BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Herbaceous plants can survive periods of prolonged freezing as below-ground structures or seed, which can be insulated from cold air by soil, litter or snow. Below-ground perennial structures vary in both form and their exposure to soil frost, and this structural variation thus may be important in determining the responses of plant communities to frost stress. METHODS: We conducted a suite of snow removal experiments in a northern temperate old field over 3 years to examine the relative freezing responses of different plant functional groups based on below-ground perennation traits. A litter removal treatment was added in the third year. Species-level percentage cover data were recorded in May, June and September then pooled by functional group. KEY RESULTS: Snow removal decreased total plant cover, and this response was particularly strong and consistent among years for tap-rooted and rhizomatous species. The snow removal responses of cover for plants with root buds and new recruits from seed varied from positive to negative among years. The cover of rootstock plants consistently increased in response to snow removal. Rhizomatous species were generally the most vulnerable to litter removal. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to explore the effects of variation in frost severity on the responses of different plant perennation trait functional groups. The responses of herbaceous species to frost may become increasingly important in northern temperate regions in the coming decades as a result of declining snow cover and increasing temperature variability. Our results reveal substantial variation in responses among perennation trait functional groups, which could drive changes in species abundance in response to variation in soil frost.

Department of Biology University of Western Ontario London Ontario Canada

Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences Dukelská Třeboň Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Barnes G. 2010. Soil mechanics: principles and practice, 3rd edn.  New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bartušková A, Malíková L, Klimešová J. 2017. Checklist of root-sprouters in the Czech flora: mapping the gaps in our knowledge. Folia Geobotanica  52: 337–343.

Baseggio M, Newman Y, Sollenberger LE, Fraisse C, Obreza T. 2015. Planting rate and depth effects on Tifton 85 bermudagrass establishment using rhizomes. Crop Science  55: 1338–1345.

Benson EJ, Hartnett DC. 2006. The role of seed and vegetative reproduction in plant recruitment and demography in tallgrass prairie. Plant Ecology  187: 163–178.

Bertrand A, Castonguay Y. 2003. Plant adaptations to overwintering stresses and implications of climate change. Canadian Journal of Botany  81: 1145–1152.

Bhowmik PC, Bandeen JD. 1976. The biology of Canadian weeds: 19. Asclepias syriaca L. Canadian Journal of Plant Science  56: 579–589.

Box EO. 1996. Plant functional types and climate at the global scale. Journal of Vegetation Science  7: 309–320.

Boydston RA, Seymour MD, Brown CR, Alva AK. 2006. Freezing behavior of potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers in soil. American Journal of Potato Research  83: 305–315.

Chmelíková L, Hejcman M. 2012. Root system variability in common legumes in Central Europe. Biologia  67: 116–125.

Chmielewski JG, Semple JC. 2001a The biology of Canadian weeds. 113. Symphyotrichum lanceolatum (Willd.) Nesom [Aster lanceolatus Willd.] and S. lateriflorum (L.) Löve & Löve [Aster lateriflorus (L.) Britt.]. Canadian Journal of Plant Science  81: 829–849.

Chmielewski JG, Semple JC. 2001b The biology of Canadian weeds. 114. Symphyotrichum pilosum (Willd.) Nesom (Aster pilosus Willd.). Canadian Journal of Plant Science  81: 851–865.

Chmielewski JG, Semple JC. 2003. The biology of Canadian weeds. 125. Symphyotrichum ericoides (L.) Nesom (Aster ericoides L.) and S. novae-angliae (L.) Nesom (A. novae-angliae L.). Canadian Journal of Plant Science  83: 1017–1037.

Chouard P. 1960. Vernalization and its relations to dormancy. Annual Review of Plant Physiology  11: 191–238.

Connolly BM, Orrock JL. 2015. Climatic variation and seed persistence: freeze–thaw cycles lower survival via the joint action of abiotic stress and fungal pathogens. Oecologia  179: 609–616. PubMed

Cornelissen JHC, Song YB, Yu FH, Dong M. 2014. Plant traits and ecosystem effects of clonality: a new research agenda. Annals of Botany  114: 369–376. PubMed PMC

Davik J, Koehler G, From B, et al.  2013. Dehydrin, alcohol dehydrogenase, and central metabolite levels are associated with cold tolerance in diploid strawberry (Fragaria spp.). Planta  237: 265–277. PubMed

Environment Canada 2019. Canadian climate normals 1981–2010. National climate data and information archive.  http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html  (21 May 2019).

Fitter AH, Peat HJ. 1994. The ecological flora database. Journal of Ecology  82: 415–425.

Grime JP. 1977. Evidence for the existence of three primary strategies in plants and its relevance to ecological and evolutionary theory. American Naturalist  111: 1169–1194.

Hagerty T, Kingston M. 1992. The soils of Middlesex County.  Ottawa: Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

Hameed MA, Uzun A, Saeed JF. 2016. Vascular plant species of Hujran Basin-Erbil/Iraq. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Doğa Bilimleri Dergisi  19: 279–295.

Hartnett DC, Keeler KH. 1995. Population processes. In: Joern A, Keeler KH, eds. The changing prairie: North American grasslands. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 82–99.

