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Climate change will affect tourism destinations that are dependent on natural resources, such as snow. Currently there is limited research into attitudes, intentions and actual visitation patterns of skiers in response to reduced snow cover. Therefore the awareness of, and attitudes towards, climate change of 351 ski tourists were assessed in the largest ski resort in Australia in 2007, repeating a survey conducted in 1996. Ninety percent of skiers in 2007 would ski less often in Australian resorts if the next five years had low natural snow, up from 75% of skiers surveyed in 1996: 69% would ski less often, 5% would give up and 16% would ski at the same levels but overseas. Nearly all skiers thought that climate change would affect the ski industry (87% compared with 78% in 1996), and that this would occur sooner than in the 1996 survey. Visitation in a poor snow year (2006, +0.85°C average annual temperature, 54% less natural snow) was −13.6% of the long-term average, indicating poor natural snow resulted in decreased visitation, despite extensive use of snow making. The implications of changes in climate conditions and tourist attitudes for Australian ski resorts are assessed including for snow making and summer tourism., Yes.

Mountain biking is a popular activity in urban areas, including in forest remnants in Australia cities. To increase the technical challenge for riders, trail technical features such as jumps, bridges, mounds and ditches, along with informal trails are often constructed without authorisation. We assessed the social, environmental and management challenges associated with the presence of such features, developed a method for assessing them, and then used this method to examine them in an endangered forest within the Gold Coast in Australia. In a 29 ha remnant of Blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis) forest there were 116 unauthorised features, mostly jumps, ditches and mounds, which collectively resulted in an area of 1601 m2 of bare soil and 4010 m2 of undergrowth cleared. Features differed in their size, construction materials used, and their impacts on the environment. Although nearly two thirds had low to moderate safety, most were in moderate to good condition, had fall zones and optional routes for riders. Management options for land managers, in this case a publicly funded University, include (1) feature removal and site rehabilitation, (2) conversion to official features, (3) removal and provision of an alternative location for official features, or (4) maintain the status quo. There are social, financial and environmental benefits and limitations to each of these options highlighting that unauthorised trail technical features are a challenge for planners and managers that often have no easy solution., Yes.

This study examined levels of predation (% flower heads with insects and/or damage) and number of Tephritidae (seed-fly) in flower heads of 29 species of Australian alpine Asteraceae. Pre-dispersal seed predation was common among the Asteraceae, with all but four species with some flower heads containing Tephritidae. Levels of predation within species were also high, with most flower heads damaged in just under half of the species, and>90% of flower heads damaged in five species. Three species had flower heads containing Tephritis bushi (Diptera: Tephritidae, sp. nov.) while 23 species had flower heads containing Tephritis poenia (Diptera: Tephritidae (Walter)). Among species levels of all predation and number of Tephritidae per flower head were positively correlated with the diameter of the flower head, but not the colour or type of flower head. The expected positive association between pre-dispersal seed predation and altitude and the negative association between predation and flowering time were uncommon among populations of ten species tested. These results indicate that pre-dispersal seed predation is likely to be an important factor in the reproductive ecology of alpine Asteraceae, with species with larger diameter flower heads having higher levels of predation and more Tephritidae per flower head., Yes.

Patterns in species density and richness per altitudinal interval have been found when sampling across plant community boundaries, including in the largest contiguous alpine area in Australia. To see if similar patterns occur within a single community, vascular plant composition was systematically sampled with replicate nested quadrats of increasing size (0.01, 0.06, 0.25, 1.00, 4.00, 25.00, 49.00 and 100-m2 size) sampled from ~1850 to 2100 m altitude in tall alpine herbfield, Australia. The only significant relationships with altitude were quadratic relationships for the density of herb and graminoid species, with peak density at mid-altitudes and a linear decline in total species richness with altitude for 0.06 m2 quadrats. The composition of 100 m2 quadrats was unrelated to altitude when tested using Analysis of Similarity for total composition, whereas the relationship was significant for growth-forms and the origin (local endemics, Australia endemics and weeds) of species. Location data from this, and 11 other studies were used to compare the species richness of more of the flora (183 species) using 50-m altitudinal bands. There were significant quadratic relationships for total species richness and the number of herb and shrub species with a peak in richness around 2000 m. Therefore altitude does affect species richness overall in this alpine region, but only has a weak effect on species density within the most common plant community., Yes.

