TY - JOUR
T1 - Complex spatiotemporal phenological shifts as a response to rainfall changes
AU - Peñuelas, Josep
AU - Filella, Iolanda
AU - Zhang, Xiaoyang
AU - Llorens, Laura
AU - Ogaya, Romà
AU - Lloret, Francisco
AU - Comas, Pere
AU - Estiarte, Marc
AU - Terradas, Jaume
PY - 2004/3/1
Y1 - 2004/3/1
N2 - • Climatic warming produces significant gradual alterations in the timing of life-cycle events, and here we study the phenological effects of rainfall-pattern changes. • We conducted ecosystem field experiments that partially excluded rain and runoff during the growing season in a Mediterranean forest and in a mediterranean shrubland. Studies of time-series of leaf-unfolding, flowering and fruiting over the last 50 yr in central Catalonia were carried out, and greenup onset in the Iberian Peninsula was monitored by satellite images. • Experimental, historical and geographical changes in rainfall produced significant, complex and strongly species-specific, as well as spatially and temporally variable, phenological effects. Among these changes, it was found that in the Iberian Peninsula, greenup onset changes from spring (triggered by rising temperatures) in the northern cool-wet regions to autumn (triggered by the arrival of autumn rainfalls) in the southern warm-dry regions. Even in the mesic Mediterranean central Catalonia (NE of the peninsula) rainfall had a stronger relative influence than temperature on fruiting phenology. • The results show that changes in rainfall and water availability, an important driver of climate change, can cause complex phenological changes with likely far-reaching consequences for ecosystem and biosphere functioning and structure. The seasonal shift in the Iberian Peninsula further highlights this importance and indicates that vegetation may respond to climate change not only with gradual, but also with abrupt temporal and spatial, changes in the timing of greenup onset.
AB - • Climatic warming produces significant gradual alterations in the timing of life-cycle events, and here we study the phenological effects of rainfall-pattern changes. • We conducted ecosystem field experiments that partially excluded rain and runoff during the growing season in a Mediterranean forest and in a mediterranean shrubland. Studies of time-series of leaf-unfolding, flowering and fruiting over the last 50 yr in central Catalonia were carried out, and greenup onset in the Iberian Peninsula was monitored by satellite images. • Experimental, historical and geographical changes in rainfall produced significant, complex and strongly species-specific, as well as spatially and temporally variable, phenological effects. Among these changes, it was found that in the Iberian Peninsula, greenup onset changes from spring (triggered by rising temperatures) in the northern cool-wet regions to autumn (triggered by the arrival of autumn rainfalls) in the southern warm-dry regions. Even in the mesic Mediterranean central Catalonia (NE of the peninsula) rainfall had a stronger relative influence than temperature on fruiting phenology. • The results show that changes in rainfall and water availability, an important driver of climate change, can cause complex phenological changes with likely far-reaching consequences for ecosystem and biosphere functioning and structure. The seasonal shift in the Iberian Peninsula further highlights this importance and indicates that vegetation may respond to climate change not only with gradual, but also with abrupt temporal and spatial, changes in the timing of greenup onset.
KW - Flowering
KW - Fruiting
KW - Greenup onset
KW - Iberian peninsula
KW - Leaf-unfolding
KW - Phenological shifts
KW - Potential evapotranspiration
KW - Rainfall changes
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01003.x
DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01003.x
M3 - Article
VL - 161
SP - 837
EP - 846
ER -