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Cold tolerance of tree species is related to the climate of their native ranges
Author(s) -
Kreyling Juergen,
Schmid Stephanie,
Aas Gregor
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of biogeography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1365-2699
pISSN - 0305-0270
DOI - 10.1111/jbi.12411
Subject(s) - climate change , range (aeronautics) , frost (temperature) , ecology , freezing tolerance , cold tolerance , southern hemisphere , introduced species , biology , precipitation , native plant , environmental science , geography , botany , meteorology , biochemistry , materials science , gene , composite material
Aim Species ranges are confined by environmental parameters such as minimum temperatures. Beyond correlations of ranges and climatic parameters, however, physiological tolerances (here: cold tolerance) have rarely been linked to the climate of species' ranges. We hypothesize that natural range shifts due to climate warming and proactive‐assisted colonization may each be constrained by limits to the tolerance of species to rare frost events. Location Bayreuth, Germany, and the Northern Hemisphere. Methods We quantified cold tolerance ( LT 50 obtained by relative electrolyte leakage method) of 27 native and exotic (Northern Hemisphere) tree species in the autumn, mid‐winter and spring of 2011–12 at the Ecological Botanical Garden of the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and linked observed cold tolerances as well as changes in cold tolerance between sampling dates to the climate of the native ranges of the species. Results Observed cold tolerance was strongly related to the climate of the native ranges of the species (cross‐validated correlations between climate and expressed cold tolerance determined by boosted regression trees were 0.50 in autumn, 0.49 in mid‐winter, and 0.65 in spring). Cold tolerance was generally greater for species that experienced colder temperatures and lower levels of precipitation in their native ranges. Changes in cold tolerance between the three sampling dates over the winter, however, were not linked to the climate of the native ranges. Main conclusions Our results demonstrate the evolutionary importance of cold tolerance, which should be acknowledged in assisted colonization trials and projections of range shifts by considering absolute minimum temperature as an important ecological factor.