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Effects of Altitude on Carbohydrate Content of Mountain Plants
Author(s) -
Mooney H. A.,
Billings W. D.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1935021
Subject(s) - rhizome , altitude (triangle) , polygonum , biology , botany , adaptation (eye) , ecology , carbohydrate , biochemistry , geometry , mathematics , neuroscience
Sugar and starch contents of roots or rhizomes of Polygonum bistortoides, Saxifraga rhomboidea, and Calyptridium umbellatum were measured at different altitudes in the Sierra Nevada of California and in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyoming. Carbohydrate reserves appear to be higher near the lower altitudinal limits of a species. Ploygonum bistortoides, Caltha howellii, and Sibbaldia procumbens transplanted to lower and warmer elevations used up stored carbohydrates more rapidly than at the elevation of origin. The higher carbohydrate content of individuals in natural populations near the lower altitudinal limits of an alpine species thus appears to be an ecotypic or ecoclinal adaptation.