Abstract
Intraspecific variability is a fundamental mechanism involved in organisms’ evolution. Functional traits are important carriers of ecological information varying between and within species. Intraspecific trait variability might explain adaptation processes of species under new environmental conditions. Over this view, ice holes biotopes represent ideal study sites for the analysis of phenotypic variability of alpine species’ functional traits. Ice holes are microthermal biotopes occurring at low elevations (ca 600 m a.s.l.) characterized by azonal vegetation adapted to higher elevation climatic conditions (ca 2000 m a.s.l.). This phenomenon is due to cold air that descends through blocks of material belonging to probably post-glacial landslides, and accumulates over concave landforms, forming a permanent cold-air pool of 4-5 m in depth. The position of extra-zonal alpine plant species in a warmer climatic zone exposes them probably over thousands of years to extra-ordinary abiotic conditions. In this context, it is highly interesting to investigate the possible climatic effects on these plant species in terms of their functional adaptation. The aim of this study is firstly to analyze the phenotypic variation of functional traits of alpine species growing on ice holes compared to the same species occurring on the alpine belt. We compare siliceous and calcareous ice holes (located between 500 m and 700 m a.s.l.) with siliceous and calcareous alpine sites located ca 2000 m a.s.l. in the Italian region of Trentino Alto-Adige. We will report the results of plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf phosphorus and nitrogen content (LPC and LNC) of selected target species. In a second step, the findings of phenotypic analysis on functional traits variability will be examined at genetic and epigenetic levels, to disentangle the effects of genetic and epigenetic variation in shaping functional differences.