| title: | The ecological significance of potential and realized morphological plasticity in herbaceous plants |
|---|---|
| reg no: | ETF5535 |
| project type: | Estonian Science Foundation research grant |
| subject: |
1.10-1.16. Bio-Geo Sciences |
| status: | accepted |
| institution: | TU Faculty of Biology and Geography |
| head of project: | Kristjan Zobel |
| duration: | 01.01.2003 - 31.12.2006 |
| description: | Phenotypic plasticity - property of a given genotype to produce different phenotypes in response to distinct environmental conditions - has been demonstrated to be an independent adaptive trait of biological species. However, plasticity has hardly ever been properly measured and compared across functionally similar species. Therefore, in ecological studies, plasticity has never been considered as a separate adaptive trait that could explain species distribution pattern in the nature. The aim of this project is to make the first attempt ever to numerically assess the plasticity of different morphological traits across a number of herbaceous plant species, and to study the importance of plasticity in the formation of species' synecological niches, and for species coexistence in natural and semi-natural plant communities. Mostly, investigations will focus on plasticity to light availability, but plasticity to soil fertility will also be considered. The project will develop in three stages: 1) the study of autecological (potential) morphological plasticity of ca 60..70 herbaceous species in a garden experiment, using shading and nutrient manipulation as experimental treatments; 2) the study of synecological (realized) plasticity of the same species in natural and semi-natural herbaceous communities, in habitats with contrasting light and nutrient availability, by extensively measuring plants in the field; 3) the testing of working hypotheses on the role of plasticity in species co-existence in space and time, and on the factors which are responsible for the match or mismatch between potential and realized niches and plasticities of species. The expected results will be another step towards the answer to one of the fundamental questions in plant ecology - which traits of species, and to what degree, determine the distribution of species on different abiotic and biotic environmental gradients. |
| project group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no | name | institution | position | |
| 1. | Mari Lepik | Tartu University | doctoral student | |
| 2. | Kristjan Zobel | TU Faculty of Biology and Geography | docent | |