[PCA] Article: Flowering phenology shifts in response to biodiversity loss

Thu Apr 13 17:16:42 CDT 2017

Study finds that loss of plant diversity may have as strong of an affect on
changes in plant phenology as climate change.

Amelia A. Wolf, Erika S. Zavaleta, and Paul C. Selmants, "
Flowering phenology shifts in response to biodiversity loss
", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(I do not have access to the full artice): 
http://www.pnas.org/content/114/13/3463

Story in Science Daily:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170324144535.htm

*From the PNAS journal article:* Advanced spring flowering has been
described as a fingerprint of climate change—a public, visible display of
the detrimental effects of global warming. However, warming experiments
fail to account for the full magnitude of observed changes in phenology,
suggesting that other factors may play important roles. We show that peak
flowering time shifts earlier for most species when we experimentally
reduce plant diversity. Additionally, peak flowering times of plant species
are more evenly distributed across the season in high-diversity plots.
Overall, these results demonstrate the importance of biotic interactions in
influencing flowering times and indicate that advancing phenology, one of
the most well-described and well-publicized phenomena linking global
warming to plant communities, may result equally from biodiversity declines.

*From story in Science Daily:* ...the role that biotic interactions -- how
plants interact with each other -- have on phenology is critical to
understanding the combined anthropogenic effects on leaf-out, flowering
timing and other phenological events, and is something to be considered
when studying global climate change. Declining diversity could be
contributing to or exacerbating phenological changes attributed to rising
global temperatures.

...there has been a disconnect between the data collected from
observational studies, in which researchers observe and analyze what
happens naturally in an ecosystem impacted by global warming, and results
of experimental studies, where researchers artificially warm a plot in a
way that matches natural global warming. The experimental studies
consistently fail to produce the same changes to the timing of biological
events as those recorded in observational studies.

Lindsey Riibe
Bureau of Land Management
Plant Conservation Program Assistant
503-808-6230

National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration
<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/national-seed-strategy>
Plant Conservation Alliance <http://www.plantconservationalliance.org/>
Seeds of Success
<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/native-plant-and-seed-material-development/collection>
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