Ecological and evolutionary responses of an arctic plant to variation in microclimate and soil

The arctic and alpine regions are predicted to experience some of the highest rates of climate change, and the arctic vegetation is expected to be especially sensitive to such changes. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary responses of arctic plant species to changes in climate is therefore a key objective. Geothermal areas, where natural temperature gradients occur over small spatial scales, and without many of the confounding environmental factors present in latitudinal and other gradient studies, provide a natural experimental setting in which to examine the response of arctic-alpine plants to increasing temperatures. To test the ecological and evolutionary response of the circumpolar alpine bistort (Persicaria vivipara) to temperature, we collected plant material and soil from areas with low, intermediate, and high soil temperatures and grew them at three different temperatures in a threefactorial growth chamber experiment. At higher experimental soil temperatures, sprouting...北极与高山区域预计将成为气候变化速率最快的区域之一，北极植被对这类变化尤为敏感。因此，解析北极植物物种对气候变迁的生态与进化响应，是核心研究目标之一。地热区域可在小空间尺度上形成自然温度梯度，且规避了纬度梯度及其他梯度研究中诸多混杂环境因素，为探究北极-高山植物对升温的响应提供了天然实验场景。为检测环北极高山拳参（Persicaria vivipara）对温度的生态与进化响应，我们从土壤温度低、中、高的区域采集植物材料与土壤样本，并在人工气候箱中设置三种不同温度开展三因子实验。当实验土壤温度升高时，发芽……