Abstract
Bioclimatic hypotheses are used to explain how climate regulates the occurrence of species. A derivative of these hypotheses is that plants moved between corresponding bioclimatic areas should thrive, whereas plants moved to a different zone should languish. This principle is routinely applied in forestry and horticulture but actual tests of the hypotheses seem scanty. We carried out a test on the Finnish system of bioclimatic vegetation zoning using the plant collection of Helsinki University Botanic Garden in Kumpula, which is situated at the northern limit of the hemiboreal zone. We aimed to test how the plants’ survival depends on their provenance with the expectation that plants from the hemiboreal or southern boreal zones should do best in Kumpula. Probability of survival was estimated using collection database information of 379 plant accessions of known wild origin, and logit models. Different growth forms were analysed separately. In most analyses accessions of temperate and hemiarctic origin showed lower survival probability than those originating from any of the boreal subzones, which among them exhibited rather evenly high probabilities. Trees were an exception showing an almost steadily increasing survival probability from temperate to northern boreal origin. In all, the results gave some support to the tested hypothesis, but the various factors that could not be controlled for produced results that were difficult to interpret. We conclude that botanic gardens should pay due attention to information management and curational practices to ensure widest possible applicability of their plant collections.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- A:
-
Arctic, oroarctic
- BZS:
-
Bioclimatic zone system
- CEM:
-
Climate envelope modelling
- GIS:
-
Geographical information systems
- HA:
-
Hemiarctic, orohemiarctic
- HB:
-
Hemiboreal, orohemiboreal
- HUBG:
-
Helsinki University Botanic Garden
- MB:
-
Middle boreal, middle oroboreal
- NB:
-
Northern boreal, upper oroboreal
- SB:
-
Southern boreal, lower oroboreal
- T:
-
Temperate, orotemperate
References
Ahti T (1980) Definition and subdivision of the subarctic. A circumpolar view. Can Bot Assoc Bull 13(2(supplement)):3–10
Ahti T, Hämet-Ahti L, Jalas J (1968) Vegetation zones and their sections in Northwestern Europe. Annales Botanici Fennici 5:169–211
Cajander AK (1917) Metsänhoidon perusteet 2. Suomen dendrologian pääpiirteet, WSOY, Porvoo
Collett D (2002) Modelling binary data, 2nd edn. Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, London
Freitag H (1962) Einführung in die Biographie von Mitteleuropa unter besonderer. Berücksichtung von Deutschland, Stuttgart, p 214
Goward T, Ahti T (1992) Macrolichens and their zonal distribution in Wells Gray provincial park and its vicinity, British Columbia, Canada. Acta Botanica Fennica 147:1–60
Hällfors M, Schulman L, Lindén L and Rita H (2010) Testing bioclimatic hypotheses with botanic garden collections—curatorial considerations. In: Proceedings of the 4th global botanic gardens congress—addressing global change: a new agenda for botanic gardens, 13th–18th June 2010, Dublin, Ireland. http://www.bgci.org/files/Dublin2010/papers/Hällfors-Maria.pdf
Hämet-Ahti L (1981) The boreal zone and its biotic subdivision. Fennia 159(1):69–75
Hämet-Ahti L, Ahti T, Koponen T (1974) A scheme of vegetation zones for Japan and adjacent regions. Annales Botanici Fennici 11:59–88
Heikinheimo O (1956) Ergebnisse von einigen Anbauversuchen mit fremdländischen Holzarten in Finnland. Communicationes Instituti Forestalis Fenniae 45(3):1–129
Hijmans RJ, Graham CH (2006) The ability of climate envelope models to predict the effect of climate change on species distributions. Global Change Biol 12:2272–2282
Holdridge LR (1947) Determination of world plant formations from simple climatic data. Science 105(2727):367–368
Hopkins AD (1920) The bioclimatic law. Mon Weather Rev 48:355
Ilvessalo L (1920) Über die Anbaumöglichkeit ausländischer Holzarten mit spezieller Hinsicht auf die finnischen Verhältnisse. Acta Forestalia Fennica 17(2):1–42
Kalela A (1961) Waldvegetationszonen Finnlands und ihre klimatischen Paralelltypen. Archivum Societatis Zoologicae-Botanicae Fennicae ‘Vanamo’ 16((Suppl)):65–83
Kallio TK (1966) Über Verbreitung und Gedeihen von Zierbäumen und—sträuchern in Finnland. Annales Agriculturae Fenniae 5(1):1–107
Kallio TK (1977) The ornamental trees and shrubs grown at the institute of horticulture in the years 1927–1976. Annales Agriculturae Fenniae 16:27–36