The Australian Alps, which are of high conservation value, are popular summer bushwalking destinations. Experimental trampling trials using a standardized methodology were conducted to determine the resistance and resilience of the two common vegetation types: tall alpine herbfield and subalpine grasslands. Vegetation parameters were measured in lanes subject to control (no trampling), 30, 100, 200, 500 and 700 passes at five sites prior to trampling, immediately post trampling, 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 1 year post trampling. Vegetation height, cover of graminoids and herbs, as well as net species richness all declined with trampling, while litter cover increased. Thresholds for damage varied between the two communities and among the different vegetation parameters. The resistance indices for the two communities (number of passes resulting in 50% reduction in vegetation cover), however, were similar at around 440-450 passes indicating that these two communities are among the most resistant of the 19 alpine-subalpine communities that have been tested around the world, but only of moderate resistance compared to non-alpine communities. The two communities showed limited recovery with damage still evident 1 year post trampling. This indicates that they have only moderate tolerance to damage due to moderate resistance, but low resilience., Yes.

As part of the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments program, the relative contribution of abiotic variables in explaining alpine vegetation was determined for five summits on a spur of Mount Clarke in the Snowy Mountains, Australia. The composition of vascular plant species and life-forms, and topography were determined, and soil nutrients and soil temperature were measured on each aspect of each summit by standardised methods. Ordinations were performed on the composition of vascular plant species and life-forms, topography, soil nutrients and soil temperature-derived variables. Abiotic variables were tested against the biotic dissimilarity matrices to determine which were best correlated with current plant composition. Summits differed in plant composition, with a decrease in the cover of shrubs, and an increase in herbs and graminoids with increasing altitude. Altitude was the main determinant of species composition, accounting for more than 80% of the variation among summits. Soil temperature variables accounted for more than 40% of the variation in composition among summits. Soils were not significantly different among summits, although certain soil variables, principally calcium, were important in predicting plant composition. Because temperature is correlated with current vegetation on these five summits, predicted increased temperatures and decreased snow cover are likely to affect future plant composition in this mountain region., Yes.

This review has been prepared to guide the development of a program to assess the impacts of horse riding on designated trails traversing some proposed Southeast Queensland National Parks. The review finds: 1. Understanding patterns of visitation is very important when assessing social and environmental impacts of visitor use of protected areas. This includes determining how many visitors, when they come, where they go, and what they do in parks. This basic visitor information is critical for assessing where impacts are likely to occur and where monitoring points should be located. 2. Additional information on park users needs to be collected to better understand who is using the parks. This includes information on where the users are from (local, regional, international), demographics, market segmentation, visitor attitudes, expectations, experiences and visitor satisfaction. Information on the social component should not be limited to users of the parks, but also include the local and broader community. Although these aspects of social impact assessment are not addressed in detail in this report, it is recognised that there is a clear need to better understand how the change in the status of protected areas in Southeast Queensland associated with horse riding is perceived, understood and responded to by other visitors and users of these areas, by the relevant catchment communities and by the larger community of Southeast Queensland. 3. Horse riding has a range of biophysical impacts that can affect the amenity and environmental quality of protected areas. Biophysical impacts of horses riding that have been documented in Australia include reduction in the height, cover and biomass of native vegetation. These impacts combined with the potential for introducing exotic plant seed can result in changes in plant composition particularly on trail verges. Impacts of horse riding on soils include reductions in the surface profile of tracks, loss of soil, soil compaction an., No., Yes.

This study examines vascular plant species richness along an altitudinal gradient in alpine Australia. Vascular plant composition and soil temperature records were obtained for five summits (from 1729 m to 2114 m a.s.l.) using sampling protocols from the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments program. Species richness was examined against altitude, aspect and climatic variables at different spatial scales (10 x 10 cm quadrats, 1 m2 quadrats, clusters of 4 * 1 m2 quadrats, for the summit area above a line 5 m altitudinally below the summit (the -5 m isoline), for the extended summit down to the -10 m isoline). 75 taxa (70 species, 5 graminoid genera) were recorded, 9 of which are endemic to the small alpine area of ~100 km2. There were significant linear relationships between species richness and altitude and climatic variables for the top to -5 isolines on the summits. However, there was no consistent pattern for species richness at other spatial scales, altitude, aspect or climatic variables. The proportion of species for the whole summits with localised distributions (local endemics) increased with altitude. Predicted increasing temperatures and reduced snowcover is likely to result in an increase in species richness as shrubs, herbs and introduced weeds become more common at higher altitude. Because Australian alpine areas occur in narrow altitudinal bands with no nival zone, there are no higher altitudinal refuges available for alpine species. Therefore many of these species are likely to be at risk of extinction from climate change., Yes.

