Recruitment Traits Could Influence Species' Geographical Range: A Case Study in the Genus Saxifraga L.

ABSTRACT: The reasons why some species occur widespread, while related species have restricted geographical ranges have been attributed to habitat specialization or ecological niche breadth. For species in the genus Saxifraga, habitat specialization alone cannot explain the distributional differences observed. We hypothesize that recruitment traits (i.e., germination, emergence, and survival) may account for differences in geographical ranges and that early life stages correlate to survival. We studied recruitment responses in 13 widespread and 12 narrow-ranged Saxifraga species in the laboratory and common garden experiments using seeds collected from 79 populations in the European Alps. We found that in the laboratory cold temperature led to higher germination percentages compared wi

SUBMITTER: Margreiter V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9136331 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature