TY - JOUR
T1 - Killing me slowly
T2 - Harsh environment extends plant maximum life span
AU - Rosbakh, Sergey
AU - Poschlod, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank participants of the course “Ecology and nature conservation” and Theresa Lehmair for the help with the plant age identifications and Günter Kolb for the soil analysis. Accommodation and access to the collection sites was provided by the Berchtesgaden National Park. The research was funded by FORKAST project (TP 12 Poschlod). We thank editor of the Special Issue Niek Scheepens , managing editor Klaus Hövemeyer and two anonymous referees for their very helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Appendix A
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Gesellschaft für Ökologie
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Life span (the age of death for individuals that survived the establishment phase) is a key trait in plant life history. Despite its importance for understanding plant–environment relationships, there are still numerous substantial knowledge gaps about variation in plant maximum life spans and the ecological processes underlying these patterns. Based on plant age data obtained by means of herbochronology, we analysed patterns of intraspecific plant maximum life span variation in three perennial species (Campanula scheuchzeri, Helianthemun nummularium and Lotus corniculatus) along environmental gradients of mean annual temperature, soil depth and soil nutrients. This variation was compared with predictions from the ‘death-by-starvation hypothesis’ proposed by Hans Molisch in 1938, an unjustly forgotten ‘extrinsic’ theory on plant life span variation. Our study suggests that plant age variation within populations responds sensitively to growing conditions. The most important finding is that mean annual temperature or environmental conditions related to it seems to be a driving factor for intraspecific variation in plant maximum life span in all species studied. Despite large within-population variation, individuals of C. scheuchzeri, L. corniculatus and H. nummularium generally had a longer life span under colder climates (uplands in our case). In addition, soil depth (as a proxy for habitat susceptibility to drought) was found to have a significant positive effect on the age values in the case of C. scheuchzeri. These findings, therefore, are in line with Molisch's “death-by-starvation hypothesis”: extended maximum life span results from reduced production of sink tissues and slow vegetative growth. We conclude that the analysis of plant life span adjustments along gradients of environmental factors can considerably contribute to our understanding of how plants may cope with changing environmental conditions, e.g., due to global change.
AB - Life span (the age of death for individuals that survived the establishment phase) is a key trait in plant life history. Despite its importance for understanding plant–environment relationships, there are still numerous substantial knowledge gaps about variation in plant maximum life spans and the ecological processes underlying these patterns. Based on plant age data obtained by means of herbochronology, we analysed patterns of intraspecific plant maximum life span variation in three perennial species (Campanula scheuchzeri, Helianthemun nummularium and Lotus corniculatus) along environmental gradients of mean annual temperature, soil depth and soil nutrients. This variation was compared with predictions from the ‘death-by-starvation hypothesis’ proposed by Hans Molisch in 1938, an unjustly forgotten ‘extrinsic’ theory on plant life span variation. Our study suggests that plant age variation within populations responds sensitively to growing conditions. The most important finding is that mean annual temperature or environmental conditions related to it seems to be a driving factor for intraspecific variation in plant maximum life span in all species studied. Despite large within-population variation, individuals of C. scheuchzeri, L. corniculatus and H. nummularium generally had a longer life span under colder climates (uplands in our case). In addition, soil depth (as a proxy for habitat susceptibility to drought) was found to have a significant positive effect on the age values in the case of C. scheuchzeri. These findings, therefore, are in line with Molisch's “death-by-starvation hypothesis”: extended maximum life span results from reduced production of sink tissues and slow vegetative growth. We conclude that the analysis of plant life span adjustments along gradients of environmental factors can considerably contribute to our understanding of how plants may cope with changing environmental conditions, e.g., due to global change.
KW - Annual ring
KW - Elevational gradient
KW - European Alps
KW - Herbochronology
KW - Intraspecific variation
KW - Longevity
U2 - 10.1016/j.baae.2018.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.baae.2018.03.003
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85045006251
SN - 1439-1791
VL - 28
SP - 17
EP - 26
JO - Basic and Applied Ecology
JF - Basic and Applied Ecology
ER -