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Article
Open AccessApomixis and genetic background affect distinct traits in Hieracium pilosella L. grown under competition
Apomixis, the asexual reproduction through seeds, occurs in over 40 plant families and avoids the hidden cost of sex. Apomictic plants are thought to have an advantage in sparse populations and when colonizing...
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Article
Open AccessDynamics of apomictic and sexual reproduction during primary succession on a glacier forefield in the Swiss Alps
Apomixis, the asexual reproduction through seeds, is thought to provide reproductive assurance when ploidy is not even and/or when population density is low. Therefore, apomicts are expected to be more abundan...
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Article
Local adaptation is stronger between than within regions in alpine populations of Anthyllis vulneraria
Plant populations can be locally adapted and the strength of local adaptation is predicted to increase with increasing environmental distance, e.g. to be larger across than within regions. Meta-analyses compar...
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Article
Colonization dynamics of a clonal pioneer plant on a glacier foreland inferred from spatially explicit and size-structured matrix models
The regional distribution of a plant species is a result of the dynamics of extinctions and colonizations in suitable habitats, especially in strongly fragmented landscapes. Here, we studied the role of spatia...
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Article
Open AccessHigh intraspecific phenotypic variation, but little evidence for local adaptation in Geum reptans populations in the Central Swiss Alps
The Alpine landscape is characterized by high spatiotemporal heterogeneity in environmental variables, such as climate and soil characteristics. This may lead to divergent selection pressures across plant popu...
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Article
Open AccessPlasticity of flower longevity in alpine plants is increased in populations from high elevation compared to low elevation populations
Flower longevity is an adaptive trait, optimized to balance reproductive success against the costs of flower maintenance. The trait is highly plastic in response to pollination success, and numerous studies re...
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Article
Celebrating 125 years of Alpine Botany
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Article
Open AccessOviposition by mutualistic seed-consuming pollinators reduces fruit abortion in a recently discovered pollination mutualism
A prerequisite for the evolutionary stability of pollinating seed-consuming mutualisms is that each partner benefits from the association. However, few studies of such mutualism have considered the benefit gai...
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Article
Past selection explains differentiation in flowering phenology of nearby populations of a common alpine plant
The timing of and relative investment in reproductive events are crucial fitness determinants for alpine plants, which have limited opportunities for reproduction in the cold and short growing seasons at high ...
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Article
Adaptation of flowering phenology and fitness-related traits across environmental gradients in the widespread Campanula rotundifolia
Plant populations need to adjust to climate warming through phenotypic plasticity or evolution of trait means. We performed a common-garden experiment with European populations of Campanula rotundifolia to inves...
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Article
Habitat-specific responses of seed germination and seedling establishment to soil water condition in two Rheum species in the high Sino-Himalayas
Knowledge of how germination and seedling establishment respond to soil water condition is crucial for plant conservation under global warming and land-use changes. We tested the flooding and drought tolerance...
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Article
Multifunctional bracts enhance plant fitness during flowering and seed development in Rheum nobile (Polygonaceae), a giant herb endemic to the high Himalayas
Specialized bracts are thought to be important for the successful reproduction of some plants and are regarded as adaptations to diverse driving forces. However, few empirical studies have quantified the adapt...
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Article
Omnipresence of leaf herbivory by invertebrates and leaf infection by fungal pathogens in agriculturally used grasslands of the Swiss Alps, but low plant damage
Agriculturally used grasslands in the Alps are characterised by a trade-off between high fodder production in some and high plant species richness in others. In contrast to plant species richness and productio...
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Article
High genetic differentiation in populations of the rare alpine plant species Campanula thyrsoides on a small mountain
Changes in climate and traditional land use have contributed to a loss and fragmentation of suitable habitats for many alpine plant species. Despite the importance of these changes, our knowledge of the conseq...
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Article
Dispersal and microsite limitation of a rare alpine plant
Knowledge on the limitation of plant species’ distributions is important for preserving alpine biodiversity, particularly when the loss of alpine habitats because of global warming or land use changes is faste...
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Article
Adaptation of Poa alpina to altitude and land use in the Swiss Alps
Current land use and climate change are prompting questions about the ability of plants to adapt to such environmental change. Therefore, we experimentally addressed plant performance and quantitative-genetic ...
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Article
Why Alpine Botany?
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Article
Differentiation in morphology and flowering phenology between two Campanula thyrsoides L. subspecies
Subspecies are usually characterised by sets of morphological discontinuities. By means of common garden experiments, we investigated genetic differentiation in morphological and phenological traits in two geo...
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Article
Genotypic and environmental variation in specific leaf area in a widespread Alpine plant after transplantation to different altitudes
Specific leaf area (SLA) is an important plant functional trait as it is an indicator of ecophysiological characteristics like relative growth rate, stress tolerance and leaf longevity. Substantial intraspecif...
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Article
Genetic diversity, phenotypic variation and local adaptation in the alpine landscape: case studies with alpine plant species
Plant survival in alpine landscapes is constantly challenged by the harsh and often unpredictable environmental conditions. Steep environmental gradients and patchy distribution of habitats lead to small size ...
