Article
Plant Sciences
Karen E. Rice, Rebecca A. Montgomery, Artur Stefanski, Roy L. Rich, Peter B. Reich
Summary: Herbaceous perennials showed species-specific responses to experimental warming and reduced summer rainfall, with some species advancing flowering while others delayed it. Changes in phenology led to differences in temporal overlap between species, potentially resulting in fewer resources for insects or a mismatch between plants and pollinators.
Article
Agronomy
Guocheng Wang, Zhongkui Luo, Yao Huang, Xiangao Xia, Yurong Wei, Xiaohui Lin, Wenjuan Sun
Summary: This study examined plant phenological records from 26 sites in Inner Mongolian temperate grassland from 1982 to 2019 and found that pre-season climate primarily regulates plant phenology, while the warming trend has little influence.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jarrod Kath, Vivekananda Mittahalli Byrareddy, Kathryn Reardon-Smith, Shahbaz Mushtaq
Summary: A study found that climate change-induced early flowering alters the sensitivity of plants to climate stress and affects crop yield. The study also highlights the importance of considering changes in plant phenology when predicting crop yield.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tabasum Hassan, Maroof Hamid, Sajad A. Wani, Akhtar H. Malik, Showkat A. Waza, Anzar A. Khuroo
Summary: In this study, the authors investigate the shifts in spring flowering phenology of Sternbergia vernalis in response to changing climate in Kashmir Himalaya. The results show a significant advancement in flowering time influenced by increasing temperatures, while precipitation has a less significant impact. The integrated use of multiple methodological approaches enhances understanding of long-term phenological shifts in response to climate change.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xianping Wang, Yinzhan Liu, Xin Li, Shibin He, Mingxing Zhong, Fude Shang
Summary: Climate change has a significant impact on spring and autumn plant phenology, but the study of autumn phenology, especially autumn flowering phenology, is lacking. In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal pattern of Osmanthus fragrans phenology and found that latitude strongly affects its leaf phenology and flowering phenology. Both leaf and flowering phenology are negatively correlated with growing degree-days, cold degree-days, and annual precipitation. The results suggest that future climate change may delay the phenological sequence of O. fragrans.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Natasha de Manincor, Alessandro Fisogni, Nicole E. Rafferty
Summary: Climate change disrupts plant-pollinator mutualisms by causing phenological asynchronies and altering interaction traits. Warming advances flowering onset, peak, and end in plant communities, but has no effect on bee emergence. Warmed plants produce fewer and smaller flowers with less nectar concentration, reducing attractiveness, while warmed bees become more generalized in foraging, reducing effectiveness. Plant-bee interactions decrease in frequency, duration, and peak under warming, resulting in fewer and lighter seeds and pollinator-mediated fitness costs. Climate change diminishes ecosystem services by perturbing plant-pollinator mutualisms.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Alessandro Fisogni, Natasha de Manincor, C. David Bertelsen, Nicole E. Rafferty
Summary: This study examines the changes in flowering synchrony within and among plant communities in response to changing climate. The results show that flowering synchrony significantly decreases with increasing temperatures and has locally-dependent effects in combination with reduced precipitation. However, there is an increase in synchrony within plant species occurring in multiple communities, indicating a homogenization of flowering phenology across the gradient. These changes in flowering synchrony may have far-reaching and negative effects on ecosystem stability.
Article
Environmental Studies
David W. Inouye
Summary: Climate change is a significant aspect of the current ecological landscape that impacts global and local environments. Researchers have progressed from basic descriptions of temporal changes to investigating the underlying causes, impacts, and consequences of these changes at both ecological and evolutionary scales. This era presents an exciting yet sometimes disheartening time for scientists.
WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-CLIMATE CHANGE
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xinyue Gao, Junhu Dai, Khurram Shahzad, Huanjiong Wang, Zexing Tao, Juha Mikael Alatalo
Summary: This study investigated the phylogenetic conservatism of spring phenological traits among 48 temperate plant species in Northeast China. The results showed that spring traits were phylogenetically conserved and the effect of phylogeny on flowering traits was stronger than on leaf-out traits. Additionally, adaptation to native climate had a stronger effect on the variations in phenological traits than phylogeny.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Isaac W. Park, Tadeo Ramirez-Parada, Susan J. Mazer
Summary: In recent decades, the final frost dates of winter have advanced throughout North America, leading to earlier flowering times for many angiosperm taxa. This shift may reduce plant fitness, but the risk of floral exposure to frost has declined in 66% of sampled species due to last frost dates advancing more rapidly than flowering dates. Exotic species also exhibit lower frost risk than native species, as they typically inhabit warmer habitats with an earlier frost-free period.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Nick L. Rasmussen, Louie H. Yang
Summary: Phenological shifts can have persistent and qualitatively different effects on different life stages of plants, with early and late-season herbivory having different impacts on plant growth and reproduction.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Cole Geissler, Allison Davidson, Richard A. Niesenbaum
Summary: Climate warming can affect plant flowering phenology, and herbarium collections provide historical plant data for documenting and understanding long-term shifts in flowering phenology. Our study found that plants flowered earlier with increasing temperatures, especially in spring, and woody species responded differently to annual temperatures compared to herbaceous species.
Article
Ecology
Amy M. Iler, Parris T. Humphrey, Jane E. Ogilvie, Paul J. CaraDonna
Summary: This study raises conceptual and technical issues around inferring phenological events and reanalyzes a dataset using the Weibull estimator. Results show that flowering dates shift disparately over time, supporting the original analysis. It emphasizes the importance of considering sampling adequacy and biological features when using statistical estimators to generalize about unsampled populations.
Article
Agronomy
Hsin-Wu Hsu, Kyungdahm Yun, Soo-Hyung Kim
Summary: Rising global temperatures are impacting plant phenology, with spring warming causing early flowering and winter warming potentially delaying bloom dates. Chilling temperatures during dormancy showed variability along latitudes, while forcing temperatures after dormancy exhibited consistent effects. Winter warming may offset spring warming, leading to delays in bloom dates.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alan Barrett, Leslie Brown
Summary: Variability in ephemeral resources provided by woody plants is influenced by temperature, rainfall, and photoperiod. The onset of resource pulses is mainly triggered by rising temperatures in September, with a significant lag between flowering and rainfall. Temperature has the biggest impact on the number of species with new fruits and pods. Monitoring of climatic variables is recommended for wildlife populations in areas with woody plant species.
Article
Plant Sciences
A. Gast, C. Roemermann, S. F. Bucher
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yunpeng Luo, Tarek El-Madany, Xuanlong Ma, Richard Nair, Martin Jung, Ulrich Weber, Gianluca Filippa, Solveig F. Bucher, Gerardo Moreno, Edoardo Cremonese, Arnaud Carrara, Rosario Gonzalez-Cascon, Yonatan Caceres Escudero, Marta Galvagno, Javier Pacheco-Labrador, M. Pilar Martin, Oscar Perez-Priego, Markus Reichstein, Andrew D. Richardson, Annette Menzel, Christine Roemermann, Mirco Migliavacca
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Plant Sciences
Josephine Ulrich, Solveig Franziska Bucher, Nico Eisenhauer, Anja Schmidt, Manfred Tuerke, Alban Gebler, Kathryn Barry, Markus Lange, Christine Roemermann
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Ecology
Solveig Franziska Bucher, Sergey Rosbakh
Summary: The study tested a simple and inexpensive technique to estimate plant frost resistance and found that this trait is related to species distribution and community structure. The research also showed that at high elevations, plant FRPEL values are associated with environmental filtering, as well as with plant functional traits and morphological features.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Birgit Nordt, Isabell Hensen, Solveig Franziska Bucher, Martin Freiberg, Richard B. Primack, Albert-Dieter Stevens, Aletta Bonn, Christian Wirth, Desiree Jakubka, Carolin Plos, Maria Sporbert, Christine Roemermann
Summary: Changes in phenology due to climate change have significant implications for ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, especially in herbaceous species. The PhenObs initiative aims to use botanical gardens as a global network for observing plant phenology to better understand and predict the effects of global change on plant species and ecosystem processes.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Solveig Franziska Bucher, Christine Roemermann
Summary: Leaf senescence is a crucial event in a plant's life cycle that is influenced by species-specific traits and elevation. The timing of leaf senescence, from the beginning to the peak, is delayed with increasing altitude. Flowering phenology and leaf functional traits are closely related to leaf senescence, providing valuable insights for predicting species-specific responses to changes in abiotic conditions and ecosystem functioning in the future.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Forestry
Maggie Preisser, Solveig Franziska Bucher
Summary: Seasonal variation in frost resistance and plant performance, influenced by growth temperature, was found in the study. This contributes to a better understanding of ecophysiological processes in the context of climate change.
