The PHOTOPLANT project aims to explore an ecological factor often overlooked in climate change studies: photoperiod, which refers to the length of the day relative to the night. While the growing season in the Alpine region is characterized by a maximum of 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness, Arctic populations experience 24 hours of light from April to August. This element, which remains constant over time, plays a key role in regulating many biological processes in plants, but its interaction with global warming is still poorly understood.
While temperatures will increase more rapidly in the Arctic regions compared to Alpine areas, precipitation are expected to rise in the Arctic but become more irregular in the Alps. This scenario raises a fundamental question: how do photoperiod and climate interact to determine plant responses to environmental changes?
To answer this question, PHOTOPLANT will conduct experiments on herbaceous species typical of Arctic and Alpine environments, evaluating their local adaptation and ability to modify their physiology in response to variations in temperature and water availability. For the first time, photoperiod will be considered a key factor in analysing plant responses to climate change.
To study the interaction of these factors, plants and vegetation swards will be relocated along a latitudinal gradient between the Arctic and the Alps, allowing direct observation of how these plant communities adapt to new environmental conditions.
The knowledge gained will have important practical applications in the fields of environmental conservation and ecosystem management. It can be useful for ecological restoration interventions, assisted colonization of endangered species, Alpine pasture management, and the protection of essential ecosystem services.
With PHOTOPLANT, research is advancing in understanding how plants cope with climate change, providing practical tools for protecting the planet’s most vulnerable ecosystems.
- PLANT COMMUNITIES
The Arctic-Alpine snowbed populations studied in the PHOTOPLANT project are characterized by highly specialized flora adapted to extreme environmental conditions. Snowbeds are typical environments in these areas, characterized by the presence of snow for most of the year, accumulating in valley bottoms and shaded areas. These habitats consist of cold, wet soils with a very short growing season, limited by winter’s harshness and low temperatures. Snow acts as an insulator, protecting plants from extreme cold during winter while simultaneously limiting the availability of sunlight for most of the year. In summer, after snowmelt, snowbeds become one of the last refuges for vegetation at high altitudes.
These environments are characterized by a highly specialized flora, adapted to survive in harsh conditions. Dominant species include Salix polaris, which colonizes Arctic areas, and Salix herbacea, found in Alpine valleys—both plants adapted to live in high-altitude or high-latitude environments where photoperiod and climatic conditions are particularly harsh. Other significant species include Silene acaulis, a resilient plant that forms dense mats, Poa alpina, a grass thriving in poor, cold soils, and Saxifraga oppositifolia and Saxifraga cernua, both adapted to rocky soils. The plants in these valleys, in addition to being examples of extraordinary resilience, are crucial for understanding how Arctic-Alpine species respond to changes in photoperiod and climate, facing distinct ecological pressures in Arctic and Alpine regions.