Trait differentiation and adaptation of plants along elevation gradients

Aud H. Halbritter; Simone Fior; Irene Keller; Regula Billeter; Peter J. Edwards; Rolf Holderegger; Sophie Karrenberg; Andrea R. Pluess; Alex Widmer; Jake M. Alexander

doi:10.1111/jeb.13262

Phenotypic Variation in Climate-Associated Traits of Red Spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) along Elevation Gradients in the Southern Appalachian Mountains

Castanea ◽

10.2179/0008-7475.84.2.128 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 84 (2) ◽

pp. 128

Author(s):

John R. Butnor ◽

Brittany M. Verrico ◽

Kurt H. Johnsen ◽

Christopher A. Maier ◽

Victor Vankus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phenotypic Variation ◽

Appalachian Mountains ◽

Picea Rubens ◽

Red Spruce ◽

Elevation Gradients ◽

Southern Appalachian Mountains ◽

Southern Appalachian

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Influence of environmental factors on the genetic variation of the aquatic macrophyte Ranunculus subrigidus on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

BMC Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1186/s12862-019-1559-0 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zhigang Wu ◽

Xinwei Xu ◽

Juan Zhang ◽

Gerhard Wiegleb ◽

Hongwei Hou

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Local Adaptation ◽

Aquatic Macrophyte ◽

Spatial Genetic Structure ◽

Long Distance ◽

Elevation Gradients ◽

Mantel Tests ◽

Genetic Patterns

Abstract Background Due to the environmental heterogeneity along elevation gradients, alpine ecosystems are ideal study objects for investigating how ecological variables shape the genetic patterns of natural species. The highest region in the world, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, is a hotspot for the studies of evolutionary processes in plants. Many large rivers spring from the plateau, providing abundant habitats for aquatic and amphibious organisms. In the present study, we examined the genetic diversity of 13 Ranunculus subrigidus populations distributed throughout the plateau in order to elucidate the relative contribution of geographic distance and environmental dissimilarity to the spatial genetic pattern. Results A relatively low level of genetic diversity within populations was found. No spatial genetic structure was suggested by the analyses of molecular variance, Bayesian clustering analysis and Mantel tests. Partial Mantel tests and multiple matrix regression analysis showed a significant influence of the environment on the genetic divergence of the species. Both climatic and water quality variables contribute to the habitat heterogeneity of R. subrigidus populations. Conclusions Our results suggest that historical processes involving long-distance dispersal and local adaptation may account for the genetic patterns of R. subrigidus and current environmental factors play an important role in the genetic differentiation and local adaptation of aquatic plants in alpine landscapes.

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Morphological and wood anatomical traits of Rhododendron lepidotum Wall ex G. Don along the elevation gradients in Nepal Himalayas

Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research ◽

10.1080/15230430.2020.1859719 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 53 (1) ◽

pp. 35-47

Author(s):

Mohan Pandey ◽

Mitra Lal Pathak ◽

Bharat Babu Shrestha

Keyword(s):

Elevation Gradients

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Multi-Year NDVI Values as Indicator of the Relationship between Spatiotemporal Vegetation Dynamics and Environmental Factors in the Qaidam Basin, China

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13071240 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 1240

Author(s):

Junpeng Lou ◽

Guoyin Xu ◽

Zhongjing Wang ◽

Zhigang Yang ◽

Sanchuan Ni

Keyword(s):

Environmental Factors ◽

Vegetation Dynamics ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Qaidam Basin ◽

Elevation Gradient ◽

Practical Significance ◽

Elevation Gradients ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Different Altitudes

The Qaidam Basin is a unique and complex ecosystem, wherein elevation gradients lead to high spatial heterogeneity in vegetation dynamics and responses to environmental factors. Based on the remote sensing data of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), we analyzed the spatiotemporal variations of vegetation dynamics and responses to precipitation, accumulative temperature (AT) and soil moisture (SM) in the Qaidam Basin from 2001 to 2016. Moreover, the contribution of those factors to vegetation dynamics at different altitudes was analyzed via an artificial neural network (ANN) model. The results indicated that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in the growing season showed an overall upward trend, with an increased rate of 0.001/year. The values of NDVI in low-altitude areas were higher than that in high-altitude areas, and the peak values of NDVI appeared along the elevation gradient at 4400–4600 m. Thanks to the use of ANN, we were able to detect the relative contribution of various environmental factors; the relative contribution rate of AT to the NDVI dynamic was the most significant (35.17%) in the low-elevation region (< 2900 m). In the mid-elevation area (2900–3900 m), precipitation contributed 44.76% of the NDVI dynamics. When the altitude was higher than 3900 m, the relative contribution rates of AT (39.50%) and SM (38.53%) had no significant difference but were significantly higher than that of precipitation (21.97%). The results highlight that the different environmental factors have various contributions to vegetation dynamics at different altitudes, which has important theoretical and practical significance for regulating ecological processes.