Tourism and recreation in protected areas results in a range of indirect impacts on the environment, including facilitating the spread of weeds. This paper examined associations between tourism infrastructure and the diversity and frequency of exotic plants in a large and popular protected area in south-eastern Australia, Kosciuszko National Park. Of the 156 exotic taxa recorded in 18 vegetation surveys between 1986 and 2004, 152 were associated with tourism infrastructure; 64 taxa on road verges, 50 in ski resort areas, and a further 66 exclusively in the ski resort gardens. As many exotics become invasive environmental weeds this study highlights the need to limit both introduction of exotic propagules and disturbance to natural vegetation during the construction, maintenance and use of tourism infrastructure in protected areas. If damage to vegetation has occurred effective rehabilitation programs are required., Yes.

The importance of protected areas will increase with the impact of climate change, with climate change adversely effecting natural ecosystems in Australia and globally. Unfortunately, climate change is also likely to show negative synergies with many existing threats to protected areas. For the Australian Alps National Parks, that conserves most of mainland Australia's snow country, predicted increases in temperatures and changes in precipitation will result in a dramatic loss of snow cover. These changes will increase existing threats associated with loss of biodiversity, intensive fires, diversity and abundance of feral animals and plants, human demands on ecosystem services, and tourism uses. By recognising the range of possible negative synergies, managers in these and other protected areas will be able to prioritize control and amelioration measures. They will also need to reduce their own contribution to greenhouse gas production, and assist in increasing the publics' awareness of just how great the threats are from climatic change., No., Yes.

Weeds are an increasing threat to the biodiversity of mountain regions worldwide including in Australia. We examined the distribution and characteristics of common weeds on roadsides in the Snowy Mountains, Australia to determine the range of natural habitats they are found in or if they are limited to disturbed sites, if they are also common in other mountain regions including the Australian Alps, and if they have invasive traits. There are only eight common weeds in the Snowy Mountains: Acetosella vulgaris (also known as Rumex acetosella), Hypochaeris radicata, Trifolium repens, Taraxacum officinale, Agrostis capillaris, Dactylis glomerata, Anthoxanthum odoratum, and Achillea millefolium. They occur in areas disturbed by humans, such as along roadsides, around building and tracks found, from the low altitude montane zone to the high altitude high subalpine/alpine zone. They also occur to varying extents in native vegetation reflecting their invasive capacity. These species are all perennial with high vegetative and/or sexual reproduction, native to Europe, and are found growing on roadsides and in native vegetation in mountains in Europe, North America, South America and New Zealand. Therefore, it appears that these plants are the usual suspects: common mountain weeds, which may be found worldwide at high altitude., Yes.

This paper reviews recent research into the impact of recreation and tourism in protected areas on plant biodiversity and vegetation communities in Australia. Despite the international significance of the Australian flora and increasing visitation to protected areas there has been limited research on recreational and tourism impacts in Australia. As overseas, there are obvious direct impacts of recreation and tourism such as clearing of vegetation for infrastructure or damage from trampling, horse riding, mountain biking and off road vehicles. As well, there are less obvious but potentially more severe indirect impacts. This includes self-propagating impacts associated with the spread of some weeds from trails and roads. It also includes the severe impact on native vegetation, including many rare and threatened plants, from spread of the root rot fungus Phytopthora cinnamomi. This review highlights the need for more recreational ecology research in Australia., Yes.

