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Title: Lab and Field Warming Similarly Advance Germination Date and Limit Germination Rate for High and Low Elevation Provenances of Two Widespread Subalpine Conifers

Journal Article · · Forests
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f8110433 · OSTI ID:1414639
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy and Resources Group; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States). School of Natural Sciences
  2. New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States). Dept. of Animal and Range Sciences
  3. New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States). Dept. of Biology
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States
  5. Point Blue Conservation Science, Petaluma, CA (United States)
  6. Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States). School of Natural Sciences
+ Show Author Affiliations

Accurately predicting upslope shifts in subalpine tree ranges with warming requires understanding how future forest populations will be affected by climate change, as these are the seed sources for new tree line and alpine populations. Early life history stages are particularly sensitive to climate and are also influenced by genetic variation among populations. Here, we tested the climate sensitivity of germination and initial development for two widely distributed subalpine conifers, using controlled-environment growth chambers with one temperature regime from subalpine forest in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and one 5 °C warmer, and two soil moisture levels. We also tracked germination rate and timing, rate of seedling development, and seedling morphology for two seed provenances separated by ~300 m elevation. Warming advanced germination timing and initial seedling development by a total of ~2 weeks, advances comparable to mean differences between provenances. Advances were similar for both provenances and species; however, warming reduced the overall germination rate, as did low soil moisture, only for Picea engelmannii. A three-year field warming and watering experiment planted with the same species and provenances yielded responses qualitatively consistent with the lab trials. Altogether these experiments indicate that in a warmer, drier climate, P. engelmannii germination, and thus regeneration, could decline, which could lead to declining subalpine forest populations, while Pinus flexilis forest populations could remain robust as a seed source for upslope range shifts.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Merced, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-07ER64457; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1414639
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1420124
Journal Information:
Forests, Vol. 8, Issue 11; ISSN 1999-4907
Publisher:
MDPICopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 15 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Moisture availability limits subalpine tree establishment journal February 2018
Bacterial endophyte communities in Pinus flexilis are structured by host age, tissue type, and environmental factors journal May 2018
Global drivers of tree seedling establishment at alpine treelines in a changing climate journal June 2018

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
climate change environment
niwot ridge
picea engelmannii
pinus flexilis
seed germination
seedling development