Fluctuating asymmetry as an indicator of elevation stress and distribution limits in mountain birch (Betula pubescens)

Plant Ecology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 195 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snorre B. Hagen ◽  
Rolf A. Ims ◽  
Nigel G. Yoccoz ◽  
Ove Sørlibråten
Keyword(s):  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Betula Pubescens ◽  
Mountain Birch ◽  
Distribution Limits

Contrasting response of mountain birch to damage by Eriocrania leafminers in polluted and unpolluted habitats

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail V Kozlov
Keyword(s):  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Leaf Size ◽  
Betula Pubescens ◽  
Leaf Damage ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Mountain Birch ◽  
Foliar Damage ◽  
Long Shoots ◽  
Intact Leaves ◽  
Short Shoots

The leafmining larvae of Eriocrania spp. (Lepidoptera, Eriocraniidae) develop in the expanding leaves of mountain birch, Betula pubescens subsp. czerepanovii (Orlova) Hämet-Ahti. The larva usually consumes over a half of the leaf, implying moderate foliar damage to an individual shoot. I demonstrated that in unpolluted forests, effects of damage are restricted to the mined leaf, which grows smaller and demonstrates higher fluctuating asymmetry than intact leaves. In contrast, in heavily polluted industrial barrens, mining of the single leaf adversely affects the entire shoot; timing and expression of responses depend on shoot type. In infested short shoots, intact leaves grow smaller and more asymmetrical than leaves in control shoots, whereas infested long shoots demonstrated no current-year response; this difference suggests that long shoots are more competitive than short shoots and can acquire additional resources to compensate for herbivore damage. In contrast, in the next year after damage, no consequences of mining were detected in short shoots, whereas infested long shoots produced lower numbers of axillary long shoots than controls. The detected interactive effects of pollution and leaf damage most probably result from resource limitation in birches growing on low-nutritive toxic soils.Key words: Betula pubescens subsp. czerepanovii, foliar damage, fluctuating asymmetry, Kola peninsula, leaf size, shoot growth.

scholarly journals Variation in Leaf Size and Fluctuating Asymmetry of Mountain Birch (Betula pubescens var. pumila) in Space and Time: Implications for Global Change Research

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1703
Author(s):  
Vitali Zverev ◽  
Mikhail V. Kozlov
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Leaf Size ◽  
Leaf Length ◽  
Betula Pubescens ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Mountain Birch ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Murmansk Region ◽  
Global Change Research

Experimental, latitudinal, and historical approaches have been used to explore and/or predict the effects of global change on biota, and each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages. The weaknesses of these individual approaches can, potentially, be avoided by applying them simultaneously, but this is rarely done in global change research. Here, we explored the temporal and spatial variations in the leaf size and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of mountain birch (Betula pubescens var. pumila) in the Murmansk region of Russia, with the aim of verifying the predictions derived from the responses of these traits to experimental manipulations of abiotic drivers of global change. The examination of herbarium specimens revealed that leaf length increased during the 20th century, whereas the FA in the number of leaf teeth decreased, presumably reflecting an increase in the carbon and nitrogen availability to plants in that century. Along a northward latitudinal gradient, leaf length decreased whereas FA increased, presumably due to the poleward decreases in air temperature. The study site, collection year, and latitude explained a larger part of the leaf length variation in mountain birch relative to the variation in FA. Leaf length is likely a better indicator than FA in studies addressing global environmental change impacts on plant performance.

Effects of localized defoliations on female inflorescences in mountain birch, Betula pubescens ssp. tortuosa

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 334-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha Tuomi ◽  
Timo Vuorisalo ◽  
Pekka Niemelä ◽  
Erkki Haukioja
Keyword(s):  
Betula Pubescens ◽  
Mountain Birch ◽  
Final Weight ◽  
Final Length ◽  
Short Shoots ◽  
Leaf Flush ◽  
Biomass Increase

Two experiments were done to test how the removal of foliage from small branches in mountain birch, Betula pubescens spp. tortuosa, may influence the biomass increase of female inflorescences that emerge from reproductive buds on short shoots. First, all the leaves on small twigs were removed shortly after leaf flush in June. Defoliated twigs included on average of five leaves and two reproductive short shoots. Effects of the treatment on the final length and mass of female catkins were studied in August by comparing defoliated twigs to undefoliated ones of the same trees. Second, a similar experiment was carried out by defoliating larger branches with an average of 150 leaves and 56 short shoots and by comparing defoliated branches to adjacent undefoliated branches. The first treatment reduced final weight of inflorescences by about 17% and the second treatment by about 18%. Localized defoliations can thus have limited effects on the biomass increase of female inflorescences. Short shoots are therefore partially autonomous reproductive units that are integrated subunits of higher-level interactive units, e.g., branches, root – shoot subsystems, or entire plants.

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