Henry HAL, Abedi M, Alados CL, et al.  2018. Increased soil frost versus summer drought as drivers of plant biomass responses to reduced precipitation: results from a globally coordinated field experiment. Ecosystems  21: 1432–1444.

Kamenetsky R. 2013. Biodiversity of geophytes: phytogeography, morphology, and survival strategies. In: Kamenetsky R, Okubo H, eds. Ornamental geophytes: from basic science to sustainable production. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis, 77: –121.

Klimeš L, Klimešová J, Čížková H. 1999. Carbohydrate storage in rhizomes of Phragmites australis: the effects of altitude and rhizome age. Aquatic Botany  64: 105–110.

Klimešová J. 2018. Temperate herbs: an architectural analysis.  Praha: Academia.

Klimešová J, Klimeš L. 1996. Effects of rhizome age and nutrient availability on carbohydrate reserves in Rumex alpinus rhizomes. Biologia  51: 457–461.

Klimešová J, Tackenberg O, Herben T. 2015. Herbs are different: clonal and bud bank traits can matter more than leaf–height–seed traits. New Phytologist  210: 13–17. PubMed

Klimešová J, Danihelka J, Chrtek J, de Bello F, Herben T. 2017. CLO-PLA: a database of clonal and bud bank traits of Central European flora. Ecology  98: 1179. doi:10.1002/ecy.1745. PubMed DOI

Komac B, Pladevall C, Peñuelas J, Conesa JV, Domènech M. 2015. Variations in functional diversity in snowbed plant communities determining snowbed continuity. Plant Ecology  216: 1257–74.

Kong RS, Henry HAL. 2019a Interactions of plant growth responses to spring freezing and summer drought: a multispecies comparison. American Journal of Botany  106: 531–539. PubMed

Kong RS, Henry HAL. 2019b Cross acclimation effects of spring freezing and summer drought on plant functional groups and ecosystem properties. Environmental and Experimental Botany  164: 52–57.

Lemieux C, Cloutier DC, Leroux GD. 1993. Distribution and survival of quackgrass (Elytrigia repens) rhizome buds. Weed Science  41: 600–606.

Lemna WK, Messersmith CG. 1990. The biology of Canadian weeds. 94. Sonchus arvensis L. Canadian Journal of Plant Science  70: 509–532.

Lubbe FC, Henry HAL. 2019. The cost of depth: frost avoidance trade-offs in herbaceous plants. Plant and Soil  444: 213–224.

Malyshev AV, Henry HAL. 2012. N uptake and growth responses to sub-lethal freezing in the grass Poa pratensis L. Plant and Soil  360: 175–85.

McKersie BD, Lesham YY. 1994. Stress and stress coping in cultivated plants.  Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Moore RJ. 1975. The biology of Canadian weeds. 13. Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. Canadian Journal of Plant Science  55: 1033–1048.

Mueller‐Dombois D, Ellenberg H, 1974. Aims and methods of vegetation ecology.  New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Native Plant Trust 2019. Go botany (3.1.1) https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/  (21 May 2019).

Pan Y, Geng YP, Li B, Chen JK. 2009. Effect of root fragment length and planting depth on clonal establishment of alligatorweed. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management  47: 96–100.

Pearce R. 2001. Plant freezing and damage. Annals of Botany  87: 417–424.

Perfect E, Miller RD, Burton B. 1987. Root morphology and vigor effects on winter heaving of established alfalfa. Agronomy Journal  79: 1061–1067.

Raunkiær C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography.  Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Reinmann AB, Susser JR, Demaria EMC, Templer PH. 2019. Declines in northern forest tree growth following snowpack decline and soil freezing. Global Change Biology  25: 420–430. PubMed

SAS Institute, 1989–2019. JMP®, Version 13. Cary, NC: SAS Institute.

Schweingruber FH, Poschlod P. 2005. Growth rings in herbs and shrubs: life span, age determination and stem anatomy. Forest Snow and Landscape Research  79: 195–415.

Sharratt BS. 2002. Corn stubble height and residue placement in the northern US corn belt: Part I. Soil physical environment during winter. Soil and Tillage Research  64: 243–252.

Stewart-Wade SM, Neumann S, Collins LL, Boland GJ. 2002. The biology of Canadian weeds. 117. Taraxacum officinale GH Weber ex Wiggers. Canadian Journal of Plant Science  82: 825–853.

Turkington R, Cavers PB. 1979. The biology of Canadian weeds: 33. Medicago lupulina L. Canadian Journal of Plant Science  59: 99–110.

Vesk PA, Westoby M. 2004. Sprouting by plants: the effects of modular organization. Functional Ecology  18: 939–945.

Walck JL, Hidayati SN, Dixon KW, Thompson K, Poschlod P. 2011. Climate change and plant regeneration from seed: climate change and plant regeneration. Global Change Biology  17: 2145–2161.

Werner PA, Gross RS, Bradbury IK. 1980. The biology of Canadian weeds: 45. Solidago canadensis L. Canadian Journal of Plant Science  60: 1393–1409.

Wisniewski M, Bassett C, Gusta LV. 2003. An overview of cold hardiness in woody plants: seeing the forest through the trees. Hortscience  38: 952–959.