Often when we characterize plant growth and development, we focus on adult’s that are already established. However, one of the most critical life-phases is germination and early seedling establishment.
Here we focus on the important coastal heathland ecosystems of Norway, and using seed of Calluna vulgaris collected from across latitudinal gradients, different heathland land-use histories, and a manipulated drought experiment, we ask:
- How do environmental factors influence early-growth of dwarf-shrubs, and does that impact differ depending on the environmental stress is experienced by the maternal plants in the field
- Extension Opportunity: Do we also see differences in seedling growth patterns (carbon allocation above and below ground)
For more information, contact Sonya.Geange@uib.no, eirik.skogstad@student.uib.no and bente.sagabraaten@uib.no .
Also visit the DURIN webpage!
Practicalities
This will involve helping conducting a germination study under controlled lab conditions to assess the timing and percentage of successful germinations.
And/or on the developing seedlings we can measure their height, leaf traits and physiology to understand how maternal conditions influence fitness and performance