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

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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.