Environmental forces drive morphological variation in an alpine annual plant
Abstract
The way in which plants respond evolutionarily to environmental change partially depends on the magnitude of variation present within populations. In an attempt to understand the evolutionary response of Androsace septentrionalis (Rock Jasime) to current and future climate change in the Elk mountains of Colorado, we investigated environmental and morphological trait variation both within and between natural populations along an elevation gradient. Species richness (environmental factor), rosette width and stalk number (morphological traits) varied most at mid elevation and least at low and high elevations. Stalk length and soil temperature variance decreased from low elevation to high elevation, suggesting a potential causal link between soil temperature and stalk length. Given these results, populations at mid elevation may have a higher potential to respond to environmental change than populations at either low or high elevation. This study begins to shed light on environmentally induced patterns of A. septentrionalis morphological trait variation, and is therefore the first step toward understanding the ways in which A. septentrionalis populations will respond to environmental change. Key Words: Androsace septentrionalis, environmental variation, morphology, plant population ecology I. Introduction
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References (6)
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