Elliott Chaparral Reserve

30 Dec, 04 AM - 01 Jan, 08 AM

Plant and animal species are already responding to climate change and in the next hundred years they will face rising temperatures, more heatwaves, and a longer heatwave season. In California the duration of heatwave season is expected to increase by up to thirteen weeks, yet it remains unclear whether it will start earlier, end later, or both. These two possibilities will likely have different effects on native plants. In the Mediterranean-type climate of California, sudden heat in the spring, when soil water availability is high, should affect plants differently than extreme heat at the end of summer, when plants have acclimated to high temperatures but soil water availability is low. Moreover, the responses of native species might be different across their ranges because of climatic differences across California. In particular, variability in temperatures increases dramatically from coastal to inland sites. California has a sharp coastal-to-inland transition where coastal locations have much lower variability in temperature between seasons than inland locations. If plants currently found in climatically stable environments (i.e. coastal) are adapted to stable temperature regimes, they may be disproportionately harmed by increases in climatic extremes, such as heatwaves. This is an important distinction because if populations are well adapted to local environments, then moderate to strong climate change is likely to cause significant declines in productivity and fitness, as genotypes are stuck in suboptimal conditions. This project will examine the potential influence of intraspecific genetic variation on responses of a native shrub to climate change, with a focus on the role of ecotypic variation in response to extreme heat events. We will study multiple localities spanning north-to-south and coastal-to-inland gradients of the California native (near-endemic) sclerophyllous shrub Heteromeles arbutifolia (Rosaceae). Using a common garden we will (1) measure ecotypic variation in plant adaptations to climate and (2) determine the tolerance of genotypes to experimental heatwaves within and between coastal and inland populations of H. arbutifolia. In addition, we will continue measuring the impact of naturally occurring heatwaves on adult plants in the field to link greenhouse and field experiments on seedlings to responses of adult plants. Collectively these studies will address a critical knowledge gap regarding the extent and spatial scale of ecotypic differentiation in a native plant species in response to extreme climatic events.

Visit #20009 @Elliott Chaparral Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 20965 | Research

Taking the Heat: Mechanisms of adaptive differentiation in response to extreme heat events

graduate_student - University of California, Berkeley

Reservation Members(s)

Michal Shuldman Dec 30, 2009 - Jan 1, 2010 (3 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice

Grounds use only 1 Dec 30, 2009 - Jan 1, 2010