Dissertation Research: A subalpine forb's response to long-term experimental warming

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

When climatic change surpasses tolerance limits, plant and animal populations have three possible general responses - they can adapt, either via plasticity or genetic change, to their local changing environment; migrate to more suitable habitats; or go extinct. This research investigates the potential roles of evolutionary adaptation and migration in preventing the extinction of a short-lived, subalpine wildflower in an experimentally warmed mountain meadow (the 'Warming Meadow'). A series of transplant experiments will 1) test for adaptation to warmed microclimates, 2) tease apart the plastic and genetic components of this adaptation, and 3) test whether immigrant seeds 'pre-adapted' to warmer, drier, low-elevation conditions can potentially rescue the declining Warming Meadow wildflower population. Understanding population-level responses to global climate change is of central concern to conservation, agricultural, and public health scientists and policy-makers. This research uses a novel combination of common gardens, reciprocal transplants, and molecular analyses to investigate evolutionary adaptation and migration in response to climate warming. Thus, the intellectual and scientific merits of this study lie in its use of a unique, long-term experiment to address issues of global importance. The investigators will communicate research findings and their enthusiasm for scientific inquiry to a broad public audience, including adults of diverse cultural, economic, and political backgrounds; grade-school students, and undergraduates in both California and Colorado.