Plant responses to elevated temperatures: a field study on phenological sensitivity and fitness responses to simulated climate warming.

ABSTRACT: Significant changes in plant phenology have been observed in response to increases in mean global temperatures. There are concerns that accelerated phenologies can negatively impact plant populations. However, the fitness consequence of changes in phenology in response to elevated temperature is not well understood, particularly under field conditions. We address this issue by exposing a set of recombinant inbred lines of Arabidopsis thaliana to a simulated global warming treatment in the field. We find that plants exposed to elevated temperatures flower earlier, as predicted by photothermal models. However, contrary to life-history trade-off expectations, they also flower at a larger vegetative size, suggesting that warming probably causes acceleration in vegetative development. Although

SUBMITTER: Springate DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4253038 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature