Demography of the alpine pioneer species Saxifraga aizoides in different successional stages at the glacier foreland of the Rotmoosferner (Obergurgl, Ötztal, Austria)
The demography of the alpine pioneer species Saxifraga aizoides was investigated along a succes-sional gradient at the Rotmoos glacier foreland (2,330–2,450 m a.s.l., Obergurgl, Ötztal, Austria) from recently deglaciated areas to advanced successional stages. A basic hypothesis of our study was that...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Floristisch-Soziologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft, Göttingen
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=16650 https://doi.org/10.14471/2015.35.002 |
| Summary: | The demography of the alpine pioneer species Saxifraga aizoides was investigated along a succes-sional gradient at the Rotmoos glacier foreland (2,330–2,450 m a.s.l., Obergurgl, Ötztal, Austria) from recently deglaciated areas to advanced successional stages. A basic hypothesis of our study was that fecundity might play an essential role for population growth rate on the youngest site and become of minor importance at advanced successional stages. A matrix modelling approach was performed to calculate the main demographic parameters on 6, 33, and 81 year old moraines. Our results partly confirmed the prediction of the larger role of fecundity on the youngest sites. Here, seedling mortality was lower compared to the older sites, and the reproductive success was significantly higher. All in all, Saxifraga aizoides mainly follows a “persistence strategy” from the beginning, characterized by the fact that large individuals did not undergo mortality at the recently deglaciated site. However, in the long term a population decline will occur due to plant age and changes of environmental conditions along the successional gradient. |
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