Effectiveness of winter temperatures for satisfying chilling requirements for reproductive budburst of red alder (Alnus rubra)

Background Experiencing an adequate amount of cold temperatures over winter is necessary for many temperate tree species to break dormancy and flower in spring. Thus, changes in winter and spring temperatures associated with climate change may influence when trees break dormancy and flower in the future. There have been several experimental studies that have quantified the effectiveness of cold temperatures for chilling requirements for vegetative budburst of temperate trees; however, there are few experimental studies addressing the chilling requirements for reproductive budburst of trees, as it is difficult to place reproductively mature trees in temperature-controlled environments. Methods To identify how changing temperatures associated with climate change may impact reproductive phenology, we completed a temperature-controlled growth chamber experiment using cuttings of reproductive branches of red alder (Alnus rubra), one of the most widespread hardwood tree species of the Pacific Northwest, USA. The purpose of this study was to examine how colder (4 °C) and warmer (9 °C) winter temperature regimes influenced the timing of reproductive budburst of red alder cuttings in spring. We also compared the date of budburst of cuttings to that of branches from intact trees. Results We found that cuttings flowered earlier after pretreatment with a 4 °C winter temperature regime than after a 9 °C winter temperature regime. We found no significant differences between the timing of male budburst of cuttings exposed to ambient conditions compared to male budburst of branches from intact trees. We used our experimental data to estimate a “possibility-line” that shows the accumulated chilling and forcing temperatures necessary prior to reproductive budburst of red alder. Discussion This study provides a preliminary indication that warmer winters with climate change may not be as effective as colder winters for satisfying chilling temperature requirements of a Northwest hardwood tree species

Experimental warming differentially affects vegetative and reproductive phenology of tundra plants

Rapid climate warming is altering Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystem structure and function, including shifts in plant phenology. While the advancement of green up and flowering are well-documented, it remains unclear whether all phenophases, particularly those later in the season, will shift in unison or respond divergently to warming. Here, we present the largest synthesis to our knowledge of experimental warming effects on tundra plant phenology from the International Tundra Experiment. We examine the effect of warming on a suite of season-wide plant phenophases. Results challenge the expectation that all phenophases will advance in unison to warming. Instead, we find that experimental warming caused: (1) larger phenological shifts in reproductive versus vegetative phenophases and (2) advanced reproductive phenophases and green up but delayed leaf senescence which translated to a lengthening of the growing season by approximately 3%. Patterns were consistent across sites, plant species and over time. The advancement of reproductive seasons and lengthening of growing seasons may have significant consequences for trophic interactions and ecosystem function across the tundra

Greater temperature sensitivity of plant phenology at colder sites: implications for convergence across northern latitudes

Warmer temperatures are accelerating the phenology of organisms around the world. Temperature sensitivity of phenology might be greater in colder, higher latitude sites than in warmer regions, in part because small changes in temperature constitute greater relative changes in thermal balance at colder sites. To test this hypothesis, we examined up to 20 years of phenology data for 47 tundra plant species at 18 high-latitude sites along a climatic gradient. Across all species, the timing of leaf emergence and flowering was more sensitive to a given increase in summer temperature at colder than warmer high-latitude locations. A similar pattern was seen over time for the flowering phenology of a widespread species, Cassiope tetragona. These are among the first results highlighting differential phenological responses of plants across a climatic gradient and suggest the possibility of convergence in flowering times and therefore an increase in gene flow across latitudes as the climate warms

Experimental warming differentially affects vegetative and reproductive phenology of tundra plants

Rapid climate warming is altering Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystem structure and function, including shifts in plant phenology. While the advancement of green up and flowering are well-documented, it remains unclear whether all phenophases, particularly those later in the season, will shift in unison or respond divergently to warming. Here, we present the largest synthesis to our knowledge of experimental warming effects on tundra plant phenology from the International Tundra Experiment. We examine the effect of warming on a suite of season-wide plant phenophases. Results challenge the expectation that all phenophases will advance in unison to warming. Instead, we find that experimental warming caused: (1) larger phenological shifts in reproductive versus vegetative phenophases and (2) advanced reproductive phenophases and green up but delayed leaf senescence which translated to a lengthening of the growing season by approximately 3%. Patterns were consistent across sites, plant species and over time. The advancement of reproductive seasons and lengthening of growing seasons may have significant consequences for trophic interactions and ecosystem function across the tundra.publishedVersio

Hiding in the background: community-level patterns in invertebrate herbivory across the tundra biome

Invertebrate herbivores depend on external temperature for growth and metabolism. Continued warming in tundra ecosystems is proposed to result in increased invertebrate herbivory. However, empirical data about how current levels of invertebrate herbivory vary across the Arctic is limited and generally restricted to a single host plant or a small group of species, so predicting future change remains challenging. We investigated large-scale patterns of invertebrate herbivory across the tundra biome at the community level and explored how these patterns are related to long-term climatic conditions and year-of-sampling weather, habitat characteristics, and aboveground biomass production. Utilizing a standardized protocol, we collected samples from 92 plots nested within 20 tundra sites during summer 2015. We estimated the community-weighted biomass lost based on the total leaf area consumed by invertebrates for the most common plant species within each plot. Overall, invertebrate herbivory was prevalent at low intensities across the tundra, with estimates averaging 0.94% and ranging between 0.02 and 5.69% of plant biomass. Our results suggest that mid-summer temperature influences the intensity of invertebrate herbivory at the community level, consistent with the hypothesis that climate warming should increase plant losses to invertebrates in the tundra. However, most of the observed variation in herbivory was associated with other site level characteristics, indicating that other local ecological factors also play an important role. More details about the local drivers of invertebrate herbivory are necessary to predict the consequences for rapidly changing tundra ecosystems.KeywordsBackground herbivory Biomass loss Climate change Community-weighted average Invertebrate Insects Tundra </div