Article
Plant Sciences
Hamada E. Ali, Solveig Franziska Bucher
Summary: Land-use changes, especially megaprojects, can have significant impacts on natural vegetation, leading to habitat destruction and introduction of invasive species. This study in a wetland nature reserve in northern Egypt showed that a pipeline construction led to the establishment of an invasive species and hindered the re-establishment of certain plant species, altering the functional traits and diversity of the plant community.
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Sporbert, Desiree Jakubka, Solveig Franziska Bucher, Isabell Hensen, Martin Freiberg, Katja Heubach, Andreas Koenig, Birgit Nordt, Carolin Plos, Ilona Blinova, Aletta Bonn, Barbara Knickmann, Tomas Koubek, Anja Linstaedter, Tereza Maskova, Richard B. Primack, Christoph Rosche, Manzoor A. Shah, Albert-Dieter Stevens, Katja Tielboerger, Sabrina Traeger, Christian Wirth, Christine Roemermann
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between phenology and functional traits in 212 plant species across five botanical gardens in Germany, finding that closely related species showed greater similarities in timing of phenological events, but species' traits had a high degree of explanatory power, indicating the importance of species' life-history strategies. Taller and large-leaved plants exhibited later phenology and higher competitiveness.
Article
Ecology
Hamada E. Ali, Solveig Franziska Bucher
Summary: The functional composition of plant communities plays a crucial role in ecosystem functions. This study found that an invasive plant species performed better than native species under drought conditions in semi-arid grassland communities in northern Africa. The invasive species showed significant success under the combined impact of drought and nitrogen addition, which is likely to occur with ongoing global change.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Mustaqeem Ahmad, Sergey Rosbakh, Solveig Franziska Bucher, Padma Sharma, Sonia Rathee, Sanjay Kr. Uniyal, Daizy R. Batish, Harminder P. Singh
Summary: Our study analyzed six floral traits of 139 herbaceous species in 21 sites along an elevation gradient in the western Himalayas. The results show that with increasing elevation, flowering is delayed, flowers are larger, and specific flower area decreases. These findings suggest that abiotic factors and plant-pollinator interactions influence the floral trait composition of plant communities along environmental gradients.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Solveig Franziska Bucher, Lia Uhde, Alexandra Weigelt, Simone Cesarz, Nico Eisenhauer, Alban Gebler, Christopher Kyba, Christine Roemermann, Tom Shatwell, Jes Hines
Summary: Artificial light at night (ALAN) has significant impacts on plant communities, resulting in reduced biomass, decreased diversity, and changes in functional traits. These findings highlight the need for conservation and management strategies that consider the effects of ALAN on plant ecology.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biology
Simone Cesarz, Nico Eisenhauer, Solveig Franziska Bucher, Marcel Ciobanu, Jes Hines
Summary: The use of artificial light at night (ALAN) is increasing worldwide, but its impact on the soil system has not been studied. This research shows that increasing ALAN reduces plant biomass and decreases soil water content. Soil respiration is further reduced under high ALAN, but microbial communities maintain stable biomass and exhibit higher carbon use efficiency. While ALAN does not affect microbial community structure, plant-feeding nematodes increase in abundance and nematode communities become more homogenous under higher ALAN levels, suggesting that soil communities may be more vulnerable to additional disturbances. In summary, ALAN alters soil communities and ecosystem functions, mediated by changes in plant productivity and soil water content.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biology
Alexander Dyer, Remo Ryser, Ulrich Brose, Angelos Amyntas, Nora Bodnar, Thomas Boy, Solveig Franziska Bucher, Simone Cesarz, Nico Eisenhauer, Alban Gebler, Jes Hines, Christopher C. M. Kyba, Myles H. M. Menz, Karl Rackwitz, Tom Shatwell, Joerdis F. Terlau, Myriam R. Hirt
Summary: The presence of artificial light at night (ALAN) has significant impacts on natural ecosystems. This study investigates the effects of ALAN on insect movement and predation rates in a grassland ecosystem. The results show that even low-intensity skyglow can cause temporal and spatial shifts in insect movement and predation behavior, with potential consequences for ecological networks and ecosystem functioning.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)