Details zur Publikation

Kategorie Textpublikation
Referenztyp Zeitschriften
DOI 10.1016/j.actao.2015.10.005
Titel (primär) Synchronous flowering despite differences in snowmelt timing among habitats of Empetrum hermaphroditum
Autor Bienau, M.J.; Kröncke, M.; Eiserhardt, W.L.; Otte, A.; Graae, B.J.; Hagen, D.; Milbau, A.; Durka, W. ORCID logo ; Eckstein, R.L.
Quelle Acta Oecologica-International Journal of Ecology
Erscheinungsjahr 2015
Department BZF
Band/Volume 69
Seite von 129
Seite bis 136
Sprache englisch
Keywords Sub-arctic; Birch forest; Tundra; Evergreen dwarf-shrub
UFZ Querschnittsthemen RU1;
Abstract

The topography within arctic-alpine landscapes is very heterogeneous, resulting in diverse snow distribution patterns, with different snowmelt timing in spring. This may influence the phenological development of arctic and alpine plant species and asynchronous flowering may promote adaptation of plants to their local environments.

We studied how flowering phenology of the dominant dwarf shrub Empetrum hermaphroditum varied among three habitats (exposed ridges, sheltered depressions and birch forest) differing in winter snow depth and thus snowmelt timing in spring, and whether the observed patterns were consistent across three different study areas.

Despite significant differences in snowmelt timing between habitats, full flowering of E. hermaphroditum was nearly synchronous between the habitats, and implies a high flowering overlap. Our data show that exposed ridges, which had a long lag phase between snowmelt and flowering, experienced different temperature and light conditions than the two late melting habitats between snowmelt and flowering.

Our study demonstrates that small scale variation seems matter less to flowering of Empetrum than interannual differences in snowmelt timing.

dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=16658
Bienau, M.J., Kröncke, M., Eiserhardt, W.L., Otte, A., Graae, B.J., Hagen, D., Milbau, A., Durka, W., Eckstein, R.L. (2015):
Synchronous flowering despite differences in snowmelt timing among habitats of Empetrum hermaphroditum
Acta Oecol. - Int. J. Ecol. 69 , 129 - 136 10.1016/j.actao.2015.10.005