Greater temperature sensitivity of plant phenology at colder sites: implications for convergence across northern latitudes

Prevéy, Janet S.; Vellend, Mark; Rüger, Nadja; Hollister, Robert D.; Bjorkman, Anne D.; Myers‐Smith, Isla H.; Elmendorf, Sarah C.; Clark, Karin; Cooper, Elisabeth J.; Elberling, Bo; Fosaa, Anna Maria; Henry, Gregory H. R.; Høye, Toke T.; Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg S.; Klanderud, Kari; Lévesque, Esther; Mauritz, Marguerite; Molau, Ulf; Natali, Susan M.; Oberbauer, Steven F.; Panchen, Zoe A.; Post, Eric; Rumpf, Sabine B.; Schmidt, Niels Martin; Schuur, Edward A. G.; Semenchuk, Philipp; Troxler, Tiffany G.; Welker, Jeffrey M.; Rixen, Christian

doi:10.1111/gcb.13619

Cited by 187 publications

(209 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Furthermore, leaf‐out day and first flowering day at our site were more sensitive to warming than the plant phenology observed in a meta‐analysis of 18 arctic sites (greening: −0.15 to −3.96 d/°C; flowering: −0.09 to −4.49 d/°C; Prevéy et al. ), and a study was conducted in the Canadian Arctic using historical records (flowering: −1.7 to −9.6 d/°C; Panchen and Gorelick ). It should be noted that both of these studies used summer mean temperature in their phenological sensitivity calculation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…Furthermore, we extracted plant phenology sensitivity data from two additional studies conducted at high‐latitude arctic areas (Panchen and Gorelick , Prevéy et al. ), to compare our results with other cold and climate‐sensitive ecosystems.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High‐latitude and alpine ecosystems are sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation (Bliss , Inouye and Wielgolaski , Wielgolaski and Inouye , Panchen and Gorelick , Prevéy et al. ) and especially in different forms of precipitation such as snowfall (Chen et al. ); thus, they can act as early‐warming ecosystems when attempting to understand the consequences of global changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant phenological sensitivity to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau and relative to other areas of the world

et al. 2019

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Citation: Suonan, J., A. T. Classen, N. J. Sanders, and J.-S. He. 2019. Plant phenological sensitivity to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau and relative to other areas of the world.Abstract. Global warming and changes in precipitation are altering the phenology of plants that significantly impact the functioning and services of ecosystems. Although a number of studies have addressed responses of plant phenology to warming and altered precipitation individually, their interactions can alter plant phenology differently than either does independently. To explore how the interactions between global change drivers alter alpine ecosystems, we conducted a factorial experiment manipulating warming (ambient and +2°C) and altered precipitation (50% decrease, control, and 50% increase) simultaneously in an alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. Over two years, we monitored plant phenological events, leafout day and first flowering day, for 11 common plant species that account for 74.4% of the total above biomass. Surprisingly, there was no interaction between warming and changes in precipitation on community plant phenology, but warming advanced leaf-out and first flowering day by 7.10 and 9.79 d, respectively. Unlike the community response, plant functional groups had a variety of direct and interactive responses to the experimental climate drivers. While the phenology of legumes was most influenced by temperature, temperature and precipitation interacted to alter the phenology of grasses and forbs. To explore how plant phenological sensitivity on the Tibetan Plateau is compared with other meadow ecosystems, we combined our dataset with a global plant phenology dataset. Interestingly, the phenological sensitivity of leaf-out day and first flowering day on the Tibetan Plateau is 7.3 and 37.8 times greater than global phenological sensitivity, respectively. This result highlights that a meta-analysis of global phenological sensitivity may significantly underestimate change in some regions-even regions as large as the Tibetan Plateau. Together, our results suggest that the Tibetan Plateau may experience rapid change as temperatures warm and that these changes will likely be more rapid than in other regions of the world. Further, our study highlights that if we are to make accurate predictions of how plant phenology may change with warming, we need to understand the specific environmental cues that drive phenological responses across different areas.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 63%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant phenological sensitivity to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau and relative to other areas of the world

et al. 2019

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“…However, it has been argued that increased monitoring efforts should focus on polar regions [6], particularly as these areas have experienced greater than global-average increases in annual temperatures [7] and are intimately linked to other parts of the globe via complex atmospheric and oceanic cycles [8,9]. Field-based manual phenological observations in Arctic, Antarctic and alpine areas have been ongoing for a number of years at single sites [10,11] and multiple sites through coordinated networks such as the International Tundra Experiment [12,13]. However such traditional approaches can be problematic due to the time constraints imposed by short summer periods, the highly labour-intensive nature of the work, high financial costs and difficulties in accessing remote locations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Ordinary Digital Cameras in Place of Near-Infrared Sensors to Derive Vegetation Indices for Phenology Studies of High Arctic Vegetation

