Survival and Growth of Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) Ecotypes
Citation
Simon A Lei, Survival and Growth of Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) Ecotypes: .
Summary
Survival and early growth traits of Coleogyne ramosissima (blackbrush) seedlings were quantitatively investigated in an effort to detect intraspecific variation among populations. Blackbrush seeds were collected from four isolated mountain ranges, with each range sampled from one high-elevation and one low-elevation location for a total of eight populations in the Mojave Desert. Seedlings were grown together in a controlled environmental glasshouse in southern Nevada for six months. Survival of experimental blackbrush seedlings among eight populations ranged from 60.0% to 76.7%. Significant variation was found for all measured growth traits of blackbrush seedlings between high and low elevations. These growth traits included shoot [...]
Summary
Survival and early growth traits of Coleogyne ramosissima (blackbrush) seedlings were quantitatively investigated in an effort to detect intraspecific variation among populations. Blackbrush seeds were collected from four isolated mountain ranges, with each range sampled from one high-elevation and one low-elevation location for a total of eight populations in the Mojave Desert. Seedlings were grown together in a controlled environmental glasshouse in southern Nevada for six months. Survival of experimental blackbrush seedlings among eight populations ranged from 60.0% to 76.7%. Significant variation was found for all measured growth traits of blackbrush seedlings between high and low elevations. These growth traits included shoot height, root/shoot ratio, basal shoot diameter, root and shoot biomass, and leaf length. Nevertheless, significant variation was not found for these six growth traits with respect to latitude. A significant interaction was detected between elevation and latitude for root biomass of seedlings only. Results of this study suggest that high- and low-elevational ecotypes were found, representing by the differences in early growth traits among surviving blackbrush seedlings when grown in a common garden.
Published in Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, volume 39, issue 1, on pages 22 - 27, in 2007.