Shoots and roots respond differently to climate change

Date:
December 20, 2021
Source:
University of Bern
Summary:
A new synthesis reveals mismatches between above- and below-ground
plant phenology due to climate change. These findings are important
to understand the consequences of climate change on terrestrial
biodiversity.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new synthesis conducted by a group of international scientists including Madhav P. Thakur from the University of Bern reveals mismatches between
above- and belowground plant phenology due to climate change. These
findings are important to understand the consequences of climate change
on terrestrial biodiversity.


==========================================================================
Most organisms follow a timetable -- when to reproduce, when to migrate,
so on so forth! The timing of such key periodic life events is known as phenology and is crucial for organism's survival and their contributions
to ecosystem functions. One of the most reported responses of organisms to contemporary climate change is shifts in their phenology. Ecologists have already shown that phenology of many plants are advancing due to climate change, for instance, many plants are flowering earlier during the growing season. But little was known how plant phenological changes aboveground
matches with plant phenological changes belowground due to climate change.

A recent study conducted by a group of international scientists including
Prof.

Madhav P. Thakur from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the
University of Bern shows that there is a big mismatch between how a
plant changes its phenology aboveground versus its phenological changes belowground. This study is one of the first global syntheses of shoot-
and root phenology measured from climate warming experiments across the
world, now published in Nature Climate Change.

Challenging a common assumption Shifts in plant phenology are crucial for
plant fitness, and plant's contribution to a number of ecosystem functions
and services. A majority of plant phenological research investigates
plant's phenology aboveground (e.g., flowering time, growing season
length, etc.), whereas it was often assumed that plant's phenological
changes aboveground mirror with plant's phenological changes belowground
(i.e., root phenology). This assumption is commonly used in models that
aim to predict the future of ecosystems features, such as carbon dynamics.

Without having a complete knowledge of both shoot and root phenology, it
is virtually impossible to understand how climate change will alter plant communities in future, and subsequently the future of ecosystems. To this
end, the newly published article led by Dr. Huiying Liu and Prof. Xuhui
Zhou from the East China Normal University and Prof. Madhav P. Thakur
from the University of Bern challenges the idea that aboveground plant phenology mirrors with belowground plant phenology in response to
climate warming.

Phenological mismatches are widespread In order to investigate whether
there is indeed a mismatch, the authors compiled data from 88 published
studies that measured plant phenology above- and belowground. "After
we assembled the data and began to look if above- and belowground
plant phenology mirror each other in response to warming, we were quite surprised to see how consistent mismatches were instead of matches," says
Dr. Huiying Liu, the first author of the paper. The woody plants like
trees were more responsive belowground compared to their aboveground
phenology, whereas herbaceous plants like grasses and forbs were
phenologically more responsive aboveground than belowground. In this way, phenological mismatches were found to be true in both plant forms (woody
and non-woody). "These results will advance climate change ecology a great
deal by highlighting the importance of plant root phenology," suggests
Prof. Thakur from the University of Bern, the senior author of the paper.

"Through shifts -- or a lack of it -- in root phenology due to warming,
it is likely that vast biodiversity in the soil which depends on plant
roots as its major resource will be affected. Importantly, if aboveground consumers like insects follow their plant resources differently than
those living belowground due to such mismatches, we can expect to see an imbalance in ecosystems. But we know so little about the consequences
of such imbalance triggered by phenological mismatches," Thakur points
out. "This adds a lot of exciting open questions about how ecosystem
balance in a rapidly changing world may vary between forests and
grasslands," adds Prof. Xuhui of East China Normal University.

"Dramatic changes in terrestrial ecosystems" Prof. Thakur was intrigued
by the consistency of phenological mismatches within plants, and the responsiveness varying between above- and belowground parts of woody
and non-woody plants in the current synthesis: "Plant phenology is not
only important for plants, but also for herbivores and microorganisms
as they depend on plants. If food chain starts to respond differently
to climate warming between aboveground and belowground, we will
begin to witness dramatic changes in terrestrial ecosystems" worries
Thakur. Aboveground-belowground interactions are crucial for the
maintenance of terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem functioning,
and disturbing these interactions is an invitation for ecosystem
instability. More experimental research will be required to understand
how such phenological mismatches in plants will cascade to microorganisms
and animals. Given that climate change is going to be more severe through
heat waves, prolonged drought periods followed by heavy precipitation,
these research findings provide only a glimpse into the future of
terrestrial ecosystems.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bern. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Huiying Liu, Hao Wang, Nan Li, Junjiong Shao, Xuhui Zhou, Kees
Jan van
Groenigen, Madhav P. Thakur. Phenological mismatches between above-
and belowground plant responses to climate warming. Nature Climate
Change, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41558-021-01244-x ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211220120617.htm

--- up 2 weeks, 2 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)