Geographic variations in air and soil temperatures are dependent on several
biotic and abiotic factors. Air temperature has mostly been used to
characterize thermal conditions for plant life, and studies of bioclimatic
gradients. From a biological point of view, it is also essential to know to
what extent soil temperature is coupled with air temperature. In this
study, we have quantified the deviations between soil and air
temperatures along gradients in latitude, altitude, and possible effects of
the vegetation. Sixteen different temperature variables were estimated
from 49 vegetation plots on 19 mountain summits along the high
mountain range in Norway, ranging from 230 to 1780 m a.s.l., and from
59°N to 71°N. Soil and air temperature variables were estimated from the
study plots during one year. All air and soil temperature variables were
significantly correlated, but the rate of explanation was mostly relatively
low (37.0–60.0%), except during the growing season. Start of the growing
season, determined by air or soil temperatures, could deviate by 38 days
mainly due to effects of frozen soils. Vegetation composition, especially
the lichen cover, had a major impact on soil temperature, Dwarf shrub
cover increased significantly with increasing July temperature. Lichen
abundance and degree of soil frost were strongly correlated, and
explained a major part of the variation in soil temperatures. The study
indicates that air temperature is generally a poor proxy for soil
temperature in cold areas, except during July
Aim Previous research on how climatic niches vary across species ranges
has focused on a limited number of species, mostly inv asive, and has not, to
date, been very conclusive. Here we assess the degree of niche conservatism
between distant populations of native alpine plant species that have been
separated for thousands of years.
Location European Alps and Fennoscandia.
Methods Of the studied pool of 888 terrestr ial vascular plant species
occurring in both the Alps and Fennoscandia, we used two complementary
approaches to test and quantify climatic-niche shifts for 31 species having
strictly disjunct populations and 358 species having either a contiguous or
a patchy distribution with distant populations. First, we used species distr i-
bution modelling to test for a region effect on each species’ climatic niche.
Second, we quantified niche overlap and shifts in niche width (i.e. ecological
amplitude) and position (i.e. ecological optimum) within a bi-dimensional
climatic space.
Results Only one species (3%) of the 31 species with str ictly disjunct
populations and 58 species (16%) of the 358 species with distant popula-
tions showed a region effect on their climatic niche. Niche overlap was
higher for species with strictly disjunct populations than for species with
distant populations and highest for arctic–alpine species. Climatic niches
were, on average, wider and located towards warmer and wetter conditions
in the Alps.
Main conclusion Climatic niches seem to be generally conserved
between populations that are separated between the Alps and Fennoscandia
and have probably been so for 10,000–15,000 years. Therefore, the basic
assumption of species distribution models that a species’ climatic niche is
constant in space and time – at least on time scales 10
4
years or less – seems
to be largely valid for arctic–alpine plants.
Lenoir, Jonathan; Graae, Bente Jessen; Aarrestad, Per Arild; Alsos, Inger Greve; Armbruster, William Scott & Austrheim, Gunnar
[Vis alle 35 forfattere av denne artikkelen](2013).
Local temperatures inferred from plant communities suggest strong spatial buffering of climate warming across Northern Europe.
Global Change Biology.
ISSN 1354-1013.
19(5),
s. 1470–1481.
doi: 10.1111/gcb.12129.
