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Donnelly A, Yu R, Rehberg C, Schwartz MD. Variation in the timing and duration of autumn leaf phenology among temperate deciduous trees, native shrubs and non-native shrubs. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2024:10.1007/s00484-024-02693-7. [PMID: 38714612 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-024-02693-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/10/2024]
Abstract
The timing and duration of autumn leaf phenology marks important transitions in temperate deciduous forests, such as, start of senescence, declining productivity and changing nutrient cycling. Phenological research on temperate deciduous forests typically focuses on upper canopy trees, overlooking the contribution of other plant functional groups like shrubs. Yet shrubs tend to remain green longer than trees, while non-native shrubs, in particular, tend to exhibit an extended growing season that confers a competitive advantage over native shrubs. We monitored leaf senescence and leaf fall (2017-2020) of trees and shrubs (native and non-native) in an urban woodland fragment in Wisconsin, USA. Our findings revealed that, the start of leaf senescence did not differ significantly between vegetation groups, but leaf fall started (DOY 273) two weeks later in shrubs. Non-native shrubs exhibited a considerably delayed start (DOY 262) and end of leaf senescence (DOY 300), with leaf-fall ending (DOY 315) nearly four weeks later than native shrubs and trees. Overall, the duration of the autumn phenological season was longer for non-native shrubs than either native shrubs or trees. Comparison of the timing of spring phenophases with the start and end of leaf senescence revealed that when spring phenology in trees starts later in the season senescence also starts later and ends earlier. The opposite pattern was observed in native shrubs. In conclusion, understanding the contributions of plant functional groups to overall forest phenology requires future investigation to ensure accurate predictions of future ecosystem productivity and help address discrepancies with remote sensing phenometrics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison Donnelly
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA.
| | - Rong Yu
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Chloe Rehberg
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA
| | - Mark D Schwartz
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA
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Donnelly A, Yu R, Rehberg C, Schwartz MD. Characterizing spring phenology in a temperate deciduous urban woodland fragment: trees and shrubs. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2024; 68:871-882. [PMID: 38311643 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-024-02632-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/28/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024]
Abstract
Phenological research in temperate-deciduous forests typically focuses on upper canopy trees, due to their overwhelming influence on ecosystem productivity and function. However, considering that shrubs leaf out earlier and remain green longer than trees, they play a pivotal role in ecosystem productivity, particularly at growing season extremes. Furthermore, an extended growing season of non-native shrubs provides a competitive advantage over natives. Here, we report spring phenology, budburst, leaf-out, and full-leaf unfolded (2017-2021) of a range of co-occurring species of tree (ash, American basswood, red oak, white oak, and boxelder) and shrub (native species: chokecherry, pagoda dogwood, nannyberry, American wild currant and Eastern wahoo, and non-native species: buckthorn, honeysuckle, European privet, and European highbush cranberry) in an urban woodland fragment in Wisconsin, USA, to determine how phenology differed between plant groups. Our findings show that all three spring phenophases of shrubs were 3 weeks earlier (p < 0.05) than trees. However, differences between shrubs groups were only significant for the later phenophase; full-leaf unfolded, which was 6 days earlier (p < 0.05) for native shrubs. The duration of the spring phenological season was 2 weeks longer (p < 0.05) for shrubs than trees. These preliminary findings demonstrate that native shrubs, at this site, start full-leaf development earlier than non-native species suggesting that species composition must be considered when generalizing whether phenologies differ between vegetation groups. A longer time series would be necessary to determine future implications on ecosystem phenology and productivity and how this might impact forests in the future, in terms of species composition, carbon sequestration, and overall ecosystem dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison Donnelly
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA.
| | - Rong Yu
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Chloe Rehberg
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA
| | - Mark D Schwartz
- Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA
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Dantzer B, Mabry KE, Bernhardt JR, Cox RM, Francis CD, Ghalambor CK, Hoke KL, Jha S, Ketterson E, Levis NA, McCain KM, Patricelli GL, Paull SH, Pinter-Wollman N, Safran RJ, Schwartz TS, Throop HL, Zaman L, Martin LB. Understanding Organisms Using Ecological Observatory Networks. Integr Org Biol 2023; 5:obad036. [PMID: 37867910 PMCID: PMC10586040 DOI: 10.1093/iob/obad036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Human activities are rapidly changing ecosystems around the world. These changes have widespread implications for the preservation of biodiversity, agricultural productivity, prevalence of zoonotic diseases, and sociopolitical conflict. To understand and improve the predictive capacity for these and other biological phenomena, some scientists are now relying on observatory networks, which are often composed of systems of sensors, teams of field researchers, and databases of abiotic and biotic measurements across multiple temporal and spatial scales. One well-known example is NEON, the US-based National Ecological Observatory Network. Although NEON and similar networks have informed studies of population, community, and ecosystem ecology for years, they have been minimally used by organismal biologists. NEON provides organismal biologists, in particular those interested in NEON's focal taxa, with an unprecedented opportunity to study phenomena such as range expansions, disease epidemics, invasive species colonization, macrophysiology, and other biological processes that fundamentally involve organismal variation. Here, we use NEON as an exemplar of the promise of observatory networks for understanding the causes and consequences of morphological, behavioral, molecular, and physiological variation among individual organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Dantzer
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109,USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109,USA
| | - K E Mabry
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109,USA
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003,USA
| | - J R Bernhardt
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003,USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - R M Cox
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22940,USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407,USA
| | - C D Francis
- Department of Biological Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407,USA
- Department of Biology, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N‐7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - C K Ghalambor
- Department of Biology, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N‐7491 Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - K L Hoke
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - S Jha
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712,USA
| | - E Ketterson
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 E. Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405,USA
| | - N A Levis
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 E. Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405,USA
| | - K M McCain
- Global Health and Infectious Disease Research Center, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612,USA
| | - G L Patricelli
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616,USA
| | - S H Paull
- Battelle, National Ecological Observatory Network, 1685 38th Street, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
| | - N Pinter-Wollman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - R J Safran
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309,USA
| | - T S Schwartz
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - H L Throop
- School of Earth and Space Exploration and School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - L Zaman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109,USA
- Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - L B Martin
- Global Health and Infectious Disease Research Center and Center for Genomics, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612,USA
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Yang L, Shen Z, Wang X, Wang S, Xie Y, Larjavaara M, Zhang J, Li G. Climate drivers of seed rain phenology of subtropical forest communities along an elevational gradient. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2023:10.1007/s00484-023-02481-9. [PMID: 37258689 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-023-02481-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Revised: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Seed rain phenology (the start and end date of seed rain) is an essential component of plant phenology, critical for understanding population regeneration and community dynamics. However, intra- and inter-annual changes of seed rain phenology along environmental gradients have rarely been studied and the responses of seed rain phenology to climate variations are unclear. We monitored seed rain phenology of four forest communities in four years at different elevations (900 m, 1450 m, 1650 m, 1900 m a.s.l.) of a subtropical mountain in Central China. We analyzed the spatiotemporal patterns of seed rain phenology of 29 common woody plant species (total observed species in the seed rain), and related the phenological variations to seed number and climatic variables using mixed-effect models with the correlation matrix of phylogeny. We found that changes in the period length were mainly driven by the end rather than the start date. The end date and the period length of seed rain were significantly different between the mast and non-mast seeding years, while no significant elevation-related trend was detected in seed rain phenology variation. Seed number, mean temperature in spring (Tspr), and winter (Twin), summer precipitation (Psum) had significant effects on seed rain phenology. When Tspr increased, the start date of seed rain advanced, while the end date was delayed and the seed rain period length was mainly prolonged by a higher seed number, Twin and Psum. Forest canopy might have a buffering effect on understory climatic conditions, especially in precipitation that lead to difference in seed rain phenology between canopy and shrub species. Our novel evidence of seed rain phenology can improve prediction of community regeneration dynamics in responding to climate changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liu Yang
- MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Zehao Shen
- MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
| | - Xuejing Wang
- MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Shaopeng Wang
- MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Yuyang Xie
- MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Markku Larjavaara
- MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Guo Li
- Institute of Ecological Environment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China.
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Bao F, Xin Z, Liu M, Li J, Gao Y, Lu Q, Wu B. Contrasting Regulators of the Onset and End of the Seed Release Phenology of a Temperate Desert Shrub Nitraria tangutorum. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:88. [PMID: 36616216 PMCID: PMC9823625 DOI: 10.3390/plants12010088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Seed release is crucial in the reproductive cycle of many desert plant species, but their responses to precipitation changes are still unclear. To clarify the response patterns, we conducted a long-term in situ water addition experiment with five treatments, including natural precipitation (control) plus an extra 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the local mean annual precipitation (145 mm), in a temperate desert in northwestern China. Both the onset and end of the seed release phenophase of the locally dominant shrub, Nitraria tangutorum, were observed from 2012 to 2018. The results showed that both the onset and end time of seed release, especially the end time, were significantly affected by water addition treatment. On average, the end time of seed release was advanced by 3.9 d, 7.3 d, 10.8 d, and 3.8 d under +25%, +50%, +75%, and +100% water addition treatments, respectively, over the seven-year study, compared with the control. The changes in the onset time were relatively small (only several hours), and the duration of seed release was shortened by 4.0 d, 7.5 d, 10.8 d, and 2.0 d under +25%, +50%, +75%, and +100% water addition treatments, respectively. The onset and end time of seed release varied greatly between the years. Preceding fruit ripening and summer temperature jointly regulated the inter-annual variation of the onset time of seed release, while the cumulative summer precipitation played a key role in driving the inter-annual variation of the end time. The annual mean temperature controlled the inter-annual variation of the seed release duration, and these interactions were all non-linear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Bao
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Key Laboratory for Desert Ecosystem and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Gansu Minqin Desert Ecosystem National Observation Research Station, Wuwei 733300, China
| | - Zhiming Xin
- Experimental Center of Desert Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Bayannaoer 015200, China
| | - Minghu Liu
- Experimental Center of Desert Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Bayannaoer 015200, China
| | - Jiazhu Li
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Ying Gao
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Qi Lu
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Experimental Center of Desert Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Bayannaoer 015200, China
| | - Bo Wu
- Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Institute of Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Key Laboratory for Desert Ecosystem and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
- Gansu Minqin Desert Ecosystem National Observation Research Station, Wuwei 733300, China
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Preceding Phenological Events Rather than Climate Drive the Variations in Fruiting Phenology in the Desert Shrub Nitraria tangutorum. PLANTS 2022; 11:plants11121578. [PMID: 35736729 PMCID: PMC9227467 DOI: 10.3390/plants11121578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Fruit setting and ripening are crucial in the reproductive cycle of many desert plant species, but their response to precipitation changes is still unclear. To clarify the response patterns, a long-term in situ water addition experiment with five treatments, namely natural precipitation (control) plus an extra 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the local mean annual precipitation (145 mm), was conducted in a temperate desert in northwestern China. A whole series of fruiting events including the onset, peak, and end of fruit setting and the onset, peak, and end of fruit ripening of a locally dominant shrub, Nitraria tangutorum, were observed from 2012 to 2018. The results show that (1) water addition treatments had no significant effects on all six fruiting events in almost all years, and the occurrence time of almost all fruiting events remained relatively stable compared with leaf phenology and flowering phenology after the water addition treatments; (2) the occurrence times of all fruiting events were not correlated to the amounts of water added in the treatments; (3) there are significant inter-annual variations in each fruiting event. However, neither temperature nor precipitation play key roles, but the preceding flowering events drive their inter-annual variation.
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Fridley JD, Bauerle TL, Craddock A, Ebert AR, Frank DA, Heberling JM, Hinman ED, Jo I, Martinez KA, Smith MS, Woolhiser LJ, Yin J. Fast but steady: An integrated leaf-stem-root trait syndrome for woody forest invaders. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:900-912. [PMID: 35098634 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Successful control and prevention of biological invasions depend on identifying traits of non-native species that promote fitness advantages in competition with native species. Here, we show that, among 76 native and non-native woody plants of deciduous forests of North America, invaders express a unique functional syndrome that combines high metabolic rate with robust leaves of longer lifespan and a greater duration of annual carbon gain, behaviours enabled by seasonally plastic xylem structure and rapid production of thin roots. This trait combination was absent in all native species examined and suggests the success of forest invaders is driven by a novel resource-use strategy. Furthermore, two traits alone-annual leaf duration and nuclear DNA content-separated native and invasive species with 93% accuracy, supporting the use of functional traits in invader risk assessments. A trait syndrome reflecting both fast growth capacity and understorey persistence may be a key driver of forest invasions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason D Fridley
- Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | - Taryn L Bauerle
- School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Alaä Craddock
- Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | - Alex R Ebert
- Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | - Douglas A Frank
- Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | | | - Elise D Hinman
- Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | - Insu Jo
- Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA
| | | | - Maria S Smith
- School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | | | - Jingjing Yin
- School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
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