RMBL Non-Spatial Metadata Owner and Metadata Title:   John Bryan Curtis  <div>Environmental Forces Drive Morphological Variation in an Alpine Plant: Moisture Data</div>



RMBL non-spatial metadata record ID #478
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Project Contact Information
Head PI /OwnerJohn Bryan Curtis Affiliation: RMBL Scientist
Project Title: 
Environmental Forces Drive Morphological Variation in an Alpine Plant: Moisture Data
Data Collector:  John Curtis Email: jbc28@humboldt.edu
Metadata Collector:  John Curtis Email: jbc28@humboldt.edu

Project Classification Information
Level: population Theme:  Research Subject: Climate change
Project:  Observational Location:  other
Organism 1:  Androsace septentrionalis Organism 2:  Androsace septentrionalis

Project Information
Project keywords: adaptation, morphology, environment
Project purpose:  The purpose of the project is to understand how specific environmental variables influence the morphology of a annual to perennial alpine plant. The main goal is to understand how Androsace septentrionalis will respond to projected climate change. The patterns observed will help to direct further research that addresses this goal.
Project methodology:  
The project consisted of observing the relationship between specific environmental variables and morphological variables.  Patterns and correlations were observed at the individual, population, and elevational level.

Project abstract:  
The way in which plants respond evolutionarily to environmental change partially depends on the magnitude of variation present within populations.  In an attempt to understand the evolutionary response of Androsace septentrionalis (Rock Jasime) to current and future climate change in the Elk mountains of Colorado, we investigated environmental and morphological trait variation both within and between natural populations along an elevation gradient.  Species richness (environmental factor), rosette width and stalk number (morphological traits) varied most at mid elevation and least at low and high elevations. Stalk length and soil temperature variance decreased from low elevation to high elevation, suggesting a potential causal link between soil temperature and stalk length.  Given these results, populations at mid elevation may have a higher potential to respond to environmental change than populations at either low or high elevation. This study begins to shed light on environmentally induced patterns of A. septentrionalis morphological trait variation, and is therefore the first step toward understanding the ways in which A. septentrionalis populations will respond to environmental change.
 
 

Data variables arrangement: columns
Data variables description: Rows represent individual plants or control locations

Project Audit
Have these data been audited? No
Who audited these data? 
Are the metadata and associated data file of sufficient quality to repeat the study?  

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