Vis sammendrag
Recent studies from mountainous areas of small spatial extent (<2,500 km2) suggest that fine-grained thermal variability over tens or hundreds of metres exceeds much of the climate warming expected for the coming decades. Such variability in temperature provides buffering to mitigate climate-change impacts. Is this local spatial buffering restricted to topographically complex terrains? To answer this, we here study fine-grained thermal variability across a 2,500-km wide latitudinal gradient in Northern Europe encompassing a large array of topographic complexities. We first combined plant community data, Ellenberg temperature indicator values, locally measured temperatures (LmT), and globally interpolated temperatures (GiT) in a modelling framework to infer biologically relevant temperature conditions from plant assemblages within <1,000-m2 units (community-inferred temperatures: CiT). We then assessed: (1) CiT range (thermal variability) within 1-km2 units; (2) the relationship between CiT range and topographically- and geographically-derived predictors at 1-km resolution; and (3) whether spatial turnover in CiT is greater than spatial turnover in GiT within 100-km2 units. Ellenberg temperature indicator values in combination with plant assemblages explained 46-72% of variation in LmT and 92-96% of variation in GiT during the growing season (June, July, August). Growing-season CiT range within 1-km2 units peaked at 60-65°N and increased with terrain roughness, averaging 1.97°C (SD = 0.84°C) and 2.68°C (SD = 1.26°C) within the flattest and roughest units, respectively. Complex interactions between topography-related variables and latitude explained 35% of variation in growing-season CiT range when accounting for sampling effort and residual spatial autocorrelation. Spatial turnover in growing-season CiT within 100-km2 units was, on average, 1.8 times greater (0.32°C km-1) than spatial turnover in growing-season GiT (0.18°C km-1). We conclude that thermal variability within 1-km2 units strongly increases local spatial buffering of future climate warming across Northern Europe, even in the flattest terrains.
Olsen, Siri Lie; Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen & Totland, Ørjan
(2013).
Influence of Two N-Fixing Legumes on Plant Community Properties and Soil Nutrient Levels in an Alpine Ecosystem.
Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine research.
ISSN 1523-0430.
45(3),
s. 363–371.
doi: 10.1657/1938-4246-45.3.363.
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Low nitrogen (N) supply is a limiting factor for plant growth in most terrestrial ecosystems. N-fixing legumes therefore have the potential to facilitate surrounding vegetation by increasing soil N levels. This effect should be especially pronounced in low-productivity habitats where ambient soil N levels are low, such as in alpine areas. We examined whether plant species composition, community diversity measures, and soil N levels differed with and without the presence of two alpine legumes, Oxytropis lapponica (Wahlenb.) Gay and Astragalus alpinus L., in a Dryas octopetala heath at Finse, Norway. Species composition and richness differed between plots with and without Oxytropis in one of two study sites, as other plant species were positively associated with the legume. None of the measured community properties differed between plots with and without the presence of Astragalus. The contrasting influence of the two legume species corresponds to our findings of higher soil N levels below Oxytropis, but not Astragalus. Differences in microhabitat N levels may explain why only Oxytropis acts as a facilitator. By affecting local species composition Oxytropis increases spatial heterogeneity, which may increase total species richness of the ecosystem.
Nybakken, Line; Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen & Klanderud, Kari
(2011).
Experimental warming had little effect on carbon-based secondary compounds, carbon and nitrogen in selected alpine plants and lichens.
Environmental and Experimental Botany.
ISSN 0098-8472.
72(3),
s. 368–376.
doi: 10.1016/j.envexpbot.2011.04.011.
Vis sammendrag
Global warming is expected to change plant defence through its influence on plant primary resources. Increased temperature (T) will increase photosynthesis, and thus carbon (C) availability, but may also increase soil mineralization and availability of nitrogen (N). More access to C and N is expected to mainly increase plant growth, and, according to hypotheses on resource based defence, this could lower plant concentrations of carbon-based secondary compounds (CBSCs).
We used two already established warming experiment with open top chambers (OTCs) and control plots in alpine south-western Norway, one on a ridge (8 years’ treatment) and a one in a leeside (3 years’ treatment), to study the effects of warming on plant and lichen defensive compound concentrations. The study included five vascular plant and six lichen species.
One vascular plant species had lower concentration of CBSCs under elevated T, while the others did not respond to the treatment. In lichens there were no effects of warming on CBSCs, but a tendency to reduced total C concentrations. However, there were effects of warming on nitrogen, as the concentration decreased inside OTCs for three species, while it increased for one lichen species. Lichens generally had higher CBSC and total C concentrations on the ridge than in the leeside, but no such pattern were seen for vascular plants.