Full Text, Thesis (PhD Doctorate), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Griffith School of Environment, Protected areas are a landuse and sea use of immense importance to the conservation and survival of many species on Earth and the well-being of humans. In 2005, there were more than 113,000 protected areas worldwide and all needed active and effective management if they were to achieve the purposes for which they were reserved. Evaluation is a critical part of determining the effectiveness of management and consequently protected area practitioners need the best systems available to assess the effectiveness of their conservation management. Protected area practitioners, however, have been frustrated by gaps in knowledge supporting such evaluation. Despite important new developments in this field in the last 10 years such as the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) evaluation framework, practitioners still do not know the most important subjects of evaluation to use. In addition there was no guidance about what evaluation methods were commonly used. Nevertheless, people were still conducting evaluations and saw the need to do this, but there were many different subjects being evaluated. The evaluation workload was very large. These real world issues, corroborated by the literature and needing a research response, became the focus for this thesis. The thesis aims were to identify both the most important subjects that were required for evaluation and the evaluation methods that were commonly used. The research would be a direct contribution to more effectively managed protected areas. The need for this research was confirmed by 14 practitioners through three focus groups conducted in Durban in conjunction with the 2003 Vth World Parks Congress. They highlighted a need to be effective in what evaluation information was collected and to standardise what methods were used since many people were feeling the impact of evaluation work overload. Data for this research needed to be collected in an ordered and systematic way. However the language of evaluation was a mess

Full Text, Thesis (PhD Doctorate), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), School of Environmental and Applied Science, Exotic plants are a threat to natural areas world wide including the Australian Alps, one of the largest relatively undisturbed natural areas remaining in Australia. This thesis examines the diversity, abundance and distribution of exotic plants in the Australian Alps, including Kosciuszko National Park and then focuses on Achillea millefolium (L.) (Asteraceae) as a case study of the biology and ecology of an important environmental weed. To determine the diversity and abundance of exotics in the Australian Alps published records of exotic species were reviewed. A total of 175 exotic taxa were recorded in the alpine and subalpine areas representing 41 families and 122 genera. The distribution of exotics was associated with human activities with 80% of exotic taxa found along roads and tracks and nearly 60% around ski resorts. Just over 20% of exotic species were naturalised with some species presenting an environmental threat to the region. To examine the relationship between human disturbance and exotics, vegetation was surveyed and soil analysed on road verges, in runoff areas and in adjacent vegetation along a gravel road in the subalpine zone of Kosciuszko National Park. The road verge was dominated by exotics, the area 10 m from the road verge was dominated by natives and the road drainage areas were dominated by the exotic, A. millefolium. There were also clear differences in the soils, with coarse nutrient poor soils on the road verge, highly organic fine soils in the areas 10 m from the road, and soils with high nutrients and water content in the road drainage areas. The potential for exotics to colonise areas adjacent to roads after disturbance was examined in an experiment conducted along a subalpine road. The composition of plants colonising small gaps created in the existing vegetation (50 cm x 100 cm) was dependant on the distance from the road. In general, gaps one metre from the road verge were recolonised by exotic species while gaps five or ten metr

Full Text, Thesis (PhD Doctorate), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), School of Environmental and Applied Science, This thesis examines the impact of recreational activities, specifically camping and trampling, on alpine and subalpine vegetation communities in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia. A survey approach was first used to determine visitor use levels and types of recreation activities within the main alpine area. An experimental methodology was then used to quantify the relationship between use and damage from camping and trampling to vegetation and soils. Specific questions addressed were: (1) what are the visitor numbers, demographics, activities and patterns of visitation to the Kosciuszko alpine area and have they changed since previous estimates?; (2) what is the relationship between levels of use and damage for camping in undisturbed alpine and subalpine vegetation communities and does this vary between tent and activity areas?; (3) (a) what is the relationship between levels of use and damage for trampling in the undisturbed alpine and subalpine vegetation communities when trampled once and (b) are thresholds and/or the relationship altered when trampling is repeated in the following year?; (4) what is the relationship between use and damage from trampling to plant communities following a large-scale disturbance (bushfire) and do natural processes during the following year of recovery eclipse any recreation impacts?; and (5) what recommendations can be made to minimise impacts of trampling and camping in high altitude sites in the Australian Alps? Research assessing the impact of recreation on the environment is important for conservation of protected areas. Recreation can affect a range of environmental components including vegetation and soils. These impacts can be measured using a range of parameters including vegetation cover, composition and height and soil compaction. When assessing the impact of recreation on vegetation and soils, four factors need to be considered: (1) amount of use; (2) type of use and behaviour; (3) timing of use; and (4) environmental