et al. 2016

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Abstract:To remotely monitor vegetation at temporal and spatial resolutions unobtainable with satellite-based systems, near remote sensing systems must be employed. To this extent we used Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NDVI sensors and normal digital cameras to monitor the greenness of six different but common and widespread High Arctic plant species/groups (graminoid/Salix polaris; Cassiope tetragona; Luzula spp.; Dryas octopetala/S. polaris; C. tetragona/D. octopetala; graminoid/bryophyte) during an entire growing season in central Svalbard. Of the three greenness indices (2G_RBi, Channel G% and GRVI) derived from digital camera images, GRVI showed the most significant correlations with NDVI among all vegetation types. The GRVI (Green-Red Vegetation Index) is calculated as (G DN − R DN )/(G DN + R DN ) where G DN is Green digital number and R DN is Red digital number. Both NDVI and GRVI successfully recorded timings of the green-up and plant growth periods and senescence in all six plant species/groups. Some differences in phenology between plant species/groups occurred: the mid-season growing period reached a sharp peak in NDVI and GRVI values where graminoids were present, but a prolonged period of higher values occurred with the other plant species/groups. In particular, plots containing C. tetragona experienced increased NDVI and GRVI values towards the end of the season. NDVI measured with active and passive sensors were strongly correlated (r > 0.70) for the same plant species/groups. Although NDVI recorded by the active sensor was consistently lower than that of the passive sensor for the same plant species/groups, differences were small and likely due to the differing light sources used. Thus, it is evident that GRVI and NDVI measured with active and passive sensors captured similar vegetation attributes of High Arctic plants. Hence, inexpensive digital cameras can be used with passive and active NDVI devices to establish a near remote sensing network for monitoring changing vegetation dynamics in the High Arctic.

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“…The recent climate warming has already had a significant impact on plant phenology and ecosystem processes, particularly in Arctic regions [1][2][3]. Adaptations to low temperatures and a short growing season require plants to respond to small changes in air temperature [4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-Term Impacts of the Air Temperature on Greening and Senescence in Alaskan Arctic Plant Tundra Habitats

et al. 2017

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Climate change is warming the temperatures and lengthening the Arctic growing season with potentially important effects on plant phenology. The ability of plant species to acclimate to changing climatic conditions will dictate the level to which their spatial coverage and habitat-type dominance is different in the future. While the effect of changes in temperature on phenology and species composition have been observed at the plot and at the regional scale, a systematic assessment at medium spatial scales using new noninvasive sensor techniques has not been performed yet. At four sites across the North Slope of Alaska, changes in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) signal were observed by Mobile Instrumented Sensor Platforms (MISP) that are suspended over 50 m transects spanning local moisture gradients. The rates of greening (measured in June) and senescence (measured in August) in response to the air temperature was estimated by changes in NDVI measured as the difference between the NDVI on a specific date and three days later. In June, graminoid-and shrub-dominated habitats showed the greatest rates of NDVI increase in response to the high air temperatures, while forb-and lichen-dominated habitats were less responsive. In August, the NDVI was more responsive to variations in the daily average temperature than spring greening at all sites. For graminoid-and shrub-dominated habitats, we observed a delayed decrease of the NDVI, reflecting a prolonged growing season, in response to high August temperatures. Consequently, the annual C assimilation capacity of these habitats is increased, which in turn may be partially responsible for shrub expansion and further increases in net summer CO 2 fixation. Strong interannual differences highlight that long-term and noninvasive measurements of such complex feedback mechanisms in arctic ecosystems are critical to fully articulate the net effects of climate variability and climate change on plant community and ecosystem processes.

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Greater temperature sensitivity of plant phenology at colder sites: implications for convergence across northern latitudes

Cited by 187 publications

References 89 publications

Plant phenological sensitivity to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau and relative to other areas of the world

Plant phenological sensitivity to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau and relative to other areas of the world

Using Ordinary Digital Cameras in Place of Near-Infrared Sensors to Derive Vegetation Indices for Phenology Studies of High Arctic Vegetation

Short-Term Impacts of the Air Temperature on Greening and Senescence in Alaskan Arctic Plant Tundra Habitats

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