Landscape-scale dynamics of alpine plants

Predicted climate change will probably shift habitats suitable for alpine plants. The absolute area of habitats is likely to shrink and habitat patches will become increasingly fragmented. However, landscape scale dynamics of alpine plant populations are understudied. We can thus hardly assess the capability of the alpine flora to keep track with the shifting habitat template and to cope with habitat reduction and fragmentation. The project "Landscape- scale dynamics of alpine plants" will improve our knowledge in this field of research. It particularly addresses the following questions: (1) Do empty but suitable habitats exist for alpine plants and are they correlated with area and isolation of habitat patches as predicted by metapopulation theory? (2) Is gene flow among local populations of alpine plants detectable and is its intensity correlated with topographic features of high mountain landscapes? Is scale and intensity different for pollen and seed mediated gene flow? As model organisms we will use snowbed plants of the Northeastern Calcareous Alps in Austria. Snowbeds represent a habitat well suited for tackling these questions as they are patchily distributed across the regional high mountain landscapes and colonised by a very specialised flora. Among this flora there are a couple of endemic species which are hence of particular conservation value.

Predicted climate change will probably shift habitats suitable for alpine plants. The absolute area of habitats is likely to shrink and habitat patches will become increasingly fragmented. However, landscape scale dynamics of alpine plant populations are understudied. We can thus hardly assess the capability of the alpine flora to keep track with the shifting habitat template and to cope with habitat reduction and fragmentation. The project "Landscape- scale dynamics of alpine plants" will improve our knowledge in this field of research. It particularly addresses the following questions: 1. Do empty but suitable habitats exist for alpine plants and are they correlated with area and isolation of habitat patches as predicted by metapopulation theory? 2. Is gene flow among local populations of alpine plants detectable and is its intensity correlated with topographic features of high mountain landscapes? Is scale and intensity different for pollen and seed mediated gene flow? As model organisms we will use snowbed plants of the Northeastern Calcareous Alps in Austria. Snowbeds represent a habitat well suited for tackling these questions as they are patchily distributed across the regional high mountain landscapes and colonised by a very specialised flora. Among this flora there are a couple of endemic species which are hence of particular conservation value.