Flowering time responses to warming drive reproductive fitness in a changing Arctic.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

The Arctic is warming at an alarming rate, leading to earlier spring conditions and plant phenology. It is often unclear to what degree changes in reproductive fitness (flower, fruit and seed production) are a direct response to warming versus an indirect response through shifting phenology. The aim of this study was to quantify the relative importance of these direct and indirect pathways and project the net effects of warming on plant phenology and reproductive fitness under current and future climate scenarios.

Methods

We used two long-term datasets on 12 tundra species in the Canadian Arctic as part of the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). Phenology and reproductive fitness were recorded annually on tagged individual plants at both Daring Lake,

SUBMITTER: Collins CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11805937 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature