Growth of the alpine herb Rumex alpinus over two decades: Effect of climate fluctuations and local conditions

• Published in: Plant Ecology
• Main Authors: Klimešová, J. (Jitka), Doležal, J. (Jiří), Šťastná, P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: herbchronology; climatic changes; Low Tatra Mts; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-013-0232-8; http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0225267

Plants in arctic and alpine habitats could potentially escape the effects of climatic fluctuations by surviving in suitable microsites. We tested this hypothesis by conducting a herb-chronological analysis of the morphological growth markers retained on the rhizomes of the clonal herb Rumex alpinus in the alpine zone of the Low Tatra Mts., Slovakia. In the first, colder decade-long period, growth was limited by facotrs causing shortenning of growing season (snow accumulation), whereas in the second, warmer period, growing season lengths were not related to plant performance. Our results imply that mesoclimatic factors substantially affect plant growth, although their relative importance might change with climate fluctuations.