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Project Contact Information
Project Classification Information
Project Information 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 Who audited these data? Are the metadata and associated data file of sufficient quality to repeat the study?
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