scholarly journals Comment on “Forest microclimate dynamics drive plant responses to warming”

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 370 (6520) ◽  
pp. eabd3850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romain Bertrand ◽  
Fabien Aubret ◽  
Gaël Grenouillet ◽  
Alexandre Ribéron ◽  
Simon Blanchet
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Forest Microclimate

Zellweger et al. (Reports, 15 May 2020, p. 772) claimed that forest plant communities’ response to global warming is primarily controlled by microclimate dynamics. We show that community thermophilization is poorly explained by the underlying components of microclimate, and that global warming primarily controls the climatic lag of plant communities. Deconstructing the underlying components of microclimate provides insights for managers.

scholarly journals Response to Comment on “Forest microclimate dynamics drive plant responses to warming”

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 370 (6520) ◽  
pp. eabd6193
Author(s):  
Florian Zellweger ◽  
Pieter De Frenne ◽  
Jonathan Lenoir ◽  
Pieter Vangansbeke ◽  
Kris Verheyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Community Responses ◽  
Forest Microclimate

Bertrand et al. question our interpretation about warming effects on the thermophilization in forest plant communities and propose an alternative way to analyze climatic debt. We show that microclimate warming is a better predictor than macroclimate warming for studying forest plant community responses to warming. Their additional analyses do not affect or change our interpretations and conclusions.

scholarly journals Response to Comment on “Forest microclimate dynamics drive plant responses to warming”

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 370 (6522) ◽  
pp. eabf2939
Author(s):  
Florian Zellweger ◽  
Pieter De Frenne ◽  
Jonathan Lenoir ◽  
Pieter Vangansbeke ◽  
Kris Verheyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Understory Plant ◽  
Understory Plant Communities ◽  
Forest Microclimate

Schall and Heinrichs question our interpretation that the climatic debt in understory plant communities is locally modulated by canopy buffering. However, our results clearly show that the discrepancy between microclimate warming rates and thermophilization rates is highest in forests where canopy cover was reduced, which suggests that the need for communities to respond to warming is highest in those forests.

Temporal dynamics of mycorrhizal fungal communities and co-associations with grassland plant communities following experimental manipulation of rainfall

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coline Deveautour ◽  
Sally Power ◽  
Kirk Barnett ◽  
Raul Ochoa-Hueso ◽  
Suzanne Donn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Plant Community ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Fungal Community ◽  
Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽  
Fungal Communities ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Rainfall Regimes

Climate models project overall a reduction in rainfall amounts and shifts in the timing of rainfall events in mid-latitudes and sub-tropical dry regions, which threatens the productivity and diversity of grasslands. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi may help plants to cope with expected changes but may also be impacted by changing rainfall, either via the direct effects of low soil moisture on survival and function or indirectly via changes in the plant community. In an Australian mesic grassland (former pasture) system, we characterised plant and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities every six months for nearly four years to two altered rainfall regimes: i) ambient, ii) rainfall reduced by 50% relative to ambient over the entire year and iii) total summer rainfall exclusion. Using Illumina sequencing, we assessed the response of AM fungal communities sampled from contrasting rainfall treatments and evaluated whether variation in AM fungal communities was associated with variation in plant community richness and composition. We found that rainfall reduction influenced the fungal communities, with the nature of the response depending on the type of manipulation, but that consistent results were only observed after more than two years of rainfall manipulation. We observed significant co-associations between plant and AM fungal communities on multiple dates. Predictive co-correspondence analyses indicated more support for the hypothesis that fungal community composition influenced plant community composition than vice versa. However, we found no evidence that altered rainfall regimes were leading to distinct co-associations between plants and AM fungi. Overall, our results provide evidence that grassland plant communities are intricately tied to variation in AM fungal communities. However, in this system, plant responses to climate change may not be directly related to impacts of altered rainfall regimes on AM fungal communities. Our study shows that AM fungal communities respond to changes in rainfall but that this effect was not immediate. The AM fungal community may influence the composition of the plant community. However, our results suggest that plant responses to altered rainfall regimes at our site may not be resulting via changes in the AM fungal communities.

scholarly journals PLANT COMMUNITY CHANGE ACROSS THE PALEOCENE-EOCENE BOUNDARY IN THE GULF COASTAL PLAIN, CENTRAL TEXAS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer D. Wagner ◽  
Daniel J. Peppe ◽  
Jennifer M.K. O'Keefe ◽  
Christopher Dennison
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Plant Community ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Northern Great Plains ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
High Turnover ◽  
Future Global Warming ◽  
Central Texas

During the early Paleogene the Earth experienced long-term global warming punctuated by several short-term ‘hyperthermal’ events, the most pronounced of which is the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). During this time, tropical climates expanded into extra-tropical areas potentially forming a wide band of ‘paratropical’ forests that are hypothesized to have expanded into the mid-latitude Northern Great Plains (NGP). Relatively little is known about these ‘paratropical’ floras, which would have extended across the Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP). This study assesses the preserved floras from the GCP in Central Texas before and after the PETM to define plant ecosystem changes associated with the hyperthermal event in this region. These floras suggest a high turnover rate, change in plant community composition, and uniform plant communities across the GCP at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. Paleoecology and paleoclimate estimates from Central Texas PETM floras suggest a warm and wet environment, indicative of tropical seasonal forest to tropical rainforest biomes. Fossil evidence from the GCP combined with data from the NGP and modern tropics suggest that warming during the PETM helped create a ‘paratropical belt’ that extended into the mid-latitudes. Evaluating the response of plant communities to rapid global warming is important for understanding and preparing for current and future global warming and climate change.

