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Linking carbon balance to establishment patterns: comparison of whitebark pine and Engelmann spruce seedlings along an herb cover exposure gradient at treeline

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Abstract

There is increasing evidence that landscape vegetation patterns near species’ range limits are associated with positive biotic interactions, such as in the alpine-treeline ecotone. In the northern Rocky Mountains, whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is considered an early-successional species, able to establish in exposed microsites, while late-successional species such as Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) are more dependent on neighboring vegetation to facilitate establishment. We compared ecophysiological traits associated with carbon balance of newly germinated seedlings of whitebark pine and Engelmann spruce along an herb cover gradient to (1) infer which ecophysiological properties explain the establishment success of seedlings, and (2) to assess differences in establishment patterns with respect to distance from neighboring vegetation. We measured survival over 2 years, and concurrently measured gas exchange and water relations (photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration), morphology [specific leaf area (SLA)], and biochemistry [chlorophyll fluorescence (F v /F m) and nonstructural carbohydrates]. Both species initially established in the most exposed microsites away from vegetation during their first growing season, but only pine persisted in exposed microsites to the end of the second growing season. Pine exhibited phenotypic traits to increase stress tolerance (e.g., higher soluble sugar concentrations, lower SLA) and improve carbon balance (e.g., greater water use efficiency, lower respiration, higher F v /F m) compared to spruce in exposed sites, but had lower carbon balance under herb cover. Superior establishment success of pine in exposed microsites at treeline could thus be attributed to a suite of intrinsic physiological advantages that are apparent at the earliest stage of development.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by a grant from the Department of the Energy NICCR to MJG, seeds were provided by the USDA Forest Service, equipment was provided by W.K. Smith, and logistical support was provided by Grand Targhee Ski Resort management, in particular Grant Fleming and Andy Steele. Terry Peterson provided statistical consulting. Tristan Kelly, Dennis Demshar, Martha Inouye, Ben Morris, and Joe Timchak assisted in the field. We appreciate the comments of the anonymous reviewers that helped strengthen this manuscript.

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  1. Sheel Bansal

    Present address: Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, 650 Memorial Drive, Pocatello, ID, 83209, USA

    Sheel Bansal, Keith Reinhardt & Matthew J. Germino

  2. Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA

    Keith Reinhardt

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  1. Sheel Bansal
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  2. Keith Reinhardt
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  3. Matthew J. Germino
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Correspondence to Keith Reinhardt.

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All the authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

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Bansal, S., Reinhardt, K. & Germino, M.J. Linking carbon balance to establishment patterns: comparison of whitebark pine and Engelmann spruce seedlings along an herb cover exposure gradient at treeline. Plant Ecol 212, 219–228 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-010-9816-8

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