Few changes in native Australian alpine plant morphology, despite substantial local climate change.

ABSTRACT: Rapid evolution is likely to be an important mechanism allowing native species to adapt to changed environmental conditions. Many Northern Hemisphere species have undergone substantial recent changes in phenology and morphology. However, we have little information about how native species in the Southern Hemisphere are responding to climate change. We used herbarium specimens from 21 native alpine plant species in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia, to make over 1,500 measurements of plant size, leaf thickness, leaf mass per area, leaf shape, and leaf size across the last 126 years. Only two out of 21 species (9%) showed significant changes in any of the measured traits. The number of changes we observed was not significantly different to what we would expect by chance alone, based on the

SUBMITTER: Sritharan MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8093687 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature