Genes or Environment? White spruce and the divergence effect at Alaska's northern treeline
Final Report Abstract
Our results indicate that a combination of growth site and tree size lead to differences in individual drought stress which in turn acts as the driving factor leading to differences in growth rate and ultimately to the formation of different response types in white spruce. These response types, however, do not play a decisive ecological role and do not reflect on reproductive capabilities of the trees belonging to either group. Therefore we conclude that white spruce in our study areas does not seem to be subject to ongoing adaptation under current climate change. Finally, analysis of oxygen and carbon isotopes points out the impact of soil and topography characteristics on tree growth. Our results strongly imply that soil, water supply and topography should receive attention as central ecological components in future dendroecological studies.
Publications
- (2014): Three microsatellite multiplex PCR assays allowing high resolution genotyping of white spruce, Picea glauca. Silvae Genetica 63 (5): 230–234
Eusemann P, Herzig P, Kieß M, Ahlgrimm S, Herrmann P, Wilmking M and Schnittler M
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1515/sg-2014-0029) - Tuning the voices of a choir: Detecting ecological gradients in time-series populations. PLoS ONE 11(7): e0158346, 2016
Buras A, van der Maaten-Theunissen M, van der Maaten E, Ahlgrimm S, Hermann P, Simard S, Heinrich I, Helle G, Unterseher M, Schnittler M, Eusemann P, Wilmking M
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158346) - What limits colonization of trees by corticolous myxomycetes? A case study from Alaska. Fungal Ecology
Volume 21, June 2016, Pages 16-23
Schnittler M, Dagamac N, Sauke M, Wilmking M, Buras A, Ahlgrimm S, Eusemann P
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2016.02.003)
