Population dynamics of Empetrum hermaphroditum(Ericaceae) on a subarctic sand dune: Evidence of rapid colonization through efficient sexual reproduction
The importance of sexual reproduction for clonal plant species has long been underestimated, perhaps as a consequence of the difficulty in identifying individuals, preventing the study of their population dynamics. Such is the case for Empetrum hermaphroditum , an ericaceous species, which dominates...
Published in: | American Journal of Botany |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0900304 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.3732%2Fajb.0900304 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.3732/ajb.0900304/fullpdf |
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crwiley:10.3732/ajb.0900304 2024-10-13T14:10:59+00:00 Population dynamics of Empetrum hermaphroditum(Ericaceae) on a subarctic sand dune: Evidence of rapid colonization through efficient sexual reproduction Boudreau, Stéphane Ropars, Pascale Harper, Karen Amanda Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs of Canada (NTSP Program) Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Northern Research Chair on Disturbance Ecology 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0900304 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.3732%2Fajb.0900304 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.3732/ajb.0900304/fullpdf en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor American Journal of Botany volume 97, issue 5, page 770-781 ISSN 0002-9122 1537-2197 journal-article 2010 crwiley https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0900304 2024-09-17T04:48:29Z The importance of sexual reproduction for clonal plant species has long been underestimated, perhaps as a consequence of the difficulty in identifying individuals, preventing the study of their population dynamics. Such is the case for Empetrum hermaphroditum , an ericaceous species, which dominates the ground vegetation of subarctic ecosystems. Despite abundant seed production, seedlings are rarely observed. Therefore, prevalent seedling recruitment on a subarctic dune system provided an opportunity to study the population dynamics and spatial pattern of the colonization phase of this species. We established a 6‐ha grid on the dune systems that extended from the shoreline to the fixed dunes and mapped and measured all E. hermaphroditum individuals in the grid. Moreover, we sampled 112 individuals just outside the grid to identify any allometric relationship between the size and age of the individuals, which allowed us to reconstruct population expansion. The overall size structure suggests that the population is still expanding. In the last 50 yr, E. hermaphroditum advanced more than 200 m in the dune system. Expansion started in the 1960s simultaneously at different distances from the shoreline. Colonization did not proceed gradually from the fixed dune toward the shoreline but instead individuals established earlier in the troughs between the dunes, with an increasingly clumped spatial pattern as the population filled in with time. Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Wiley Online Library American Journal of Botany 97 5 770 781 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
The importance of sexual reproduction for clonal plant species has long been underestimated, perhaps as a consequence of the difficulty in identifying individuals, preventing the study of their population dynamics. Such is the case for Empetrum hermaphroditum , an ericaceous species, which dominates the ground vegetation of subarctic ecosystems. Despite abundant seed production, seedlings are rarely observed. Therefore, prevalent seedling recruitment on a subarctic dune system provided an opportunity to study the population dynamics and spatial pattern of the colonization phase of this species. We established a 6‐ha grid on the dune systems that extended from the shoreline to the fixed dunes and mapped and measured all E. hermaphroditum individuals in the grid. Moreover, we sampled 112 individuals just outside the grid to identify any allometric relationship between the size and age of the individuals, which allowed us to reconstruct population expansion. The overall size structure suggests that the population is still expanding. In the last 50 yr, E. hermaphroditum advanced more than 200 m in the dune system. Expansion started in the 1960s simultaneously at different distances from the shoreline. Colonization did not proceed gradually from the fixed dune toward the shoreline but instead individuals established earlier in the troughs between the dunes, with an increasingly clumped spatial pattern as the population filled in with time. |
author2 |
Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs of Canada (NTSP Program) Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Northern Research Chair on Disturbance Ecology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boudreau, Stéphane Ropars, Pascale Harper, Karen Amanda |
spellingShingle |
Boudreau, Stéphane Ropars, Pascale Harper, Karen Amanda Population dynamics of Empetrum hermaphroditum(Ericaceae) on a subarctic sand dune: Evidence of rapid colonization through efficient sexual reproduction |
author_facet |
Boudreau, Stéphane Ropars, Pascale Harper, Karen Amanda |
author_sort |
Boudreau, Stéphane |
title |
Population dynamics of Empetrum hermaphroditum(Ericaceae) on a subarctic sand dune: Evidence of rapid colonization through efficient sexual reproduction |
title_short |
Population dynamics of Empetrum hermaphroditum(Ericaceae) on a subarctic sand dune: Evidence of rapid colonization through efficient sexual reproduction |
title_full |
Population dynamics of Empetrum hermaphroditum(Ericaceae) on a subarctic sand dune: Evidence of rapid colonization through efficient sexual reproduction |
title_fullStr |
Population dynamics of Empetrum hermaphroditum(Ericaceae) on a subarctic sand dune: Evidence of rapid colonization through efficient sexual reproduction |
title_full_unstemmed |
Population dynamics of Empetrum hermaphroditum(Ericaceae) on a subarctic sand dune: Evidence of rapid colonization through efficient sexual reproduction |
title_sort |
population dynamics of empetrum hermaphroditum(ericaceae) on a subarctic sand dune: evidence of rapid colonization through efficient sexual reproduction |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0900304 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.3732%2Fajb.0900304 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.3732/ajb.0900304/fullpdf |
genre |
Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Subarctic |
op_source |
American Journal of Botany volume 97, issue 5, page 770-781 ISSN 0002-9122 1537-2197 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0900304 |
container_title |
American Journal of Botany |
container_volume |
97 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
770 |
op_container_end_page |
781 |
_version_ |
1812818565923864576 |