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INTD 280 > 2. Adaptations of Plants to High Elevation > Flashcards

2. Adaptations of Plants to High Elevation Flashcards

1
Q

What does “alpine” mean?

A

“white” or ”snow-covered” (latin)
“alp”, “alb”, “alpo” (indo-germanic, basques)

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2
Q

What is the definition of alpine vegetation?

A

Any low stature vegetation above the climatic tree-line
worldwide

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3
Q

What is the definition of alpine plant?

A

Plants that are almost exclusively found in the alpine zone

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4
Q

What are the altitudinal vegetation zone?

A

Lowland, Submontane: forest and bush organized by species composition
Montane: montane forest >5 m high
Upper Montane: montane forest 2-5 m high
TREELINE
Subalpine: shrubs and trees 0.5 - 2 m high
Alpine: herbs, shrubs, <0.5 m high, rosette plants
UPPER LIMIT OF VASCULAR PLANTS
Nival and subnival: Only cryptograms

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5
Q

What are vascular plants?

A
  • Plants that distribute water and minerals throughout their body
  • Have true roots, leaves and stem
  • Can acquire larger size than non-vascular plants
    ex. Examples of life-forms: shrubs, grasses, forbs, ferns (mostly perennial)
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6
Q

What is the highest known occurrence of vascular plants?

A

6400 m, collected during 1935 and 1952 Mount Everest expeditions
(Saussurea gnaphalodes, Lepidostemon everestianus)

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7
Q

Plants derive energy from what?

A

Photosynthesis

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8
Q

How does photosynthesis work?

A

carbon dioxide + water —light–> sugar + oxygen
- Green plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen.
- Sugars produced in photosynthesis are converted into biomolecules that make up the dry weight (biomass) of a plant.

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9
Q

What are chloroplasts (in cells)?

A

sites of photosynthesis, contain chlorophyll - a pigment that is essential to photosynthesis. Located in leaves (and stems) of plants.

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10
Q

What specific light wavelength does photosynthesis occur at?

A

400-700 nm (visible light)

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11
Q

Ultraviolet light, specifically UV-B (280-320nm), penetrates through the stratosphere and has what kind of effect on photosynthesis?

A

A damaging effect: its higher energy content can destroy biological tissue and DNA.

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12
Q

What is high UV-B irradiation?

A
  • UV-B intensity decreases with latitude
  • UV-B intensity increases with altitude (but clouds can counteract this)
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13
Q

The alpine environment does not exist but some frequent features are…

A
  1. High UV radiation
  2. Reduced mean temperature (low-temperature extremes)
  3. High-temperature fluctuations
  4. Windy
  5. Short growing season
  6. Precipitation often as snow
  7. Shallow soils
  8. Low water and nutrient avaliability
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14
Q

What plants need: Liquid water
Availability at high altitudes: ?

A

Limiting (not readily available)

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15
Q

What plants need: Light
Availability at high altitudes: ?

A

Limiting (à long snow cover, clouds)

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16
Q

What plants need: Warmth
Availability at high altitudes: ?

A

Limiting

17
Q

What plants need: Nutrients
Availability at high altitudes: ?

A

Limiting

18
Q

What plants need: p(CO2) partial pressure of cardon dioxide
Availability at high altitudes: ?

A

Decreases (but higher than historically)
à Global warming, Körner (2002)

19
Q

What is a limiting factor?

A

An environmental factor that restraints abundance, growth and
dispersal in organisms

20
Q

What is an adaptation to high UV-B irradiation

A
  1. Dense hairiness
  2. Thick epidermis (outer leaf layer) with beneficial compounds
  3. Some alpine plants build anthocyanins to avoid damage by UV-B light
  4. : Epidermis (outer leaf layer) absorbs a lot of UV light in alpine plants. : Effect possibly due to extractable compounds in epidermis (Extract contained flavonoids, lipids, cuticular waxes)
21
Q

Example of a species with dense hairness?

A

Leontopodium nivale

22
Q

What are anthocyanins?

A

water soluble pigments (red, purple, blue)

23
Q

Example of a species that uses anthocyanins?

A

Oxyria digyna, Mountain sorrel

24
Q

Adaptation to cold temperature?

A
  1. Alpine plants have a flexible photosynthesis: it operates near maximum over a wide temperature range.
  2. Photosynthesis is mostly limited by low light (quantum flux density) in high-altitude conditions, not temperature!
25
Q

Adaptation to a short growing season?

A

Short growing seasons means few pollinator encounters! Prolonged flowering to compensate for rare pollinator visits

26
Q

Adaptation to low nutrients (and low water availability)?

A

Many alpine plants invest in below-ground rather than in above-ground biomass. They also have a finer root structure and form often a symbiosis with mycorrhizae (symbiotic fungi).

27
Q

Adaptation to strong winds?

A
  1. Tolerance: Low stature, appressed to ground. Flexible stem
  2. Avoidance: Colonization of windless microsites
28
Q

Adaptation to dry conditions?

A

Growth features that we otherwise see in deserts:
- Succulence
- Waxy leaf surface
- Hairiness

29
Q

Example of a plant which adapts to short growing season?

A

Silene acaulis, moss campion

30
Q

Example of plant with high tolerance to high winds?

A

Leuseleuria procumbens

31
Q

Example of plant that can store water in leaf and stems

A

Succulent plant: Sempervivum montanum

32
Q

Adaptation through growth forms?

A
  1. Cushion plants
  2. Herbaceous rosette-forming plants
  3. Graminoids (grasses, sedges) often tussock-forming
33
Q

What are cushion plants?

A

Cushion form in alpine plants is a genetically inherited form
– not the results of harsh conditions

  • Avoidance of wind andlow extreme temperatures
  • Possibly also a way to trap nutrients: keep dead biomass from being blown away
  • But danger of overheating
34
Q

What are herbaceous rosette-forming plants?

A
  • Avoidance of wind and extreme low temperatures
  • Decoupling from atmospheric temperatures
35
Q

What are graminoids (grasses, sedges)

A
  • Flexible stems and leaves: wind tolerance
  • Avoidance of low temperatures
  • Microclimate regulation
  • Nutrient trapping

“In Carex curvula, DNA analysis of clonal expansion suggests genet ages of several thousands of years.
- These plants may be functionally immortal.“

36
Q

Example of a cushion plant

A

Silene acaulis, moss campion

37
Q

Example of a herbaceous rosette-forming plants

A

Saxifraga paniculata, white mountain-saxifrage

38
Q

Example of graminoids (grasses, sedges)

A
  1. Carex sempervirens, evergreen sedge
  2. Clonal growth of a fescue species, Andes,

INTD 280 (8 decks)

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