No elevated temperature effect on CBCSs is most probably a result of high constitutive defence under the limiting alpine conditions, suggesting that chemical defence is little subject to change under climate warming, at least on a short-term basis. We suggest that the driving forces of plant defence in the arctic-alpine should be tested individually under controlled conditions, and suggest that competition from other plants may be a greater threat under climate warming than increased herbivory or disease attacks
Late-melting snowbed communities are occupied by plant specialists exposed to extremely short growing seasons and cold and nutrient-poor soil. The aim of this study is to investigate how plant tissue chemistry in three co-occurring strongly chionophilous snowbed species responds to 10 years of experimental warming using open top chambers (OTCs) to increase temperature by about 1.6°C in the air and 2.6°C in the soil. We harvested shoots from two forbs and leaves from a sedge species in OTCs and control plots, at 1400 meters elevation in the alpine Norway. The plant material was dried and chemical analyses were undertaken. Warming (main effect) increased the carbon concentration and decreased the nitrogen concentration significantly in all three species Cerastium cerastoides (L.) and Epilobium anagallidifolium (Lam.) (both forbs) and Carex lachenalii (Schkuhr) (sedge). Warming affected, however, the ratio between carbon and nitrogen concentration (C/N) differently depending on the species. C/N ratios in both forbs increased while no changes in C/N ratio appeared in the sedge. Differences in C/N ratio responses indicate different adaptability to warming effects and different phenotypic plasticity between the species that may represent a threat to biodiversity in these habitats. Different adaptability of plant species to temperature increases may also threaten the future existence of snowbeds as distinctive alpine habitats.
The aim of this study was to investigate the potential costs related to male and female structures in a small, hermaphroditic alpine plant species, Parnassia palustris L. We studied in the field the effect of experimental manipulation of seed set (female structures) as well as anthers and staminodes (male structures) on next year's survival, flowering, seed set and growth. We found no statistically significant differences between the treatments in survival, number of flowers and fruits, fruit/flower ratio, seed number or mean mass per seed the following year. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference in growth response between the treatments. These observations indicate both that the manipulations of the flowers the previous year had no effect on growth and that the competition between growth and sexual reproduction was negligible. Our results may reflect small investments in reproduction, abundance of soil resources and/or that all resources saved by the plant one year are not necessarily invested in reproduction or growth next year.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen & Eide, Wenche
(2009).
Costs of reproduction in circumpolar Parnassia palustris L. in light of global warming.
Plant Ecology.
ISSN 1385-0237.
205(1),
s. 1–11.
doi: 10.1007/s11258-009-9594-3.
Sandvik, S.M.; Heegaard, Einar; Elven, Reidar & Vandvik, Vigdis
(2004).
Responses of alpine snowbed vegetation to long-term experimental warming.
Écoscience.
ISSN 1195-6860.
11,
s. 150–159.Vis sammendrag
Abstract. In order to assess the influence of experimental warming on individual species response, species compositionand richness, and the abundance of ramets in a wet late-melting snowbed, we established 20 open-top chambers (OTCs) permanently for 5 yr (six growing seasons) at Finse, southwest Norway. Salix herbacea, Saxifraga stellaris, Omalotheca supina, Cerastium cerastoides, and Epilobium anagallidifolium increased in the experimentally warmed plots while there was no significant response in Carex lachenalii, Deschampsia alpina, Poaalpina, Juncus biglumis, Saxifraga rivularis, or Veronica alpina. Species composition changed significantly with time both in the OTCs and in the control plots. Although invasion ratesslightly increased in the OTCs compared to the controls, differences in overall species composition or richness were not significant between the OTCs and the control plots during the5-yr study. Our results suggest that vegetation change is going on naturally and that the effect of this change overridesthe effect of the temperature treatment. We conclude that increased plant growth will result in denser vegetation in a warmer future. Whether the higher net invasion will result inmore diverse vegetation is yet unclear, as the processes take more time than allowed for in this study.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen & Totland, Ørjan
(2003).
Quantitative importance of staminodes for female reproductive success in Parnassia palustris under contrasting environmental conditions.
Canadian Journal of Botany.
ISSN 0008-4026.
81(1),
s. 49–56.
doi: 10.1139/b03-006.
