Climate Change and Flowering Phenology in Worcester County, Massachusetts

2015 ◽  
Vol 176 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert I. Bertin
Author(s):  
David J. Garbary ◽  
Jonathan Ferrier ◽  
Barry R. Taylor

Over 1400 flowering records of 135 species were recorded from over 125visits to more than 20 sites in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia from November2005 to January 2006, when the growing season is normally over. The speciesidentified were primarily herbaceous dicots; however, there were four speciesof woody plants (Cornus sericea, Spiraea latifolia, Symphoricarpos albusand Salix sp.) and one monocot (Allium schoenoprasum). The number ofspecies flowering declined linearly as fall progressed, as did the amountof flowering for each species. Nevertheless, over 40 species were still inflower in early December, and over 20 species flowered in January. Thefinal flowering date was 21 January, when ten species were found. Thiswork builds on a previous study in 2001, when 93 species were recordedin flower during November-December. In addition to the 30% increase inrecorded species in 2005, almost 50% of the species found in 2005 werenot recorded in 2001. This study provides an expanded baseline againstwhich changes in flowering phenology can be evaluated with respect tosubsequent regional climate change.Key Words: Antigonish, flowering, Nova Scotia, phenology, climate change


2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1743) ◽  
pp. 3843-3852 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill T. Anderson ◽  
David W. Inouye ◽  
Amy M. McKinney ◽  
Robert I. Colautti ◽  
Tom Mitchell-Olds

Anthropogenic climate change has already altered the timing of major life-history transitions, such as the initiation of reproduction. Both phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution can underlie rapid phenological shifts in response to climate change, but their relative contributions are poorly understood. Here, we combine a continuous 38 year field survey with quantitative genetic field experiments to assess adaptation in the context of climate change. We focused on Boechera stricta (Brassicaeae), a mustard native to the US Rocky Mountains. Flowering phenology advanced significantly from 1973 to 2011, and was strongly associated with warmer temperatures and earlier snowmelt dates. Strong directional selection favoured earlier flowering in contemporary environments (2010–2011). Climate change could drive this directional selection, and promote even earlier flowering as temperatures continue to increase. Our quantitative genetic analyses predict a response to selection of 0.2 to 0.5 days acceleration in flowering per generation, which could account for more than 20 per cent of the phenological change observed in the long-term dataset. However, the strength of directional selection and the predicted evolutionary response are likely much greater now than even 30 years ago because of rapidly changing climatic conditions. We predict that adaptation will likely be necessary for long-term in situ persistence in the context of climate change.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (06) ◽  
pp. 1630
Author(s):  
Amalaurpava Mary Michael* ◽  
Gopal G.V.

Climate change may influence the composition of plant communities by affecting the reproduction, growth, establishment and local extinction of plant species. Predicting the effect of climate change may provide insight into the impact and relationship between weather pattern and flowering phenology in long term studies. Pollen viability is one important factor of reproduction. Pollen viability is essential for a good fruit set. The study is undertaken to evaluate the influence of temperature and rainfall fluctuation pattern on floral phenology and pollen viability in the restricted distribution of the plant Ehretia pubescens Benth. Field observation on floral phenology has revealed changes occurring in the pollen viability with the change of temperature and rainfall. The plants show drought resistant; however, it is observed that it blooms immediately after the rainfall. Change in the rainfall pattern results in change in flowering pattern. On the natural habitat fruit set is a good indicating of good germinability of pollen grain in vivo. In vitro pollen germinability is less efficient for this species as supported by the data.


2017 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Anna Maria Fosaa ◽  
Olivia Danielsen ◽  
Herborg Nyholm Debes

