Size-based population models are a powerful tool for determining how variation in the abiotic and biotic environment affect plant population growth rates.  However, the best measures of plant size are often a mystery and are likely to vary across species.  What size measurements can be taken in the field to best represent biomass?  This project will measure plant size in a number of ways for four subalpine plant species (e.g., number of leaves, length of longest leaf, number of stalks) and will relate each size measurement to biomass to see which one is the most accurate measure.  This project will also determine whether the proportion of biomass allocated to reproduction varies across these four long-lived perennial species. Since they are all long-lived iteroparous species, they may allocate a similar proportion of their biomass to reproduction; alternatively, the early-flowering species that have less time to grow may allocate a higher proportion of their biomass to reproduction.