Global change effects on plant communities are magnified by time and the number of global change factors imposed

Global change drivers (GCDs) are expected to alter community structure and consequently, the services that ecosystems provide. Yet, few experimental investigations have examined effects of GCDs on plant community structure across multiple ecosystem types, and those that do exist present conflicting patterns. In an unprecedented global synthesis of over 100 experiments that manipulated factors linked to GCDs, we show that herbaceous plant community responses depend on experimental manipulation length and number of factors manipulated. We found that plant communities are fairly resistant to experimentally manipulated GCDs in the short term (<10 y). In contrast, long-term (≥10 y) experiments show increasing community divergence of treatments from control conditions. Surprisingly, these community responses occurred with similar frequency across the GCD types manipulated in our database. However, community responses were more common when 3 or more GCDs were simultaneously manipulated, suggesting the emergence of additive or synergistic effects of multiple drivers, particularly over long time periods. In half of the cases, GCD manipulations caused a difference in community composition without a corresponding species richness difference, indicating that species reordering or replacement is an important mechanism of community responses to GCDs and should be given greater consideration when examining consequences of GCDs for the biodiversity–ecosystem function relationship. Human activities are currently driving unparalleled global changes worldwide. Our analyses provide the most comprehensive evidence to date that these human activities may have widespread impacts on plant community composition globally, which will increase in frequency over time and be greater in areas where communities face multiple GCDs simultaneously

Data from: Seasonality of precipitation interacts with exotic species to alter composition and phenology of a semi-arid grassland

While modeling efforts suggest that invasive species will track climate changes, empirical studies are few. A relevant and largely unaddressed research question is: how will the presence of exotic species interact with precipitation change to alter ecosystem structure and function? We studied the effects of changes in seasonal timing of precipitation on species composition and resource availability in a grassland community in Colorado, USA. We examined how seasonal precipitation patterns affect the abundance of historically present (native) and recently-arrived (exotic) plant species, as well as soil moisture, nitrogen, and above-ground biomass. Over four years, we applied four precipitation treatments based on climate model predictions for the study area: winter-wet/summer-ambient, winter-wet/summer-dry, winter-wet/summer-wet and winter-dry/summer-wet. Cover of exotic winter-active grasses was greater in winter-wet treatments than in control or winter-dry treatments. Cover of native warm-season grasses and forbs was greatest in the winter-dry/summer-wet treatment, and lowest in the winter-wet/summer-dry treatment. These results support the expectation that increased winter precipitation benefits new arrivals, whereas increased summer precipitation benefits later-growing native plants. Structural equation models showed that interactive effects of increased winter precipitation and increased cover of winter-active grasses reduced growing season soil water content and species diversity. In addition, the dominant winter-active species, Bromus tectorum, flowered and senesced earlier in plots receiving increased winter precipitation and reduced summer precipitation, suggesting that earlier growth of winter-active grasses decreases available soil resources and impacts later-growing native plants. Peak above-ground biomass was lowest in the treatment receiving reduced summer precipitation, but only in years with dry springs. Plant-available nitrogen in spring was lower in plots receiving supplemental winter precipitation, and highest in plots with reduced winter precipitation. Synthesis. Our results indicate that altering the seasonality of precipitation can have large direct effects on plant community composition and phenology, as well as significant indirect effects, mediated through exotic species, on plant-available resources and plant interactions

Data from: Seasonality of precipitation interacts with exotic species to alter composition and phenology of a semi-arid grassland

While modeling efforts suggest that invasive species will track climate changes, empirical studies are few. A relevant and largely unaddressed research question is: how will the presence of exotic species interact with precipitation change to alter ecosystem structure and function? We studied the effects of changes in seasonal timing of precipitation on species composition and resource availability in a grassland community in Colorado, USA. We examined how seasonal precipitation patterns affect the abundance of historically present (native) and recently-arrived (exotic) plant species, as well as soil moisture, nitrogen, and above-ground biomass. Over four years, we applied four precipitation treatments based on climate model predictions for the study area: winter-wet/summer-ambient, winter-wet/summer-dry, winter-wet/summer-wet and winter-dry/summer-wet. Cover of exotic winter-active grasses was greater in winter-wet treatments than in control or winter-dry treatments. Cover of native warm-season grasses and forbs was greatest in the winter-dry/summer-wet treatment, and lowest in the winter-wet/summer-dry treatment. These results support the expectation that increased winter precipitation benefits new arrivals, whereas increased summer precipitation benefits later-growing native plants. Structural equation models showed that interactive effects of increased winter precipitation and increased cover of winter-active grasses reduced growing season soil water content and species diversity. In addition, the dominant winter-active species, Bromus tectorum, flowered and senesced earlier in plots receiving increased winter precipitation and reduced summer precipitation, suggesting that earlier growth of winter-active grasses decreases available soil resources and impacts later-growing native plants. Peak above-ground biomass was lowest in the treatment receiving reduced summer precipitation, but only in years with dry springs. Plant-available nitrogen in spring was lower in plots receiving supplemental winter precipitation, and highest in plots with reduced winter precipitation. Synthesis. Our results indicate that altering the seasonality of precipitation can have large direct effects on plant community composition and phenology, as well as significant indirect effects, mediated through exotic species, on plant-available resources and plant interactions