Journal
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
Volume 10, Issue 8, Pages 777-+Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-0820-2
Keywords
-
Funding
- Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDB31010300]
- National Key Research and Development Program of China [2017YFC0505203]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [31590821, 315611230010]
- Sichuan University [1082204112291]
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China [SCU2019D013]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Autumn leaf senescence has later onset, higher phenological plasticity and a stronger climatic response under warm compared to cold autumns. While night-time warming delays senescence, drought induced by daytime warming advances it, which may lead to loss in growing season under global warming. A warmer world could extend the growing seasons for plants. Changes in spring phenology have been studied, yet autumn phenology remains poorly understood. Using >500,000 phenological records of four temperate tree species between 1951 and 2013 in Europe, we show that leaf senescence in warm autumns exhibits stronger climate responses, with a higher phenological plasticity, than in cold autumns, indicating a nonlinear response to climate. The onset of leaf senescence in warm autumns was delayed due to the stronger climate response, primarily caused by night-time warming. However, daytime warming, especially during warm autumns, imposes a drought stress which advances leaf senescence. This may counteract the extension of growing season under global warming. These findings provide guidance for more reliable predictions of plant phenology and biosphere-atmosphere feedbacks in the context of global warming.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available