Climate influence on plant–pollinator interactions in the keystone species Vaccinium myrtillus ...

• Main Authors: Evju, Marianne, Olsen, Siri L., Åström, Jens, Løkken, Jørn O., Dahle, Sondre, Andresen, Jonas L., Eide, Nina E.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2022
• Subjects: bilberry; biotic interactions; fruit production; seed production; FOS Natural sciences; Dovrefjell; Norway; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.t1g1jwt4m; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.t1g1jwt4m

Background: Climate change is altering the world’s ecosystems through direct effects of climate warming and precipitation changes, but also indirectly through changes in biotic interactions. For instance, climate-driven changes in plant and/or insect communities may alter plant-pollinator interactions, thereby influencing plant reproductive success and ultimately population dynamics of insect-pollinated plants. Methods: To better understand how the importance of insect pollination for plant fruit set varies with climate, we experimentally excluded pollinators from the partly selfing key-stone species Vaccinium myrtillus along elevational gradients in the forest-tundra ecotone in central Norway. The study comprised three mountain areas, seven elevational gradients spanning from the climatically relatively benign birch forest to the colder alpine areas above the tree line, and 180 plots of 1 x 1 m, with experimental treatments allocated randomly to plots within sites. Within the experimental plots we counted ... : Study area The study was carried out in 2017 and 2018 in three mountain areas, Forollhogna, Dovrefjell and Grødalen in Sunndalsfjella, situated along an east-west gradient in central Norway. In each area except Dovrefjell we established two replicate elevational gradients from the mountain forest to the alpine tundra, and along each gradient we established three experimental sites: one in the mountain birch forest, one at the treeline and one in the open alpine tundra. The sites were established in heathland vegetation with a high abundance of Vaccinium myrtillus. In Dovrefjell we only had one gradient due to few V. myrtillus dominated sites. The mean distance between elevational levels was app. 160 m, and the difference in mean summer temperature was on average 1.0 °C between the forest and treeline sites and 0.6 °C between the treeline and alpine sites. Experimental design In each site we established four blocks, approximately 30-100 meters apart (depending on bilberry abundance), each with three 1 x 1 m ...