Competition and disturbance affect elevational distribution of two congeneric conifers.

ABSTRACT: Climatic change will affect elevational vegetation distribution because vegetation distribution is related to thermal conditions. However, how elevational species distributions are determined by biotic and abiotic factors is not clear. The long-term plot census along an elevational gradient is indispensable to clarify mechanisms of elevational distribution of tree species. Two congeneric conifers, the less shade-tolerant Abies veitchii and shade-tolerant A. mariesii, dominate at low and high elevations, respectively, in the subalpine zone in Japan. This study investigated the population dynamics of the two species at three elevations (low, middle, high) for 13 years to examine why the two species dominated the different elevations from the viewpoints of competition and

SUBMITTER: Takahashi K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8858215 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature