Dissertation Research: Snow-melt Gradients and the Distribution of Potentilla Species

在高山环境中，我们正在研究白陵草（Potentilla）的生长和繁殖时间对融雪时间梯度的响应。我们想知道观察到的变异是由表型可塑性还是遗传分化造成的。实验将操纵雪融化的时间，这决定了生长季节的长度。相互移植实验和植物密度调节将决定是否适应一种融雪制度的地点在其他类型的制度无效。将比较范围广泛的物种与更受限制的物种的反应，以确定生长和繁殖的变化如何限制物种界限。我们的研究结果将增加我们对物种水平变异在响应环境变化中的重要性的理解。更具体地说，我们将确定由于气候变化而导致的融雪制度的改变如何导致持续的表型反应、分布界限的变化或高山植物的局部灭绝。

9520859 STRATTON We are studying the variation in growth and the timing of reproduction in species of Potentilla in response to a gradient in the timing of snow melt in alpine environments. We ask whether the observed variation results from phenotypic plasticity or genetic differentiation. Experiments will manipulate the timing of snow melt which determines length of the growing season. Reciprocal transplant experiments and plant density manipulations will determine whether adaptation to sites of one snow melting regime are ineffective in other types of regimes. The responses of broad-ranging versus more restricted species will be compared to determine how variation in growth and reproduction restricts species boundaries. Our results will increase our understanding of the importance of species-level variability in responding to environmental change. More specifically we will determine how alteration of snow-melt regimes due to climate change could lead to sustained phenotypic responses, shifts in distribution limits, or local extinctions in alpine plants.