Recovery of tall alpine herbfields from livestock grazing and drought were examined using 30, 0.6 × 0.9 m permanent quadrats photographed in 1959, 1964, 1968, 1978, and 2001 in Kosciuszko National Park, southeastern Australia. Cover attributes were assessed using a 130-point grid superimposed over each slide/photograph. For the 18 permanent quadrats near Mount Gungartan, where grazing ceased in 1958, there was a pattern of increasing vegetation cover. Bare areas were initially colonized by herbs, with native grasses, the lateral expansion of existing shrubs, and other herb species eventually replacing the colonizing herbs. For the 12 quadrats near Mount Kosciuszko, where grazing ceased 15 years before the survey, vegetation cover was high (around 94%) in all surveys except at the end of a long drought. The drought caused an increase in litter at both locations as graminoids died back. Graminoid cover recovered relatively rapidly and had reached pre-drought levels by 1978 and remained high. Herb cover was dynamic after the initial recovery from grazing, with a trend for reduced herb cover after 1964. The pattern of recovery from these two types of landscape level disturbances differed due to the different responses of the major life forms to bare ground, litter, and existing vegetation cover. The study also highlights the benefits of existing long-term monitoring programs.

Full Text, Thesis (Masters), Master of Philosophy (MPhil), School of Environmental and Applied Science, The main objective of this study was to examine the abundance and diversity of ants in suburban sites following vegetation removal or modification for development. This research examines the capacity of suburban sites to support ant diversity, which is dependent on the site characteristics and their surrounding environment. The study focused on 29 suburban garden and 3 suburban reserve sites on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. This region, through continuing land development, undergoes ongoing habitat disturbance and modification. Ground-dwelling ants were collected by pitfall trapping in study sites over three summers between 1997 and 1999. In total, 28,512 ants from 60 species in 31 genera were collected. Garden sites that maintain vegetation structural diversity were found to be most similar to reserve sites in terms of ant community composition. These sites were highest in ant richness and diversity and contained particularly high proportions of specialized ant species. Sites in close proximity to remnants of native vegetation contained higher species diversity and a greater proportion of specialized ant species. The introduced tramp ant, Pheidole megacephala was found in 28 of the 32 sites and was found to significantly reduce ant species richness and diversity and displace the dominant ant Iridomyrmex sp. 1 in suburban environments. This ant poses a serious threat to the recovery of a diverse ant fauna to suburban environments. Ant community composition was shown to vary significantly among suburban sites. The ant functional groups commonly found in disturbed sites were abundant in open sites with little canopy cover in this study. Sites that provided vegetation structural diversity and areas of closed canopy supported similar functional groups to natural vegetation remnants. These results indicate that ant communities in suburban environments respond to disturbance in a similar manner to ant communities in tropical forests and rainforests. The dominance

Full Text, Thesis (PhD Doctorate), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Australian School of Environmental Studies, This thesis examined vegetation change over the last 43 years in Australia's largest contiguous alpine area, the Kosciuszko alpine zone in south-eastern Australia. Using historical and current data about the state of the most common vegetation community, tall alpine herbfield, this thesis addressed the questions: (1) what were the patterns of change at the species/genera and life form levels during this time period; (2) what were the patterns of recovery, if recovery occurred, from anthropogenic disturbances such as livestock grazing or trampling by tourists; (3) what impacts did natural disturbances such as drought have on the vegetation and how does it compare to anthropogenic disturbances; and (4) What are the benefits, limitations and management considerations when using long-term data for assessing vegetation changes at the species/genera, life form and community levels? The Kosciuszko alpine zone has important economic, cultural and ecological values. It is of great scientific and biological importance, maintaining an assemblage of vegetation communities found nowhere else in the world. It is one of the few alpine regions in the world with deep loamy soils, and contains endemic flora and fauna and some of the few periglacial and glacial features in Australia. The area also forms the core of the Australian mainland's most important water catchment and is a popular tourist destination, offering a range of recreational opportunities. The vegetation of the Kosciuszko alpine zone is recovering from impacts of livestock grazing and is increasingly exposed to pressures from tourism and anthropogenic climate change. At the same time, natural disturbances such as drought and fire can influence the distribution, composition and diversity of plants. Thus, there is a need for detailed environmental data on this area in order to: (1) better understand ecological relationships; (2) understand existing and potential effects of recreational and management pressures on the reg

This article examines the judgments of staff from protected area agencies responsible for managing tourism and its environmental impacts in the largest area of snow country in Australia. In surveys, staff identified as having major responsibility for tourism management in the Australian Alps protected areas consider that tourism has important negative environmental impacts; the impacts of ski resorts on adjacent natural areas are often more important than impacts of more general tourism activities further away from ski resorts; the most important environmental impacts were on water quality; native fauna was adversely affected through tourism activities that resulted in increased numbers of feral animals and habitat reduction and fragmentation; there was a wide range of adverse impacts from tourism on vegetation; air quality was affected, particularly around the ski resorts, but it was a less important issue than impacts on water, fauna, and flora. The judgments of protected area managers as to the importance of environmental issues arising from tourism use of the Australian Alps protected areas correspond well with the documented impacts in research papers and management reports., Yes.