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Compartmentalized and contrasted response of ectomycorrhizal and soil fungal communities of Scots pine forests along elevation gradients in France and Spain

Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1111/1462-2920.12894 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 17 (8) ◽

pp. 3009-3024 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Ana Rincón ◽

Blanca Santamaría-Pérez ◽

Sonia G. Rabasa ◽

Aurore Coince ◽

Benoit Marçais ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Scots Pine ◽

Pine Forests ◽

Fungal Communities ◽

Elevation Gradients ◽

Scots Pine Forests

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Scale-Dependent Effects of Growth Stage and Elevational Gradient on Rice Phyllosphere Bacterial and Fungal Microbial Patterns in the Terrace Field

Frontiers in Plant Science ◽

10.3389/fpls.2021.766128 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Pei Wang ◽

Jianping Dai ◽

Luyun Luo ◽

Yong Liu ◽

Decai Jin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Growth Stage ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

Fungal Communities ◽

Growth Stages ◽

Strong Positive Correlation ◽

Elevation Gradients ◽

Positive Correlation ◽

Α Diversity ◽

Phyllosphere Bacteria

The variation of phyllosphere bacterial and fungal communities along elevation gradients may provide a potential link with temperature, which corresponds to an elevation over short geographic distances. At the same time, the plant growth stage is also an important factor affecting phyllosphere microorganisms. Understanding microbiological diversity over changes in elevation and among plant growth stages is important for developing crop growth ecological theories. Thus, we investigated variations in the composition of the rice phyllosphere bacterial and fungal communities at five sites along an elevation gradient from 580 to 980 m above sea level (asl) in the Ziquejie Mountain at the seedling, heading, and mature stages, using high-throughput Illumina sequencing methods. The results revealed that the dominant bacterial phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes, and the dominant fungal phyla were Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, which varied significantly at different elevation sites and growth stages. Elevation had a greater effect on the α diversity of phyllosphere bacteria than on that phyllosphere fungi. Meanwhile, the growth stage had a great effect on the α diversity of both phyllosphere bacteria and fungi. Our results also showed that the composition of bacterial and fungal communities varied significantly along elevation within the different growth stages, in terms of both changes in the relative abundance of species, and that the variations in bacterial and fungal composition were well correlated with variations in the average elevation. A total of 18 bacterial and 24 fungal genera were significantly correlated with elevational gradient, displaying large differences at the various growth stages. Soluble protein (SP) shared a strong positive correlation with bacterial and fungal communities (p < 0.05) and had a strong significant negative correlation with Serratia, Passalora, unclassified_Trichosphaeriales, and antioxidant enzymes (R > 0.5, p < 0.05), and significant positive correlation with the fungal genera Xylaria, Gibberella, and Penicillium (R > 0.5, p < 0.05). Therefore, it suggests that elevation and growth stage might alter both the diversity and abundance of phyllosphere bacterial and fungal populations.

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Speleothem Stable Isotope Records from Eastern Europe & Turkey

10.20944/preprints201812.0038.v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zoltán Kern ◽

Attila Demény ◽

István Gábor Hatvani

Keyword(s):

Stable Isotope ◽

Eastern Europe ◽

Oxygen Isotope ◽

Temporal Resolution ◽

Isotope Composition ◽

Precipitation Amount ◽

Temporal Distribution ◽

Elevation Gradients ◽

The Holocene ◽

Carbon And Oxygen Isotope

The region of Eastern Europe & Turkey contributed to the SISAL (Speleothem Isotopes Synthesis and AnaLysis) global database with stable carbon- and oxygen isotope time-series from 18 entities from 14 cave systems. The currently available oldest record from this region is the ABA-2 flowstone record (Abaliget Cave; Hungary) reaching back to MIS 6. The temporal distribution of the compiled 18 entities points out a ~20-kyr-long period, centering around 100 ka, lacking speleothem stable isotope record in the region. The regional subset of SISAL_v1 records displays a continuous coverage for the past ~90 kyr for both δ18O and δ13C, with a mean temporal resolution of ~12 yr for the Holocene, and >50 yr for the pre-Holocene period. The highest temporal resolution both for the Holocene and the pre-Holocene was achieved in the So-1 record (Sofular Cave; Turkey). Assessing the data, an important split was found regarding the climatic interpretation of speleothem δ18O. While the oxygen isotope composition of more continental formations is thought to reflect mainly temperature variations and changes in moisture transport trajectories, it may strongly reflect fluctuations of precipitation amount in the southern part of the region. Variations of δ13C primarily interpreted as humidity changes reflecting dry/wet periods across the region. Elevation gradients from three non-overlapping time periods from the region - for the last 5kyr - indicated systematically prevailing elevational gradients around -0.26&permil; 100m-1 in δ18O. The regional comparison of SISAL_v1 speleothem δ18O and the temporal distribution of coarsely crystalline cryogenic cave carbonate occurrences back to 45ka does not appear to confirm the finding that occurrence of the latter coincides with the warming from stadial to interstadial conditions.

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