scholarly journals Long-term warming results in species-specific shifts in seed mass in alpine communities

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7416
Author(s):  
Chunhui Zhang ◽  
Zhen Ma ◽  
Huakun Zhou ◽  
Xinquan Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Alpine Plant ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Species Specific

Background Global warming can cause variation in plant functional traits due to phenotypic plasticity or rapid microevolutionary change. Seed mass represents a fundamental axis of trait variation in plants, from an individual to a community scale. Here, we hypothesize that long-term warming can shift the mean seed mass of species. Methods We tested our hypothesis in plots that had been warmed over 18 years in alpine meadow communities with a history of light grazing (LG) and heavy grazing (HG) on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. In this study, seeds were collected during the growing season of 2015. Results We found that warming increased the mean seed mass of 4 (n = 19) species in the LG meadow and 6 (n = 20) species in the HG meadow, while decreasing the mean seed mass of 6 species in the LG and HG meadows, respectively. For 7 species, grazing history modified the effect of warming on seed mass. Therefore, we concluded that long-term warming can shift the mean seed mass at the species level. However, the direction of this variation is species-specific. Our study suggests that mean seed mass of alpine plant species appears to decrease in warmer (less stressful) habitats based on life-history theory, but it also suggests there may be an underlying trade-off in which mean seed mass may increase due to greater thermal energy inputs into seed development. Furthermore, the physical and biotic environment modulating this trade-off result in complex patterns of variation in mean seed mass of alpine plant species facing global warming.

scholarly journals Long-term effects of snowmelt timing and climate warming on phenology, growth and reproductive effort of arctic tundra plant species

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther R. Frei ◽  
Greg H.R. Henry
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Passive Warming ◽  
Species Specific

Arctic regions are particularly affected by rapidly rising temperatures and altered snow regimes. Snowmelt timing depends on spring temperatures and winter snow accumulation. Scenarios for the Arctic include both decreases and increases in snow accumulation. Predictions of future snowmelt timing are thus difficult and experimental evidence for ecological consequences is scarce. In 1995, a long-term factorial experiment was set up in a High Arctic evergreen shrub heath community on Ellesmere Island, Canada. We investigated how snow removal, snow addition and passive warming affected phenology, growth and reproductive effort of the four common tundra plant species <i>Cassiope tetragona</i>, <i>Dryas integrifolia</i>, <i>Luzula arctica</i> and <i>Papaver radicatum</i>. Timing of flowering and seed maturation as well as flower production were more strongly influenced by the combined effects of snowmelt timing and warming in the two shrub species than in the two herbaceous species. Warming effects persisted over the course of the growing season and resulted in increased shrub growth. Moreover, the long-term trend of increasing growth in two species suggests that ambient warming promotes tundra plant growth. Our results confirm the importance of complex interactions between temperature and snowmelt timing in driving species-specific plant responses to climate change in the Arctic.

Riparian plant species differ in sensitivity to both the mean and variance in groundwater stores

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 621-632
Author(s):  
Kelly A Steinberg ◽  
Kim D Eichhorst ◽  
Jennifer A Rudgers
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Plant Ecology ◽  
Individual Plant ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Sensitivity Functions ◽  
Mean And Variance ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Riparian Plant

Abstract Aims Determining the ecological consequences of interactions between slow changes in long-term climate means and amplified variability in climate is an important research frontier in plant ecology. We combined the recent approach of climate sensitivity functions with a revised hydrological ‘bucket model’ to improve predictions on how plant species will respond to changes in the mean and variance of groundwater resources. Methods We leveraged spatiotemporal variation in long-term datasets of riparian vegetation cover and groundwater levels to build the first groundwater sensitivity functions for common plant species of dryland riparian corridors. Our results demonstrate the value of this approach to identifying which plant species will thrive (or fail) in an increasingly variable climate layered with declining groundwater stores. Important Findings Riparian plant species differed in sensitivity to both the mean and variance in groundwater levels. Rio Grande cottonwood (Populus deltoides ssp. wislizenii) cover was predicted to decline with greater inter-annual groundwater variance, while coyote willow (Salix exigua) and other native wetland species were predicted to benefit from greater year-to-year variance. No non-native species were sensitive to groundwater variance, but patterns for Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) predict declines under deeper mean groundwater tables. Warm air temperatures modulated groundwater sensitivity for cottonwood, which was more sensitive to variability in groundwater in years/sites with warmer maximum temperatures than in cool sites/periods. Cottonwood cover declined most with greater intra-annual coefficients of variation (CV) in groundwater, but was not significantly correlated with inter-annual CV, perhaps due to the short time series (16 years) relative to cottonwood lifespan. In contrast, non-native tamarisk (Tamarix chinensis) cover increased with both intra- and inter-annual CV in groundwater. Altogether, our results predict that changes in groundwater variability and mean will affect riparian plant communities through the differential sensitivities of individual plant species to mean versus variance in groundwater stores.

scholarly journals Global warming shifts the composition of the abundant bacterial phyllosphere microbiota as indicated by a cultivation-dependent and -independent study of the grassland phyllosphere of a long-term warming field experiment

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebru L Aydogan ◽  
Olga Budich ◽  
Martin Hardt ◽  
Young Hae Choi ◽  
Anne B Jansen-Willems ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Independent Study ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
Surface Warming ◽  
Bacterial Microbiota ◽  
Metabolite Profiles ◽  
Significant Temperature ◽  
Species Specific

ABSTRACT The leaf-colonizing bacterial microbiota was studied in a long-term warming experiment on a permanent grassland, which had been continuously exposed to increased surface temperature (+2°C) for more than six years. Two abundant plant species, Arrhenatherum elatius and Galium album, were studied. Surface warming reduced stomata opening and changed leaf metabolite profiles. Leaf surface colonization and the concentration of leaf-associated bacterial cells were not affected. However, bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene amplicon Illumina sequencing showed significant temperature effects on the plant species-specific phyllosphere microbiota. Warming partially affected the concentrations of cultured bacteria and had a significant effect on the composition of most abundant cultured plant species-specific bacteria. The abundance of Sphingomonas was significantly reduced. Sphingomonas isolates from warmed plots represented different phylotypes, had different physiological traits and were better adapted to higher temperatures. Among Methylobacterium isolates, a novel phylotype with a specific mxaFtype was cultured from plants of warmed plots while the most abundant phylotype cultured from control plots was strongly reduced. This study clearly showed a correlation of long-term surface warming with changes in the plant physiology and the development of a physiologically and genetically adapted phyllosphere microbiota.

scholarly journals Thermal niche traits of high alpine plant species and communities across the tropical Andes and their vulnerability to global warming

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 408-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Cuesta ◽  
Carolina Tovar ◽  
Luis D. Llambí ◽  
William D. Gosling ◽  
Stephan Halloy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Tropical Andes ◽  
Alpine Plant ◽  
Thermal Niche

The response of flowering time to global warming in a high-altitude plant: the impact of genetics and the environment

Botany ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanne Brunet ◽  
Zachary Larson-Rabin
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Flowering Time ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Evolutionary Potential ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact

In high-altitude habitats, an increase in temperature and greater precipitation in the form of rain represent climate changes typically associated with global warming. We determined whether phenotypic plasticity and genetic changes in the mean phenotype could affect the adaptation of flowering time to changes in the environment resulting from global warming in a montane plant species, Aquilegia coerulea James. We collected seeds from 17 plants from each of three natural populations. For each of these 51 families, we assigned 3–4 individuals to each of four water and temperature treatments. We observed phenotypic plasticity in flowering time in response to both temperature and water availability but no genetic variance or genetic differentiation in phenotypic plasticity. These results indicate that phenotypic plasticity could provide a quick response to environmental changes but provides little evolutionary potential. In contrast to phenotypic plasticity in flowering time, the mean flowering time did vary among families and among populations, suggesting a genetic basis to flowering time and adaptation in the different populations. The most likely scenario for the adaptation of this plant species to climate change is a rapid response via phenotypic plasticity followed by selection and micro-evolutionary changes in the mean phenotype.

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