Vis sammendrag
Abstract: The five sterile stamens, or staminodes, in Parnassia palustris act both as false and as true nectaries. They attract pollinators with their conspicuous, but non-rewarding tips, and also produce nectar at the base. We removed staminodes experimentally and compared pollinator visitation rate and duration and seed set in flowers with and without staminodes in two different populations. We also examined the relative importance of the staminode size to other plant traits. Finally, we bagged, emasculated, and supplementary cross-pollinated flowers to determine the pollination strategy and whether reproduction was limited by pollen availability. Flowers in both populations were highly dependent on pollinator visitation for maximum seed set. In one population pollinators primarily cross-pollinated flowers, whereas in the other the pollinators facilitated self-pollination. The staminodes caused increased pollinator visitation rate and duration to flowers in both populations. The staminodes increased female reproductive success, but only when pollen availability constrained female reproduction. Simple linear regression indicated a strong selection on staminode size, multiple regression suggested that selection on staminode size was mainly caused by correlation with other traits that affected female fitness
In a factorial field experiment we increased the temperature (Open Top Chambers) and nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium [NPK]) to simulate predicted future climate changes and studied the growth response of the acrocarpous bryophyte Pohlia wahlenbergii (Bryaceae) in a wet snowbed environment. The species shows a positive growth-length response to added nutrients and increased temperature. The stronger response to nutrients indicates a strong limitation of nutrients in the snowbed environment. There was an immediate response to nutrient treatment, whereas the temperature response was delayed. The growth response shows a clear interaction between temperature and nutrients. The immediate positive growth response is interpreted as a function of the wet habitat, since water makes the added nutrients immediately available to the plants. The growth form changed toward a more lax (loose) and desiccation-intolerant form with added nutrients. In a climate change scenario based on these results we hypothesize that bryophyte response will depend on the water availability from precipitation and from meltwater. In a drier environment we predict that bryophytes will become more constrained toward areas with a high continuity of meltwater, whereas increased precipitation may compensate for any changes in growth form, which would be positive for bryophytes.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(2001).
Somatic and demographic costs under different temperature regimes in the late-flowering alpine perennial herb Saxifraga stellaris (Saxifragaceae).
Oikos.
ISSN 0030-1299.
93(2),
s. 303–311.Vis sammendrag
If reproduction involves costs, preventing reproduction one year should result in increased growth and/or reproduction the next year. Costs of reproduction in the late-flowering perennial alpine herb Saxifraga stellaris were studied in an experimental field study. To determine whether cost of reproduction differed between to contrasting temperature regimes, I examined plants in Open Top Chambers (OTCs) and control plots. One year before measurements all flower buds on the experiment plants were removed. There was no impact of the flower bud removal or the interaction between flower removal and temperature on prefloration time or seed maturation time. However, cost of reproduction influenced on growth (somatic cost), vegetative propagation, flowering frequency, number of stem per ramet, number of fruits, and seed mass (demographic cost). However, significant interaction effects of flower removal and temperature on growth and fruit production revealed that the cost of reproduction differed between the two temperature regimes. The extra warmed plants showed reduced cost of reproduction compared to plants growing under natural temperature.
Totland, Ørjan & Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(2000).
Environment modifies phenotypic selection on flower diameter in alpine Saxifraga stellaris.
I Totland, Ørjan (Red.),
The Scandinavian Association for Pollination Ecology Honors Knut Fægri.
Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi.
ISSN 82-90888-36-8.s. 75–82.
