A multi-year experiment shows that lower precipitation predictability encourages plants' early life stages and enhances population viability.

ABSTRACT: Climate change is a key factor that may cause the extinction of species. The associated reduced weather predictability may alter the survival of plants, especially during their early life stages, when individuals are most fragile. While it is expected that extreme weather events will be highly detrimental for species, the effects of more subtle environmental changes have been little considered. In a four-year experiment on two herbaceous plants, Papaver rhoeas and Onobrychis viciifolia, we manipulated the predictability of precipitation by changing the temporal correlation of precipitation events while maintaining average precipitation constant, leading to more and less predictable treatments. We assessed the effect of predictability on plant viability in terms of seedling em

SUBMITTER: March-Salas M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6410692 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature