Growth and flowering in Eriophorum vaginatum: annual and latitudinal variation

Growth, flowering, and nutrient content of Eriophorum vaginatum were observed an- nually over 4 yr at 34 sites spanning 5.50 latitude and 1050 m elevation in northern and central Alaska. We found a strong correlation between the average number of thawing degree-days during the growing season and the peak-season leaf mass per tiller. However, the results from reciprocal transplant gardens established at five sites suggested the correlation was due more to genetic differences among populations than to direct climatic effects. Other variables showed little correlation with long-term degree-day averages, and leaf N and P concentrations were site specific. A year of high inflorescence density at any site along the latitudinal transect was likely to be a high flowering year at all other sites. However, a year of above-average growth north of the Brooks Range did not always coincide with above-average growth to the south, and vice versa. The greatest year-to-year variation was in inflorescence density; least variation was in leaf mass per tiller and N and P concentrations. We conclude that yearly variation in weather affects plants on a broad regional scale, but specific controls over flowering versus growth differ in their geographic extent.

[1]  R. Wein,et al.  Primary Production in Arctic Cottongrass Tussock Tundra Communities , 1974 .

[2]  W. D. Billings.  Arctic and Alpine Vegetations: Similarities, Differences, and Susceptibility to Disturbance , 1973 .

[3]  F. Chapin,et al.  Photosynthesis, Respiration, and Phosphate Absorption by Carex Aquatilis Ecotypes along Latitudinal and Local Environmental Gradients , 1983 .

[4]  F. Chapin,et al.  Ecotypic differentiation of growth processes in Carex aquatilis along latitudinal and local gradients. , 1981 .

[5]  G. Goodman,et al.  The Role of Mineral Nutrients in Eriophorum Communities: III. Growth Response to Added Inorganic Elements in Two E. Vaginatum Communities , 1968 .

[6]  F. Chapin,et al.  Effect of Fertilizer on Production and Biomass of Tussock Tundra, Alaska, U.S.A. , 1986 .

[7]  F. Chapin,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS OVER CARBON, NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS FRACTIONS IN ERIOPHORUM VAGINATUM IN ALASKAN TUSSOCK TUNDRA , 1986 .

[8]  F. Chapin,et al.  Ecotypic Differentiation in Carex Aquatilis on Ice-Wedge Polygons in the Alaskan Coastal Tundra , 1979 .

[9]  Ross W. Wein.  Eriophorum Vaginatum L. , 1973 .

[10]  H. Mooney,et al.  Comparative Physiological Ecology of Arctic and Alpine Populations of Oxyria digyna , 1961 .

[11]  F. Chapin,et al.  Spring growth of shoots and roots in shrubs of an alaskan muskeg , 1983 .

[12]  H. Woolhouse,et al.  Studies of the seasonal course of carbon uptake of Eriophorum vaginatum in a moorland habitat. I: Leaf production and senescence , 1984 .

[13]  K. Everett,et al.  SOME EFFECTS OF MAMMALIAN HERBIVORES AND FERTILIZATION ON TUNDRA SOILS AND VEGETATION , 1980 .

[14]  F. Chapin.  FIELD MEASUREMENTS OF GROWTH AND PHOSPHATE ABSORPTION IN CAREXAQUA TILIS ALONG A LATITUDINAL GRADIENT , 1981 .

[15]  C. T. Dyrness,et al.  Introduction and overview of a multidisciplinary research project: the structure and function of a black spruce (Piceamariana) forest in relation to other fire-affected taiga ecosystems , 1983 .

[16]  F. Chapin,et al.  FACTORS LIMITING SEASONAL GROWTH AND PEAK BIOMASS ACCUMULATION IN ERIOPHORUM VAGINATUM IN ALASKAN TUSSOCK TUNDRA , 1986 .

[17]  D. Walker,et al.  Geobotanical Atlas of the Prudhoe Bay Region, Alaska , 1982 .

[18]  J. A. Teeri.  Polar Desert Adaptations of a High Arctic Plant Species , 1973, Science.

[19]  C. Tamm.  Some Observations on the Nutrient Turn-Over in a Bog Community Dominated by Eriophorum vaginatum L. , 1954 .

[20]  G. Shaver,et al.  Growth and tillering patterns within tussocks of Eriophorum vaginatum , 1982 .

[21]  S. W. Roberts,et al.  Plant-soil processes in eriophorum vaginatum tussock tundra in alaska: a systems modeling approach , 1984 .

[22]  G. Shaver,et al.  LIFE HISTORIES OF TILLERS OF ERIOPHORUM VAGINATUM IN RELATION TO TUNDRA DISTURBANCE , 1983 .

[23]  J. McGraw,et al.  Experimental ecology of Dryas octopetala ecotypes. I. Ecotypic differentiation and life-cycle stages of selection , 1983 .

[24]  D. Inouye,et al.  Synchrony and Periodicity of Flowering in Frasera Speciosa (Gentianaceae) , 1985 .

[25]  N. Fetcher.  EFItECTS OF REMOVAL OF NEIGHBORING SPECIES ON GROWTH, NUTRIENTS, AND MICROCLIMATE OF ERIOPHORUM VAGINATUM , 1985 .

[26]  R. Haugen.  Climate of Remote Areas in North-Central Alaska: 1975-1979 Summary, , 1982 .

[27]  J. Teal,et al.  The Nature of Growth Forms in the Salt Marsh Grass Spartina alterniflora , 1978, The American Naturalist.

[28]  J. Melillo,et al.  Nutrient Budgets of Marsh Plants: Efficiency Concepts and Relation to Availability , 1984 .

[29]  F. S. Chapin,et al.  Response to fertilization by various plant growth forms in an Alaskan tundra: nutrient accumulation and growth , 1980 .