The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Phylogenetic conservatism in plant phenology

På svenska

Author

  • T. Jonathan Davies
  • Elizabeth M. Wolkovich
  • Nathan J. B. Kraft
  • Nicolas Salamin
  • Jenica M. Allen
  • Toby R. Ault
  • Julio L. Betancourt
  • Kjell Bolmgren
  • Elsa E. Cleland
  • Benjamin I. Cook
  • Theresa M. Crimmins
  • Susan J. Mazer
  • Gregory J. McCabe
  • Stephanie Pau
  • Jim Regetz
  • Mark D. Schwartz
  • Steven E. Travers
Show all

Summary, in English

Phenological events - defined points in the life cycle of a plant or animal - have been regarded as highly plastic traits, reflecting flexible responses to various environmental cues. The ability of a species to track, via shifts in phenological events, the abiotic environment through time might dictate its vulnerability to future climate change. Understanding the predictors and drivers of phenological change is therefore critical. Here, we evaluated evidence for phylogenetic conservatism - the tendency for closely related species to share similar ecological and biological attributes - in phenological traits across flowering plants. We aggregated published and unpublished data on timing of first flower and first leaf, encompassing 4000 species at 23 sites across the Northern Hemisphere. We reconstructed the phylogeny for the set of included species, first, using the software program Phylomatic, and second, from DNA data. We then quantified phylogenetic conservatism in plant phenology within and across sites. We show that more closely related species tend to flower and leaf at similar times. By contrasting mean flowering times within and across sites, however, we illustrate that it is not the time of year that is conserved, but rather the phenological responses to a common set of abiotic cues. Our findings suggest that species cannot be treated as statistically independent when modelling phenological responses.Synthesis. Closely related species tend to resemble each other in the timing of their life-history events, a likely product of evolutionarily conserved responses to environmental cues. The search for the underlying drivers of phenology must therefore account for species' shared evolutionary histories.

Publishing year

2013

Language

English

Pages

1520-1530

Publication/Series

Journal of Ecology

Volume

101

Issue

6

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Topic

  • Biological Sciences

Keywords

  • climate change
  • flowering times
  • phenology
  • phylogenetic conservatism
  • plant-climate interactions
  • plasticity
  • spring indices

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1365-2745