Patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern Australia
Background: Past research and ecological theory supports the hypothesis that alpine plants should be predominantly clonal, long-lived and reproduce by seed infrequently. Aims: To challenge the entrenched view that alpine seedling establishment is uncommon and perhaps unsuccessful in maintaining alpi...
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ftdeakinunifig:oai:figshare.com:article/20798875 2023-05-15T15:09:30+02:00 Patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern Australia Susanna Venn J W Morgan 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30114248 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Patterns_in_alpine_seedling_emergence_and_establishment_across_a_stress_gradient_of_mountain_summits_in_south-eastern_Australia/20798875 unknown http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30114248 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Patterns_in_alpine_seedling_emergence_and_establishment_across_a_stress_gradient_of_mountain_summits_in_south-eastern_Australia/20798875 All Rights Reserved Ecology Plant Biology altitudinal gradients recruitment seedling similarity seedling survival seedlings Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Plant Sciences BOGONG HIGH-PLAINS SUB-ARCTIC FINLAND PLANTS GERMINATION VEGETATION SURVIVAL DISTURBANCE HEATHLAND REPRODUCTION REGENERATION Text Journal contribution 2009 ftdeakinunifig 2022-11-17T19:56:18Z Background: Past research and ecological theory supports the hypothesis that alpine plants should be predominantly clonal, long-lived and reproduce by seed infrequently. Aims: To challenge the entrenched view that alpine seedling establishment is uncommon and perhaps unsuccessful in maintaining alpine plant populations. Methods: We looked for patterns in seedling establishment across a stress gradient of alpine sites and tested the notion that natural seedling recruitment would be reduced at higher altitudes due to a combination of stressful environmental conditions such as frosts, wind and extended snow cover. Results: Seedlings were common at all study sites and there was a partial trend in mean seedling density with altitude. Seedling emergence was best predicted by a combination of altitude, plant litter and soil wilting point. Many seedlings survived to become established plants (37-61%) but there was no significant relationship between establishment and altitude. There was low similarity between the seedling flora and the standing vegetation, suggesting that patterns in seedling establishment are unlikely to be driving the patterns in the standing vegetation assemblage. Conclusions: Although Australian alpine species predominantly reproduce vegetatively, this study shows that many plants depend on recruitment from seed in order to become established. © 2009 Botanical Society of Scotland and Taylor & Francis. Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper Arctic DRO - Deakin Research Online Arctic |
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Open Polar |
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DRO - Deakin Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftdeakinunifig |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Ecology Plant Biology altitudinal gradients recruitment seedling similarity seedling survival seedlings Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Plant Sciences BOGONG HIGH-PLAINS SUB-ARCTIC FINLAND PLANTS GERMINATION VEGETATION SURVIVAL DISTURBANCE HEATHLAND REPRODUCTION REGENERATION |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Plant Biology altitudinal gradients recruitment seedling similarity seedling survival seedlings Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Plant Sciences BOGONG HIGH-PLAINS SUB-ARCTIC FINLAND PLANTS GERMINATION VEGETATION SURVIVAL DISTURBANCE HEATHLAND REPRODUCTION REGENERATION Susanna Venn J W Morgan Patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern Australia |
topic_facet |
Ecology Plant Biology altitudinal gradients recruitment seedling similarity seedling survival seedlings Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Plant Sciences BOGONG HIGH-PLAINS SUB-ARCTIC FINLAND PLANTS GERMINATION VEGETATION SURVIVAL DISTURBANCE HEATHLAND REPRODUCTION REGENERATION |
description |
Background: Past research and ecological theory supports the hypothesis that alpine plants should be predominantly clonal, long-lived and reproduce by seed infrequently. Aims: To challenge the entrenched view that alpine seedling establishment is uncommon and perhaps unsuccessful in maintaining alpine plant populations. Methods: We looked for patterns in seedling establishment across a stress gradient of alpine sites and tested the notion that natural seedling recruitment would be reduced at higher altitudes due to a combination of stressful environmental conditions such as frosts, wind and extended snow cover. Results: Seedlings were common at all study sites and there was a partial trend in mean seedling density with altitude. Seedling emergence was best predicted by a combination of altitude, plant litter and soil wilting point. Many seedlings survived to become established plants (37-61%) but there was no significant relationship between establishment and altitude. There was low similarity between the seedling flora and the standing vegetation, suggesting that patterns in seedling establishment are unlikely to be driving the patterns in the standing vegetation assemblage. Conclusions: Although Australian alpine species predominantly reproduce vegetatively, this study shows that many plants depend on recruitment from seed in order to become established. © 2009 Botanical Society of Scotland and Taylor & Francis. |
format |
Other Non-Article Part of Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Susanna Venn J W Morgan |
author_facet |
Susanna Venn J W Morgan |
author_sort |
Susanna Venn |
title |
Patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern Australia |
title_short |
Patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern Australia |
title_full |
Patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern Australia |
title_fullStr |
Patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern Australia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern Australia |
title_sort |
patterns in alpine seedling emergence and establishment across a stress gradient of mountain summits in south-eastern australia |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30114248 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Patterns_in_alpine_seedling_emergence_and_establishment_across_a_stress_gradient_of_mountain_summits_in_south-eastern_Australia/20798875 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30114248 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Patterns_in_alpine_seedling_emergence_and_establishment_across_a_stress_gradient_of_mountain_summits_in_south-eastern_Australia/20798875 |
op_rights |
All Rights Reserved |
_version_ |
1766340684914098176 |