Forest ecosystems are facing slow but increasing temperature which is beyond their normal thermal range of establishment. Seedlings said to be the most affected due to elevated temperature. To what extent they do response to elevated temperature, may prove their adaptability to future climate change.
The impact will obviously vary between species. In general growth will increase in response to temperature until the point at which optimal enzyme function is exceeded. Growth will then decrease once the temperature has exceeded the optimal function level for enzymes. The limiting enzyme/pathway would likely vary between species. In temperate species the effect would likely be significantly different from the effect on tropical species as the temperate species are generally subject to a wider variation in temperatures.
Yes, will obviously vary between species; however, may have some specific impacts on vascular plant seedlings like acclimation, leaf senescence, greater leaf area, cylindrical shoot growth, increase or decrease in dry mass, increase in organic carbon content and many more.
From physical & morphological point of view, could you add more with reference?
Temperature will influence seedlings in different ways in different phases of their development.
At the beginning increased temperatures in temperate climate may cause lack of germination at all. Many seeds are dormant and one of the ways to break dormance is exposure to low temperatures. Very important is also stability of temperature (or its fluctuation) - see Baskin & Baskin Seeds. Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination.
In next phases temperature will influence seedling physiology and here response depends on species traits - there are no generalizations I'm afraid (and I can't provide any literature source here)
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