Climate sensitivity of reproduction in a mast-seeding boreal conifer across its distributional range from lowland to treeline forests
Roland CA and Schmidt JH. 2014. Climate sensitivity of reproduction in a mast-seeding boreal conifer across its distributional range from lowland to treeline forests. Oecologia. 174:665 - 677
Abstract Mast-seeding conifers such as Picea glauca exhibit synchronous production of large seed crops over wide areas, suggesting climate factors as possible triggers for episodic high seed production. Rapidly changing climatic conditions may thus alter the tempo and spatial pattern of masting of dominant species with potentially far-reaching ecological consequences. Understanding the future reproductive dynamics of ecosystems including boreal forests, which may be dominated by mast-seeding species, requires identifying the specific cues that drive variation in reproductive output across landscape gradients and among years. Here we used annual data collected at three sites spanning an elevation gradient in interior Alaska, USA between 1986 and 2011 to produce the first quantitative models for climate controls over both seedfall and seed viability in P. glauca, a dominant boreal conifer. See article for remaining abstract text.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Roland, Carl; Schmidt, Joshua
- Keywords
- Alaska · Bayesian models · Denali · Picea glauca · Reproductive ecology