Humidity does not appear to trigger leaf out in woody plants
Lucy Zipf1, Richard B Primack2
1Biology Department, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA. lzipf@bu.edu.
International Journal of Biometeorology
|August 23, 2017
Summary
This study investigated if air humidity influences spring leaf-out in woody plants. Researchers found no consistent evidence that higher humidity advances the leaf-out timing for trees and shrubs.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Plant Science
- Climate Change Biology
Background:
- Understanding spring leaf-out is crucial for modeling forest responses to climate change.
- Traditional factors influencing leaf-out include warming, chilling, and photoperiod.
- Recent hypotheses suggest air humidity may be a primary trigger for leaf-out.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between air humidity and the timing of spring leaf-out in woody plants.
- To test if varying humidity levels affect leaf-out across different plant functional groups.
Main Methods:
- Controlled experiments were conducted on 15 species of woody shrubs and trees.
- Plants were exposed to a range of air humidity conditions.
- Leaf-out timing was monitored and compared across different humidity treatments.
Main Results:
- No consistent or measurable effect of high air humidity on advancing spring leaf-out was observed.
- No progressive pattern of earlier leaf-out was detected with increasing humidity levels.
- Results were consistent across the diverse plant species studied.
Conclusions:
- The study did not find evidence supporting air humidity as a primary trigger for spring leaf-out in woody species.
- Further research is needed to definitively determine the role of humidity in plant phenology.
- Current findings suggest traditional phenological drivers remain dominant.
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