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Wildflower phenological escape differs by continent and spring temperature
Benjamin R Lee1,2,3,4, Tara K Miller5, Christoph Rosche6,7
1Section of Botany, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. LeeB@CarnegieMNH.org.
Nature Communications
|November 23, 2022
Summary
Climate change threatens temperate understory plants. Wildflowers face phenological escape risk as North American trees advance faster than Asian and European trees, reducing spring light.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Botany
- Climate Change Biology
Background:
- Temperate understory plants face climate change and anthropogenic threats, including deer herbivory and habitat loss.
- Spring ephemeral wildflowers may be particularly vulnerable to phenological mismatch with canopy trees, a phenomenon known as phenological escape.
- Research on phenological escape and its temperature sensitivity is primarily focused on eastern North America.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the conserved phenological sensitivity of understory wildflowers to spring temperatures across continents.
- To compare the phenological sensitivity of North American canopy trees with those in Europe and Asia.
- To predict the impact of differential phenological advancements on spring light availability for understory flora.
Main Methods:
- Utilized herbarium specimens to analyze historical plant phenology data.
- Compared temperature sensitivity of wildflower and canopy tree phenology across North America, Europe, and Asia.
- Modeled future spring light window dynamics under projected climate warming scenarios.
Main Results:
- Phenological sensitivity to spring temperature is conserved among understory wildflowers globally.
- North American canopy trees exhibit significantly higher sensitivity to spring temperature compared to European and Asian counterparts.
- Advancing North American tree phenology is predicted to decrease spring light windows, while European and Asian windows may be maintained or increase.
Conclusions:
- Understory wildflower phenology is globally conserved regarding temperature sensitivity.
- Differential phenological responses of canopy trees between North America and Eurasia pose a risk to North American understory light availability.
- Climate warming may exacerbate phenological escape risks for understory plants in North America more than in Europe and Asia.
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