Forest Sciences Commons^™

Ecotypic Variation And Plasticity Of Morphological And Physiological Traits Of Eucalyptus Loxophleba Ssp. Lissophloia Along A Climate Gradient In South-West Australia, Vanessa Stylianou

Theses : Honours

The adaptive capacity of plant species will be important for increasing their resilience in a changing climate. By 2070, a change in rainfall of +10 to -40 % of current mean annual rainfall and warming of between +2 to +5 ˚C in south-west Western Australia, is predicted. Plant species may cope with changing climatic characteristics through natural selection or phenotypic plasticity responses. Greater ecotypic variation in traits between stands of a single species may reduce its vulnerability in a changing climate as there is a greater selection of traits to increase fitness. Phenotypic plasticity has been highlighted as a mechanism …