<p><strong>Úrtak</strong></p><p>Í níggju ár kannaðu vit, á hvønn hátt experimentel hiting ávirkar tey ymisku stigini í blómingini hjá leggstuttari túvublómu, <em>Silene acaulis </em>í Føroyum. Hitin varð experimentelt øktur við smáum sekshyrntum vakstrarhúsum, ið eru gjørd úr polycarbonate. Tey eru opin í erva og tí navnið „Open top Champers“ (OTC). Kanningarnar vórðu gjørdar í fjallaøki í 600 m hædd, har blómustigini hjá leggstuttari túvublómu regluliga vórðu mátað í vakstrartíðini frá mai til juli mánað í tíggju OTC og tíggju kontrollum. Kanningarnar, ið vit skriva um í hesi grein, eru frá 2001 og hvørt ár frá 2007­2010. Vit skrivaðu upp tíðarskeiðið, tá fyrsti blómuknubbin var sjónligur, tíðarskeiðið tá fyrsta blóman var útsprungin, tá fyrsta og seinasta   krúnublað   følnaði. Kanningarnar eru ein partur av altjóða samstarvinum „International   Tundra   Experiment“ ITEX, ið er eitt samstarv millum fleiri støð serliga á norðraru hálvu, har kanningar verða gjørdar. Kanningarnar  hava  til  endamáls  at  granska árinið av veðurlagsbroytingum á plantuvøkstur. Úrslitini frá hesari kanning vísa greiðar munir millum OTC og kontrollarnar. Sum heild komu øll stigini í blómingini umleið eina viku fyrr í OTC enn í kontrollunum. Longdin á øllum blómingartíðarskeiðinum var ikki ymisk í OTC og kontrollunum. Okkara OTC øktu bara hitan umleið 1°C um summarið og broyttu neyvan vetrarhitan. Hetta og ymisk onnur viðurskifti gera, at úrslitini ikki siga okkum alla søguna um broytingarnar í føroyskum plantuvøkstri, sum fara at koma av globalu upphitingini.</p><p> </p><p><strong>A</strong><strong>bstract</strong></p><p>Over a period of nine years we studied the influence of experimental warming on the flowering  phenology  of  Moss  Campion<strong>, </strong><em>Silene acaulis </em>in the Faroes. The temperature was experimentally elevated with hexagonal greenhouses called open top chambers (OTC´s) made by polycarbonate. The experiment was conducted in an alpine area at 600 m a.s.l. where the flowering stage of <em>Silene acaulis </em>was measured regularly during the growing season from May to July in ten OTC´s and ten control plots. In this paper, we present observations from 2001 and every year from 2007  to  2010. We  measured  four  events  in the flowering stage: first visible bud (FB), first flowering  date  (FO),  first petal  drop (FPD) and last petal drop (LPD). This experiment is a part of „The International Tundra Experiment“ (ITEX) that is a collaborative, multisite experiment using a common temperature manipulation to examine the influence of climate change on vegetation. The results from our experiment showed statistically significant changes between the OTC´s and the control plots for all four events. Typically, the events occurred about one week earlier in the OTC´s. The length of the flowering period from FB to LPD was not significally different in the OTC´s from the control plots. The warming induced by the OTC´s in our experiment was only about 1oC in the summer and less than that in the winter. This and other confounding effects such as sheltering imply that care should be taken when using our results to predict phenological in the Faroes changes induced by global warming.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kate Gallagher ◽  
Diane R. Campbell

Climate change is likely to alter both flowering phenology and water availability for plants. Either of these changes alone can affect pollinator visitation and plant reproductive success. The relative impacts of phenology and water, and whether they interact in their impacts on plant reproductive success remain, however, largely unexplored. We manipulated flowering phenology and soil moisture in a factorial experiment with the subalpine perennial Mertensia ciliata (Boraginaceae). We examined responses of floral traits, floral abundance, pollinator visitation, and composition of visits by bumblebees vs. other pollinators. To determine the net effects on plant reproductive success, we also measured seed production and seed mass. Reduced water led to shorter, narrower flowers that produced less nectar. Late flowering plants produced fewer and shorter flowers. Both flowering phenology and water availability influenced pollination and reproductive success. Differences in flowering phenology had greater effects on pollinator visitation than did changes in water availability, but the reverse was true for seed production and mass, which were enhanced by greater water availability. The probability of receiving a flower visit declined over the season, coinciding with a decline in floral abundance in the arrays. Among plants receiving visits, both the visitation rate and percent of non-bumblebee visitors declined after the first week and remained low until the final week. We detected interactions of phenology and water on pollinator visitor composition, in which plants subject to drought were the only group to experience a late-season resurgence in visits by solitary bees and flies. Despite that interaction, net reproductive success measured as seed production responded additively to the two manipulations of water and phenology. Commonly observed declines in flower size and reward due to drought or shifts in phenology may not necessarily result in reduced plant reproductive success, which in M. ciliata responded more directly to water availability. The results highlight the need to go beyond studying single responses to climate changes, such as either phenology of a single species or how it experiences an abiotic factor, in order to understand how climate change may affect plant reproductive success.


2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1712) ◽  
pp. 20160032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert I. Colautti ◽  
Jon Ågren ◽  
Jill T. Anderson

Warmer and drier climates have shifted phenologies of many species. However, the magnitude and direction of phenological shifts vary widely among taxa, and it is often unclear when shifts are adaptive or how they affect long-term viability. Here, we model evolution of flowering phenology based on our long-term research of two species exhibiting opposite shifts in floral phenology: Lythrum salicaria , which is invasive in North America, and the sparse Rocky Mountain native Boechera stricta . Genetic constraints are similar in both species, but differences in the timing of environmental conditions that favour growth lead to opposite phenological shifts under climate change. As temperatures increase, selection is predicted to favour earlier flowering in native B. stricta while reducing population viability, even if populations adapt rapidly to changing environmental conditions. By contrast, warming is predicted to favour delayed flowering in both native and introduced L. salicaria populations while increasing long-term viability. Relaxed selection from natural enemies in invasive L. salicaria is predicted to have little effect on flowering time but a large effect on reproductive fitness. Our approach highlights the importance of understanding ecological and genetic constraints to predict the ecological consequences of evolutionary responses to climate change on contemporary timescales. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Human influences on evolution, and the ecological and societal consequences’.


2020 ◽  
Vol 291 ◽  
pp. 106795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsechoe Dorji ◽  
Kelly A. Hopping ◽  
Fandong Meng ◽  
Shiping Wang ◽  
Lili Jiang ◽  
...  

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