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

Aldo Compagnoni (), Sam Levin, Dylan Z. Childs, Stan Harpole, Maria Paniw, Gesa Römer, Jean H. Burns, Judy Che-Castaldo, Nadja Rüger, Georges Kunstler, Joanne M. Bennett, C. Ruth Archer, Owen R. Jones, Roberto Salguero-Gómez and Tiffany M. Knight
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Aldo Compagnoni: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Sam Levin: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Dylan Z. Childs: University of Sheffield
Stan Harpole: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Maria Paniw: University of Zurich
Gesa Römer: University of Southern Denmark
Jean H. Burns: Case Western Reserve University
Judy Che-Castaldo: Alexander Center for Applied Population Biology, Conservation & Science Department, Lincoln Park Zoo
Nadja Rüger: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Georges Kunstler: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, UR LESSEM
Joanne M. Bennett: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
C. Ruth Archer: University of Exeter
Owen R. Jones: University of Southern Denmark
Roberto Salguero-Gómez: University of Oxford
Tiffany M. Knight: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract 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.

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-21977-9

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21977-9

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