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Weir JC, Phillimore AB. Buffering and phenological mismatch: A change of perspective. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2024; 30:e17294. [PMID: 38738554 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17294] [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: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
The potential for climate change to disrupt phenology-mediated interactions in interaction networks has attracted considerable attention in recent decades. Frequently, studies emphasize the fragility of ephemeral seasonal interactions, and the risks posed by phenological asynchrony. Here, we argue that the fitness consequences of asynchrony in phenological interactions may often be more buffered than is typically acknowledged. We identify three main forms that buffering may take: (i) mechanisms that reduce asynchrony between consumer and resource; (ii) mechanisms that reduce the costs of being asynchronous; and (iii) mechanisms that dampen interannual variance in performance across higher organizational units. Using synchrony between the hatching of winter moth caterpillars and the leafing of their host-plants as a case study, we identify a wide variety of buffers that reduce the detrimental consequences of phenological asynchrony on caterpillar individuals, populations, and meta-populations. We follow this by drawing on examples across a breadth of taxa, and demonstrate that these buffering mechanisms may be quite general. We conclude by identifying key gaps in our knowledge of the fitness and demographic consequences of buffering, in the context of phenological mismatch. Buffering has the potential to substantially alter our understanding of the biotic impacts of future climate change-a greater recognition of the contribution of these mechanisms may reveal that many trophic interactions are surprisingly resilient, and also serve to shift research emphasis to those systems with fewer buffers and towards identifying the limits of those buffers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie C Weir
- Institute for Ecology and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Gascoigne SJL, Kajin M, Salguero-Gómez R. Criteria for buffering in ecological modeling. Trends Ecol Evol 2024; 39:116-118. [PMID: 38042645 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Maja Kajin
- Department of Biology, South Parks Road, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 111, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Roberto Salguero-Gómez
- Department of Biology, South Parks Road, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; National Laboratory for Grassland and Agro-ecosystems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
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Milles A, Bielcik M, Banitz T, Gallagher CA, Jeltsch F, Jepsen JU, Oro D, Radchuk V, Grimm V. Defining ecological buffer mechanisms should consider diverse approaches. Trends Ecol Evol 2024; 39:119-120. [PMID: 38158240 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Milles
- Research Institute for Forest Ecology and Forestry Rhineland-Palatinate, Haupstr. 16, 67705 Trippstadt, Germany; Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Ecological Modelling, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; University of Potsdam, Department of Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Am Muhlenberg 3, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
| | - Milos Bielcik
- Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research - ZALF, Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany; Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas Banitz
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Ecological Modelling, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Cara A Gallagher
- University of Potsdam, Department of Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Am Muhlenberg 3, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Florian Jeltsch
- University of Potsdam, Department of Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Am Muhlenberg 3, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany; Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jane U Jepsen
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Department of Arctic Ecology, Fram Centre, Hjalmar Johansens gt.14, 9007 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Daniel Oro
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB - CSIC), Acces Cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300 Blanes, Girona, Spain
| | - Viktoriia Radchuk
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Ecological Dynamics Department, 10315 Berlin, Germany
| | - Volker Grimm
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department of Ecological Modelling, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; University of Potsdam, Department of Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, Am Muhlenberg 3, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstr. 4, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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