Komonen A, Rita H (2008) Odds ratio: an ecologically sound tool to compare proportions. Ann Zool Fenn 45(1):66–72
Koponen T (1998) Botanical garden, University of Helsinki seed collecting excursions to Japan, China and Canada. Museologia Scientifica 14(1):449–458
Koponen T, Koponen A (1994) Delectus seminum. List of seeds available in 1994 Supplement. Seeds from natural habitats in Hokkaido, Japan. Botanical Garden, University of Helsinki, Helsinki
Koponen T, Koponen A (1995) Delectus seminum. List of seeds available in 1994. Supplement 2. Seeds from natural habitats in Northeast China. Botanical Garden, University of Helsinki, Helsinki
Koponen T, Koponen A (1996) Delectus seminum. List of seeds available in 1996. Supplement 3. Seeds from natural habitats in Canada. Botanical Garden, University of Helsinki, Helsinki
Koponen T, Koponen A (2002) Introduction to the new Botanical Garden at the University of Helsinki with updated taxon list, 2nd edn. Botanical Garden, University of Helsinki, Ylipistopaino, Helsinki
Kujala V (1936) Kasvillisuus. In: Suomen maantieteen käsikirja, Helsinki, pp 331–337, 715
Lähde E, Nieminen J, Etholén K, Silander V (1984) Older forest trials of exotic conifer species in Finland. Communicationes Instituti Forestalis Fenniae 125:1–87
Linkola K (1922) Zur kenntnis der Verteilung der landwirtshaftlichen Siedlungen auf der Böden verschiedener Waldtypen in Finnland. Acta Forestalia Fennica 22(3):1–67
Lipponen V and Schulman L (2005) T-Puska, tieteellisille puutarhoille suunniteltu kasvitietokanta [A plant database designed for scientific gardens; in Finnish]. MS-Access based relational database, Helsinki University Botanic Garden, Helsinki
Meurman O (1963) Notes on ornamental trees and shrubs at the department of horticulture (Piikkiö, Finland). Acta Forestalia Fennica 76(3):1–44
Morton AG, Enroth J, Kukkonen I (1999) Kasvitieteen historia: Kuvaus kasvitieteen vaiheista muinaisajoista nykypäivään. Gaudeamus, Helsinki
Naumann E (1928) Die regionale Gliederung von Süd- und Mittelschweden in pflanzengeographischer bezv. limnoloischer Hintsicht. Eine vergleichende Übersicht. Botaniska Notiser 1928:31–48
Primack RB, Miller-Rushing AJ (2009) The role of botanical gardens in climate change research. New Phytol 182:303–313
Raunkiær C (1904) Om biologiske Typer, med Hensyn til Planternes Tilpasninger til at overleve ugunstige Aarstider. Botanisk Tidsskrift 26:14
Regel K (1940) Über die Begrenzungen von pflanzengeographischer Gebieten. Memoranda Societatis pro Fauna et Flora Fennica 15:197–200
Rita H, Komonen A (2008) Odds ratio: an ecologically sound tool to compare proportions. Annales Zoologici Fennici 45(1):66–72
Sarvas R (1964) Havupuut. WSOY, Porvoo
Schulman L (2009) From cloudberry to Amur cherry: Kumpula botanic garden. University of Helsinki. Esa Print, Helsinki
Silander V, Lehtonen J, Nikkanen T (2000) Performance of exotic conifers in southern Finland. Metla, Vantaan tutkimuskeskus
Solantie R (1986) The growing zones for fruit trees and woody ornamental plants in finland—revision of earlier divisions. Sorbifolia 17(4):201–209
Solantie R (1988) Modification of the climatic zones for fruit trees and woody ornamental plants in Finland. Sorbifolia 19(3):124–126
Tigerstedt AF (1922) Arboretum Mustila. Report on experiments with trees and shrubs of foreign origin in mustila 1901–1921. Acta Forestalia Fennica 24(2):1–230
Tuhkanen S (1980) Climatic parameters and indices in plant geography. Acta Phytogeographica Suecica 67:100
Tuhkanen S (1984) A circumboreal system of climatic-phytogeographical regions. Acta Bot Fennica 127:1–50
Vaarama A (1941) Die Winterschäden im Botanischen Garten der universität Helsinki im Frostwinter 1939–1940. Annales Botanici Societatis Zoologicae-Botanicae Fennicae Vanamo 16(4):1–48
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Timo Koponen and his staff and collaborators who collected the plants analysed in this study, and all gardeners who have cared for them and the database keepers who have regularly recorded information on them over the years. We thank the Finnish Meteorological Institute for climate data, and Tuija Saarinen for part of the data collection.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hällfors, M.H., Lindén, L., Rita, H. et al. Using a botanic garden collection to test a bioclimatic hypothesis. Biodivers Conserv 20, 259–275 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9976-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9976-9