Chilling consequences: Herbarium records reveal earlier reproductive phenology of winter annual gladecress in a wetter, cooler climate

Plants, People, Planet

Joshua B. Grinath¹  Caitlin Banaszak¹  Christopher R. Herlihy¹ 

[1] Department of Biology Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro TN USA;

关键词: climate cooling;    flowering phenology;    global change;    herbarium;    Leavenworthia stylosa (cedar gladecress);    plant reproduction;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ppp3.10095

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Societal Impact Statement Networks of digitized herbarium records are rich resources for understanding plant responses to climate change. While the climate is warming globally, some localities are experiencing climate cooling, the effects of which are poorly understood. Our herbarium‐based study of a geographically restricted species shows that the timing of reproduction can shift earlier as the climate becomes cooler and wetter. Local variation in climate change may be a key factor driving the high variability of changes observed in plant reproduction and climate cooling should be considered along with other global change drivers. This will help enable accurate predictions for the successful management of climate change effects. Summary Plant phenological responses to global warming are well studied. However, while many locations are experiencing increased temperatures, some locations are experiencing climate cooling. Little work has been conducted to understand plant phenological responses to cooling trends, much less the combined effects of cooling and other factors, such as changing precipitation. Furthermore, studies based on herbarium specimens have been instrumental in demonstrating plant responses to global warming; but to our knowledge, herbarium records have not been used to investigate responses to cooling. We collected data from 98 years of herbarium records to evaluate whether the reproductive phenology (flowering/fruiting) of an annual mustard, cedar gladecress (Leavenworthia stylosa), has changed as the climate has become cooler and wetter in central Tennessee, USA. Additionally, we conducted two field experiments to assess reproductive consequences of different flowering times. Over the last century, gladecress reproductive phenology has shifted 2.1 days earlier per decade, concurrent with wetter conditions during germination and cooler conditions during reproduction. Field experiments showed that plants with extremely early and moderately early flowering had equivalent reproduction, but these plants had greater reproduction than intermediate‐ and late‐flowering plants. Counter to expectations from global warming studies, our work demonstrates that climate cooling and greater rainfall can result in earlier plant reproductive phenology, potentially due to asymmetric selection for early flowering. Future studies may need to consider climate cooling along with other global change factors to fully explain changes in plant phenology. Our understanding of plant responses to climate cooling can be enhanced through additional herbarium‐based research.

【 授权许可】

Unknown