Biotic and abiotic drivers of tree seedling recruitment across an alpine treeline ecotone.

ABSTRACT: Treeline responses to climate change ultimately depend on successful seedling recruitment, which requires dispersal of viable seeds and establishment of individual propagules in novel environments. In this study, we evaluated the effects of several abiotic and biotic drivers of early tree seedling recruitment across an alpine treeline ecotone. In two consecutive years, we sowed seeds of low- and high-elevation provenances of Larix decidua (European larch) and Picea abies (Norway spruce) below, at, and above the current treeline into intact vegetation and into open microsites with artificially removed surface vegetation, as well as into plots protected from seed predators and herbivores. Seedling emergence and early establishment in treatment and in control plots were monitored over two yea

SUBMITTER: Frei ER 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6052039 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature