seeds from the transplant experiment, suggesting that the maternal plants were locally adapted. Decreasing seedling emergence and growth were found from the centre to the northern edge of the distribution range for both species. Stronger responses to temperature variation in seedling growth of the grass M. effusum in the north may offer a way to cope with environmental change. The results further suggest that climate warming might differentially affect seedling establishment of understorey plants across their distribution range and thus alter future understorey plant dynamics.show moreshow less

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Author details:Pieter De Frenne, Bente J. Graae, Jörg Brunet, Anna Shevtsova, An De Schrijver, Olivier Chabrerie, Sara A. O. Cousins, Guillaume Decocq, Martin DiekmannORCiD, Martin Hermy, Thilo HeinkenORCiD, Annette Kolb, Christer Nilsson, Sharon Stanton, Kris Verheyen
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcs015
ISSN:0305-7364
Title of parent work (English):Annals of botany
Publisher:Oxford Univ. Press
Place of publishing:Oxford
Publication type:Article
Language:English
Year of first publication:2012
Publication year:2012
Release date:2017/03/26
Tag:Anemone nemorosa; Milium effusum; climate change; common garden; growth chambers; latitudinal gradient; local adaptation; plant regeneration; range edges; recruitment; seedling establishment; temperature
Volume:109
Issue:5
Number of pages:10
First page:1037
Last Page:1046
Funding institution:Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO); Kempe Foundation; Petra and Karl Erik Hedborg Foundation; EU [Fp6 506004]
Organizational units:Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie
Peer review:Referiert
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