Abstract: Manipulations of temperature, soil nutrient, and light conditions, were conducted over 2 years in alpine Southwest Norway to simulate impacts of climate change in the late-flowering, perennial snowbed herb Saxifraga stellaris L. The temperatures were increased with Open Top Chambers by 1.6°C (air) and 2.6°C (soil) during daytime and light availability reduced for about 7 hr per day by shading sheets. Reproduction and seasonal changes in plant size showed differential sensitivity to temperature and soil nutrient. In general reproduction was more restricted by temperature than by soil nutrient, while plant size responded to nutrient addition and not to increased temperature. The experimentally warmed plants had shorter prefloration time and were capable of accelerating the seed maturation compared to control plants. This suggests that seed set may be more regular in a warmer climate. By contrast, shading exerted strong negative effects on both seed number and growth in the second year, but there was no significant impact of shading on pre- and postfloration time, fruit number per plant or seed weight in the second year. Except
The pollination and reproductive ecology of Saxifraga stellaris was i nvestigated in alpine southwest Norway. A breeding system analysis, w ith performance of controlled crosses, revealed that S. stellaris is self-compatible and that reproductive success after cross- and self-p ollination is equal. Relative autodeposition efficiency (i.e. mean se ed:ovule ratio in caged, nonmanipulated plants relative to mean seed: ovule ratio of control plants) was, however, low (0.29), suggesting t hat S. stellaris depends on insect visitation for maximum seed set. S eed set is not restricted by pollen availability, as indicated by a s upplemental hand-pollination experiment. Plant size had a strong posi tive impact on ovule number, which in turn was positively correlated with seed number. Plant size also had a positive influence on seed w eight. Seed weight was lowest for late flowering plants, suggesting t hat shorter time for seed maturation and lower temperatures late in t he season restrict seed weight. No correlations between flowering dat e and seed number were found, perhaps because the pollinators are rel atively insensitive to temperature conditions and thus their activity does not change through th
Recent debate on whether the climatic niche of species is conserved or not in a context of climate change has generally focused either solely on invasive species or on a relatively limited number of native species. However, invasive species may not be optimal for assessing the likelihood of niche conservatism because the time since geographical separation is usually short. Our results are based on a large sample size of populations of 389 terrestrial vascular plant species, with various biogeographic, ecological and biological features, occurring in both the European Alps and Fennoscandia but originating from different colonization events that have taken place since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Using two complementary approaches, we first tested for a region effect on each species’ climatic niche and then quantified niche overlap and niche shifts within a bi-dimensional climatic space. We found only 59 species (15%) for which the climatic niche is different between the two regions. Observed niche overlap between distant populations of the same species was greater (menSE: 0.420.006) than expected under the null assumption that the climatic niche of a given species is identical in both regions (menSE: 0.280.01). We found the highest niche overlap values for specialist species like Arctic-alpine plants and for plant species benefiting from either low dispersal constraints due to habitat fragmentation or high dispersal abilities. Although these findings suggest a weak regional imprint of the LGM on the climatic niche of species, we also found that the climatic niche was, on average, larger and located towards warmer and drier conditions in the Alps than in Fennoscandia, suggesting more opportunity for species in the Alps to fill their fundamental niche over time and to adapt to local conditions, consistent with the higher intraspecific genetic diversity in the Alps.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(2010).
Blomsten & Bien. Et eksempel på hvordan vi kan forske på viktigheten av insekter og betydningen av blomstens utrustning i pollineringen.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(2010).
Global oppvarming. Effekt av eksperimentell og naturlig temperaturforskjell på planters vekst og formering.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(2009).
Male and female functions in Parnassia palustris L.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen & Eide, Wenche
(2008).
Costs of reproduction in circumpolar Parnassia palustris L. in light of global warming.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(2003).
Er Jåblom en forfengelig jålebukk eller en smart strateg?
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(2003).
Eksperimentell forskning med pollinering og reproduksjonsøkologi i fokus.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen & Totland, Ørjan
(2002).
Quantitative importance of the staminodes for female reproductive success in Parnassia palustris L.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen; Heegaard, E.; Elven, R. & Vandvik, V.
(2002).
Effects of Open Top Chambers in a wet late-melting snowbed.
Elvebakk, Arve & Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(1980).
Nytt funn av vanlig blåfiltlav (Parmeliella plumbea) i Troms.
Polarflokken.
ISSN 0332-9119.
4(1),
s. 87–94.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(1980).
Hekseringer i Troms.
Polarflokken.
ISSN 0332-9119.
4(1),
s. 13–22.
Sandvik, Sylvi Marlen
(2000).
Reproductive ecology and effects of climate change in the late-flowering alpine herb Saxifraga stellaris L.
Unipub forlag.
Sandvik (Engebretsen), Sylvi Marlen
(1982).
Snøleie-myrgradienten i lavalpin sone på Skrubben-Habafjellet, i Målselv i Troms.
UiT Norges arktiske universitet.