An ecophysiological comparison among species was conducted to investigate the possible factors controlling the distribution of North American spruce (Picea) species, especially with regard to the possible influence of global change. The seedlings of 8 North American spruce species were grown in a growth chamber, with half of them being given an episodic 'increased temperature and drought' stress treatment. Trait values among species, particularly growth analysis components, were compared and related to climatic variables associated with the geographical range of the species. Relative growth rate (RGR) and specific leaf area (SLA) were positively correlated with latitude, and the leaf weight ratio (LWR) variation negatively with the dryness of species' natural ranges. All these relationships hold with both messed and unstressed seedlings, even thou seedling response to the stress was significant. The SLA-latitude and LWR-dryness relationships are likely to have ecological significance, and this indicates that foliage stricture (SLA) and allocation (LWR) play important roles determining a species range along temperature and dryness gradients.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.30705 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Miyazawa, Kae. |
| Contributors | Lechowicz, Martin J. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Biology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001746878, proquestno: MQ64409, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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