Interannual variation in spring weather conditions as a driver of spring wildflower coverage: a 15-year perspective from an old-growth temperate forest.

ABSTRACT: Spring ephemerals are wildflowers found in temperate deciduous forests that typically display aboveground shoots for a period of 2 months or less. Early spring, before the canopy leaves out, marks the beginning of the aboveground growth period where ephemerals acquire nutrients and resources via aboveground tissues. Several studies have shown that spring ephemeral reproduction is affected by spring temperature, but few have looked at how weather conditions of the current and previous seasons, including precipitation and temperature, influence aboveground growth. Here, we examine the response of a spring ephemeral community in a temperate hardwood forest to weather conditions during their current and previous growing seasons. For 15 years we estimated percent cover of each species within ou

SUBMITTER: Jahn LV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10727473 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature