LAUSR.org creates dashboard-style pages of related content for over 1.5 million academic articles. Sign Up to like articles & get recommendations!

Extreme drought disrupts plant phenology: Insights from 35 years of cloud forest data in Venezuela.

Photo from wikipedia

Potential effects of climate change on plant reproductive phenology include asynchronies with pollinators, and reductions in plant fitness, leading to extinction and loss of ecosystem function. In particular plant phenology… Click to show full abstract

Potential effects of climate change on plant reproductive phenology include asynchronies with pollinators, and reductions in plant fitness, leading to extinction and loss of ecosystem function. In particular plant phenology is sensitive to extreme weather events, which are occurring with increasing severity and frequency in recent decades and are linked to anthropogenic climate change and shifts in atmospheric circulation. For 15 plant species in a Venezuelan cloud forest, we documented dramatic changes in monthly flower and fruit community composition over a 35-year time series, from 1983 to 2017, and these changes were linked directly to higher temperatures, lower precipitation, and decreased soil water availability. The patterns documented here do not mirror trends in temperate zones, but corroborate results from the Asian tropics. More intense droughts are predicted to occur in the region, which will cause dramatic changes in flower and fruit availability. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords: plant phenology; phenology; drought disrupts; cloud forest; plant; extreme drought

Journal Title: Ecology
Year Published: 2023

Link to full text (if available)


Share on Social Media:                               Sign Up to like & get
recommendations!

Related content

More Information              News              Social Media              Video              Recommended



                Click one of the above tabs to view related content.