The Role of Low Soil Temperature for Photosynthesis and Stomatal Conductance of Three Graminoids From Different Elevations.

In high-elevation grasslands, plants can encounter periods with high air temperature while the soil remains cold, which may lead to a temporary mismatch in the physiological activity of leaves and roots. In a climate chamber experiment with graminoid species from three elevations (4400, 2400, and 250 m a.s.

The Kobresia pygmaea ecosystem of the Tibetan highlands - Origin, functioning and degradation of the world's largest pastoral alpine ecosystem: Kobresia pastures of Tibet.

With 450,000 kmKobresia (syn. Carex) pygmaea dominated pastures in the eastern Tibetan highlands are the world's largest pastoral alpine ecosystem forming a durable turf cover at 3000-6000 m a.s.

Water sources of plant uptake along a salt marsh flooding gradient.

Salt marsh plants are affected by regular tidal inundation exposing them to saline water as a potential water source. This study aimed at quantifying the water uptake of plants depending on their distance from the sea and exploring plant responses to changing inundation regimes. We used stable isotope ratios (δO) to determine the proportions of seawater and precipitation water used by three salt marsh species (Spartina anglica, Atriplex portulacoides and Elytrigia atherica) from a German North Sea coast salt marsh.

Fine Root Abundance and Dynamics of Stone Pine () at the Alpine Treeline Is Not Impaired by Self-shading.

Low temperatures are crucial for the formation of the alpine treeline worldwide. Since soil temperature in the shade of tree canopies is lower than in open sites, it was assumed that self-shading may impair the trees' root growth performance. While experiments with tree saplings demonstrate root growth impairment at soil temperatures below 5-7°C, field studies exploring the soil temperature - root growth relationship at the treeline are missing.

Replicated throughfall exclusion experiment in an Indonesian perhumid rainforest: wood production, litter fall and fine root growth under simulated drought.

Climate change scenarios predict increases in the frequency and duration of ENSO-related droughts for parts of South-East Asia until the end of this century exposing the remaining rainforests to increasing drought risk. A pan-tropical review of recorded drought-related tree mortalities in more than 100 monitoring plots before, during and after drought events suggested a higher drought-vulnerability of trees in South-East Asian than in Amazonian forests. Here, we present the results of a replicated (n = 3 plots) throughfall exclusion experiment in a perhumid tropical rainforest in Sulawesi, Indonesia.