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Elevated CO2 and warming impacts on flowering phenology in a southern Australian grassland are related to flowering time but not growth form, origin or longevity
Citation
Hovenden, MJ and Williams, AL and Kongstad Pedersen, J and Vander Schoor, JK and Wills, KE, Elevated CO2 and warming impacts on flowering phenology in a southern Australian grassland are related to flowering time but not growth form, origin or longevity, Australian Journal of Botany, 56, (8) pp. 630-643. ISSN 0067-1924 (2008) [Refereed Article]
DOI: doi:10.1071/BT08142
Abstract
Flowering is a critical stage in plant life cycles, and changes in phenology might alter processes at the species, community and ecosystem levels. Therefore, likely flowering-time responses to global-change drivers are needed for predictions of global-change impacts on natural and managed ecosystems. Predicting responses of species to global changes would be simplified if functional, phylogenetic or biogeographical traits contributed substantially to a species' response. Here we investigate the role of growth form (grass, graminoid, forb, subshrub), longevity (annual, perennial), origin (native, exotic) and flowering time in determining the impact of elevated [CO 2] (550 μmolmol-1) and infrared warming (mean warming of +2°C) on flowering times of 31 co-occurring species of a range of species-types in a temperate grassland in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Warming reduced time to first flowering by an average of 20.3 days in 2004, 2.1 days in 2005 and 7.6 days in 2007; however, the response varied among species and was unrelated to growth form, origin or longevity. Elevated [CO2] did not alter flowering times; neither was there any [CO2] by species-type interaction. However, both warming and elevated [CO2] tended to have a greater effect on later-flowering species, with time to first flowering of later-flowering species being reduced by both elevated [CO2] (P<0.001) and warming (P<0.001) to a greater extent than that of earlier-flowering species. These results have ramifications for our predictions of community and ecosystem interactions in native grasslands in response to global change. © CSIRO 2008.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecological Applications |
| Research Field: | Ecological Impacts of Climate Change |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Climate and Climate Change |
| Objective Field: | Climate Change Adaptation Measures |
| Author: | Hovenden, MJ (Associate Professor Mark Hovenden) |
| Author: | Williams, AL (Ms Amanda Williams) |
| Author: | Vander Schoor, JK (Mrs Jacqueline Vander Schoor) |
| Author: | Wills, KE (Dr Karen Wills) |
| ID Code: | 54949 |
| Year Published: | 2008 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 9 |
| Deposited By: | Plant Science |
| Deposited On: | 2009-03-03 |
| Last Modified: | 2009-05-16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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