scholarly journals Forest microclimate dynamics drive plant responses to warming

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 368 (6492) ◽  
pp. 772-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Zellweger ◽  
Pieter De Frenne ◽  
Jonathan Lenoir ◽  
Pieter Vangansbeke ◽  
Kris Verheyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Warming ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Local Heat ◽  
Tree Canopy ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Reciprocal Effects ◽  
Biological Communities ◽  
Tree Canopy Cover ◽  
Forest Microclimate

Climate warming is causing a shift in biological communities in favor of warm-affinity species (i.e., thermophilization). Species responses often lag behind climate warming, but the reasons for such lags remain largely unknown. Here, we analyzed multidecadal understory microclimate dynamics in European forests and show that thermophilization and the climatic lag in forest plant communities are primarily controlled by microclimate. Increasing tree canopy cover reduces warming rates inside forests, but loss of canopy cover leads to increased local heat that exacerbates the disequilibrium between community responses and climate change. Reciprocal effects between plants and microclimates are key to understanding the response of forest biodiversity and functioning to climate and land-use changes.

scholarly journals Effects of Nitrogen Management on Biomass Production and Dry Matter Distribution of Processing Tomato Cropped in Southern Italy

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Ronga ◽  
Mario Parisi ◽  
Alfonso Pentangelo ◽  
Mauro Mori ◽  
Ida Di Mola
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Global Warming Potential ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Marketable Yield ◽  
Dry Matter Distribution ◽  
Net Return ◽  
Processing Tomato ◽  
Nitrogen Rates

Processing tomato is an important worldwide horticultural crop. It is generally grown in high-input systems; nevertheless, plant responses to nitrogen fertilization, in terms of the effects on dry matter production and allocation to different plant organs, have yet to be investigated in depth. Moreover, information on the crop marginal net return and global warming potential (as an index of the environmental impact of crop cultivation) at different nitrogen rates is still scarce. Therefore, the aim of this work was to study the effects of different nitrogen rates (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 kg of N ha−1) on the agronomic, economic, and environmental aspects of processing tomato grown under conventional management in the Mediterranean area. The results of the two-year trials indicated 200 kg of nitrogen ha−1 as the best rate, ensuring the highest values of marketable and total yields, brix ton ha−1, and marginal net return and the lowest global warming potential per ton of marketable yield. However, since plants fertilized with 200 kg of N ha−1 did not record the highest values of nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen uptake efficiency, our finding suggest the possibility to select better-performing cultivars for these physiological parameters by adopting specific tomato breeding programs.

scholarly journals The Fluctuation Niche in Plants

2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaume Terradas ◽  
Josep Peñuelas ◽  
Francisco Lloret
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Niche Space ◽  
Interannual Fluctuations ◽  
Mediterranean Plant ◽  
Species Performance ◽  
Constant Gradient ◽  
Present Characteristic

Classical approaches to niche in coexisting plants have undervalued temporal fluctuations. We propose that fluctuation niche is an important dimension of the total niche and interacts with habitat and life-history niches to provide a better understanding of the multidimensional niche space where ecological interactions occur. To scale a fluctuation niche, it is necessary to relate environmental constrictions or species performance not only to the absolute values of the usual environmental and ecophysiological variables but also to their variances or other measures of variability. We use Mediterranean plant communities as examples, because they present characteristic large seasonal and interannual fluctuations in water and nutrient availabilities, along an episodic-constant gradient, and because the plant responses include a number of syndromes coupled to this gradient.

scholarly journals Comment on “Forest microclimate dynamics drive plant responses to warming”

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 370 (6522) ◽  
pp. eabd9920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Schall ◽  
Steffi Heinrichs
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
European Forest ◽  
Forest Microclimate ◽  
Three Components

Zellweger et al. (Reports, 15 May 2020, p. 772) claimed that a microclimatic debt, mainly controlled by canopy buffering, evolved in European forest understories. However, their analysis is based on circularity, as they explained the sum of three components by one of these components. The response of the understory to the thermal environment is generally weak.

scholarly journals The Epigenetic Mechanisms Underlying Thermomorphogenesis and Heat Stress Responses in Arabidopsis

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2439
Author(s):  
Anna Zioutopoulou ◽  
Eirini Patitaki ◽  
Tianyuan Xu ◽  
Eirini Kaiserli
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Epigenetic Mechanisms ◽  
Modern Agriculture ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
Epigenetic Events

Integration of temperature cues is crucial for plant survival and adaptation. Global warming is a prevalent issue, especially in modern agriculture, since the global rise in average temperature is expected to impact crop productivity worldwide. Hence, better understanding of the mechanisms by which plants respond to warmer temperatures is very important. This review focuses on the epigenetic mechanisms implicated in plant responses to high temperature and distinguishes the different epigenetic events that occur at warmer average temperatures, leading to thermomorphogenic responses, or subjected to extreme warm temperatures, leading to heat stress.

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