Title data
Nagy, Laura ; Kreyling, Jürgen ; Gellesch, Ellen ; Beierkuhnlein, Carl ; Jentsch, Anke:
Recurring weather extremes alter the flowering phenology of two common temperate shrubs.
In: International Journal of Biometeorology.
Vol. 57
(2013)
Issue 4
.
- pp. 579-588.
ISSN 1432-1254
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-012-0585-z
Abstract in another language
The aim of this study is to explore the effects ofheavy rain and drought on the flowering phenology of twoshrub species Genista tinctoria and Calluna vulgaris. Weconducted a field experiment over five consecutive years inCentral Europe, applying annually recurring extreme droughtand heavy rain events on constructed shrubland communitiesand recorded the flowering status. Further, we correlatedspring temperature and precipitation with the onset of flowering.Both species showed a response to extreme weatherevents: drought delayed the mid flowering date of Genistatinctoria in 3 of 5 years by about 1 month and in 1 yearadvanced the mid flowering date by 10 days, but did not affectthe length of flowering. Mid flowering date of Calluna vulgariswas not affected by drought, but the length of floweringwas extended in 2 years by 6 and 10 days. For C. vulgaris thecloser the drought occurred to the time of flowering, the largerthe impact on the flowering length. Heavy rainfall advancedmid flowering date and reduced the length of flowering ofGenista tinctoria by about 2 months in 1 year. Mid floweringdate of Calluna vulgaris was not affected by heavy rain, butthe length of flowering was reduced in 1 year by 4 days. Ourdata suggest that extreme weather events, including alterationsto the precipitation regime, induce phenological shifts of plantspecies of a substantial magnitude. Thus, the impacts ofclimate extremes on plant life cycles may be as influential asgradual warming. Particularly, the variability in the timing ofprecipitation events appears to have a greater influence onflowering dynamics than the magnitude of the precipitation.