From the ground up: biotic and abiotic features that set the course from genes to ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Spatial variation in cone serotiny in Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia) across Yellowstone National Park influences initial pine recruitment after stand-replacing fire with tremendous population, community, and ecosystem consequences. A previous study showed that much of the spatial variation in serotiny results from the balance of selection arising from high frequencies of fire favoring serotiny countered by opposing selection exerted by American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) as seed predators. This earlier study, however, assumed stable local red squirrel densities over multiple generations of pines. Here, we examine environmental properties that might contribute to long-term stability in the densities of red squirrels among site

SUBMITTER: Benkman CW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5513219 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature