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| Titel |
Phenological responses to climate change and their trait-induced differences |
| VerfasserIn |
Chiara Ziello, Nicole Estella, Annette Menzel |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
| Datensatznummer |
250040432
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| Zusammenfassung |
| On the basis of an extensive plant phenological dataset which involves phenological stations
distributed all over Europe (from Spain to Russia, from the Alps to the Scandinavian
Peninsula), we assess those differences in temporal trends related to Plant Functional Types
(PFTs, i.e. woodiness), ecological traits (i.e. dates of flowering) and functional traits (i.e.
pollination mode). We analyze differences in the sensitivity of different flowering stages to
these traits. We focus on different substages such as beginning of flowering, full flowering,
end of flowering because flowering seems to be so far one of the stages most affected by
climate change.
An increasing risk of pollinosis is one of the most likely expected consequences of
climate change, and the detection of differences in responses of wind-pollinated plants with
respect to other vegetation categories is important also to understand the impact of
increasing temperatures on the behavior of allergenic plants. Wind-pollinated plants
can be considered as representative of allergenic species because anemophilous
species include those ones with the highest capability of causing allergy-related
diseases in human subjects (e.g. the birch family, some cultivated and spontaneous
grasses).
Our main results indicate that, during the last three decades, wind-pollinated plants are
advancing more than insect-pollinated ones, moreover showing a significant linear
dependence of trends on phenodates.
The tendency towards an earlier onset of flowering of anemophilous species could be
explained due to the fact that all the considered species are angiosperms. For this plant
division, anemophily is a condition derived from entomophily, and likely developed as a
response to adverse or changing environmental conditions. So, it could be possible to look
at them as species somehow predisposed to a more rapid adaptation process. On
the other hand, this behavior could also be caused by the direct dependence on
temperature of these species, that can hence more easily react to a warming not being
tied to other factors. Insect-pollinated plants depend on temperature as well, but
in a more indirect way, with a dependence filtered through the life cycle of their
pollinators.
A further study is necessary to understand which interpretation could be more reliable,
e.g. a comparative study with gymnosperms, for which anemophily is the primary
condition. |
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