Do alpine legumes facilitate establishment, growth and reproduction in the alpine herb Thalictrum alpinum at Finse? (completed)

Competition is an important factor shaping plant communities, but plants also help, or facilitate, each other. Facilitation is especially important in areas with high levels of abiotic stress, for instance in alpine areas. Nitrogen fixing legumes are potentially important facilitators, as nitrogen is the limiting factor for plant growth in most ecosystems. Alpine soils generally have low nitrogen levels, and additional nitrogen from legumes could affect growth of alpine plants. In my master thesis I study the effect of two alpine legumes, Astragalus alpinus and Oxytropis lapponica, on the establishment, growth and reproduction of the alpine herb Thalictrum alpinum and how the presence of legumes affect species diversity along a gradient of abiotic stress at Sanddalsnuten, Finse.