Journal Article

Herbaceous perennial plants with short generation time have stronger responses to climate anomalies than those with longer generation time

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle Wittenberg - Martin-Luther-University Halle Wittenberg (MLU), Archer, C. Ruth, Department of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ, Halle, Germany, Helmholtz Zentrum für Umweltforschung = Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Burns, Jean, Leipzig University / Universität Leipzig, Che-Castaldo, Judy, Salguero-Gómez, Roberto, Centre for Ecology and Conservation ; University of Exeter, Paniw, Maria, Centre for Applied Water Science, Institute for Applied Ecology, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Bennett, Joanne, Knight, Tiffany, Compagnoni, Aldo, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences [Sheffield] ; University of Sheffield [Sheffield], Levin, Sam, OXFORD UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY OXFORD UK ; Partenaires IRSTEA ; Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA), Jones, Owen, Int

2021

Overview

There is an urgent need to synthesize the state of our knowledge on plant responses to climate. The availability of open-access data provide opportunities to examine quantitative generalizations regarding which biomes and species are most responsive to climate drivers. Here, we synthesize time series of structured population models from 162 populations of 62 plants, mostly herbaceous species from temperate biomes, to link plant population growth rates ( λ ) to precipitation and temperature drivers. We expect: (1) more pronounced demographic responses to precipitation than temperature, especially in arid biomes; and (2) a higher climate sensitivity in short-lived rather than long-lived species. We find that precipitation anomalies have a nearly three-fold larger effect on λ than temperature. Species with shorter generation time have much stronger absolute responses to climate anomalies. We conclude that key species-level traits can predict plant population responses to climate, and discuss the relevance of this generalization for conservation planning.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group,CCSD,Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 631/158/1745 / 631/158/2165 / 631/158/672 / Annual precipitation / Anomalies / Aridity / Biodiversity and Ecology / Biological Variation, Population - physiology / Climate / Climate Change / Climate models / Databases, Factual / Demographics / Ecosystem / Ecosystems / Environmental Sciences / Forecasting / Growth rate / Humanities and Social Sciences / Models, Statistical / multidisciplinary / Plant Development - physiology / Plant growth / Plant populations / Plants - adverse effects / Population Dynamics - statistics & numerical data / Population growth / Precipitation / Projection model / Rain / Regression Analysis / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Species / Synthesis / Temperature / Time series
• ISBN: 0006847121000