No., Yes.

Patterns of resource allocation, numbers of reproductive structures and sex ratios of flowering populations of the dioecious weed Acetosella vulgaris (Fourr.) were examined in the Kosciuszko alpine region of Australia. Specifically, the sex-specific response of ramets was compared between a disturbed alpine habitat, in which weeds such as A. vulgaris are common (disturbed roadside/path-edge), and a native alpine habitat in which weeds appear to have a limited capacity to germinate, grow and reproduce (undisturbed tall alpine herbfield). The disturbed habitat was generally more favourable for growth of A. vulgaris. Ramets of both sexes had greater total and vegetative biomass than ramets in native habitats. Although reproductive biomass was also greater in disturbed habitats, females had less reproductive biomass than males, which was not as predicted. Reproductive effort was not affected by habitat or gender. The disturbed habitat also favoured increased numbers of inflorescences per ramet and flowers per ramet, as expected. Whereas the gender of the ramet also influenced numbers of reproductive structures, again, this was not as predicted. Females had more flowers per ramet and more flowers per inflorescence than males. This may be because of factors associated with wind pollination. Females were taller in native habitats but there was no difference between the sexes in disturbed habitats. Sex ratios varied from all male populations to nearly all female populations among the 25 sites sampled irrespective of habitat. Factors such as time since last disturbance may have contributed to variation in the sex ratios of alpine populations of A. vulgaris in Australia., Yes.

The potential impacts of increased temperatures, decreased precipitation and decreased duration of snow cover over the next seventy years are evaluated for twelve plant communities in the Kosciuszko alpine region of Australia. The approach taken is speculative and provides a series of hypotheses about potential patterns of change. The short alpine herbfield and snowbank feldmark communities are likely to be negatively affected by the predicted declining snow cover, as snowbanks become fewer and smaller. Windswept feldmark, however, may become more widespread if snow cover declines, exposing new areas to freezing temperatures, high winds and resultant loss of soil cover. Climate change initially may have a beneficial or neutral effect on the tall alpine herbfield. If snow cover continues to decline below 3-4 months per year, as is predicted, then the tall alpine herbfield could eventually decline in area. Bogs, fens, raised bog and valley bog communities are likely to vary in area as changes in precipitation, runoff and evaporation alter the competitive ability of plant species belonging to these communities. Heath communities are likely to increase in area as increasing temperature and declining snow cover favour shrub species over grasses and herbs. Increasing diversity and abundance of alien plant species within the alpine zone are likely to continue and may be amplified by climate change., Yes.

Yes.

The reproductive ecology of the dioecious herb Aciphylla simplicifolia (F. Muell.) Benth. (Apiaceae, Mountain Aciphylla) was examined in Kosciuszko National Park. Differences in floral display and flowering phenology between male and female plants were consistent with predictions based on theories concerning sexual dimorphism in dioecious plants. For example, male plants had larger floral displays than females at the alpine sites sampled. Male inflorescences had four times as many flowers as females and more than three times the area of floral display. In addition to differences in floral display, there was a sex-specific pattern in flowering phenology at six alpine sites. At these sites, there were more male inflorescences with buds and flowers and more female inflorescences finished flowering than would be expected if gender did not affect flowering phenology. To determine whether increasingly severe conditions associated with higher-altitude sites were associated with male-biased sex ratios, the number of male and female plants were compared for 20 sites over a 600-m altitudinal range from montane to alpine (total 4274 plants). As altitude increased and as the vegetation zone changed from subalpine to alpine, the sex ratio became increasingly male-biased, with sites in the alpine ranging from 1.45 males per female to 8.53 males per female. Sexual dimorphism in floral display, flowering phenology and sex ratios was consistent with what would be predicted for plants with sex-specific differences in resource allocation., Yes.