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Trends in ecology & evolution (Amsterdam), 2021-11, Vol.36 (11), p.979-989
Ort / Verlag
England: Elsevier Ltd
Erscheinungsjahr
2021
Link zum Volltext
Quelle
MEDLINE
Beschreibungen/Notizen
At high elevation or latitude, trees reach low-temperature range limits. In attempting an explanation, the range limits of individual tree species (set by freezing tolerance) and the general limit of the life-form tree (set by thermal growth constraints) need to be distinguished. The general cold edge of the fundamental niche of trees is termed the treeline, by definition, the lower edge of the alpine belt, a most important bioclimatological reference line. Trees can be absent from the treeline due to disturbances or biotic interactions. The actual local edge of tree distribution, the delineation of the realized niche, is driven by stochastic effects. Therefore, treeline theory and hypothesis testing is inevitably tied to the fundamental niche concept.
Low-temperature range limits of tree species result from the interaction of phenology, freezing tolerance at flushing, and season length requirements for maturation.At the low-temperature treeline, trees become victims of their height. It is the aerodynamics of the life-form tree that impose critically low, growth-limiting air temperatures on trees, from which small-stature plants escape.Humans cannot shift the low-temperature limit of trees (the treeline), but they may have removed trees from the treeline by logging or burning.The treeline tracks seasonal low-temperature means, the tree species range limit tracks low-temperature extremes.The treeline is a most important global bioclimatic reference line against which other bioclimatic zones and the associated biomes can be defined.