AbstractsEarth & Environmental Science

Climate, grazing and plant interactions

by Mikael Marberg




Institution: Umeå University
Department:
Year: 2013
Keywords: Alpine plants; Climate; Facilitation; Competition; Grazing; Natural Sciences; Biological Sciences; Ecology; Naturvetenskap; Biologiska vetenskaper; Ekologi; Kandidatprogrammet i biologi och geovetenskap; Bachelor of Science in Biology and Earthscience
Record ID: 1349859
Full text PDF: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-75722


Abstract

Increased knowledge of plant interactions is important for our understanding of how ecosystems will respond to climate changes. Using four common low-herb and three tall- herb species as phytometers I measured the net outcome of plant interactions in an alpine environment by a neighbour removal experiment. Grazing and climate were tested as explanatory factors for differences in the outcome of plant interactions, with two altitudes representing different climates. The most important finding in this experiment is that competition is the dominating interaction among plants in this habitat, regardless of plant size, climate and grazing. Climatic exposure and grazing only influenced tall-herb species while low-herbs were mainly limited by competition, presumably for light. These results are important since facilitative interactions and net facilitation in plant communities are often reported to become more common in severe climates.