Abstract
Climate warming could disrupt species interactions if organisms’ phenologies respond to climate change at different rates. Phenologies of plants and insects can be sensitive to temperature and timing of snowmelt; however, many important pollinators including ground-nesting bees have been little studied in this context. Without knowledge of the environmental cues affecting phenologies of co-occurring species, we have little ability to predict how species assemblages, and species interactions, will be affected by climate change. Here, we studied a hardwood forest understory over six years, to determine how spring temperatures, snowmelt timing, and photoperiod influence the phenology of two spring wildflowers (Anemone spp. and Trillium grandiflorum), activity of ground-nesting bees, and their temporal overlap. Surface degree-day accumulation was a better predictor of phenology for Anemone spp. (plant) and Nomada (bees) than were day of year (a proxy for photoperiod) or snowmelt date, whereas Trillium flowering appeared most sensitive to photoperiodic cues. Activity periods of Andrena and Lasioglossum bees were equally well described by degree-day accumulation and day of year. No taxon’s phenology was best predicted by snowmelt date. Despite these differences among taxa in their phenological responses, timing of bee activity and flowering responded similarly to variation in snowmelt date and early spring temperatures. Furthermore, temporal overlap between flowering and bee activity was similar over the years of this study and was unaffected by variability in snowmelt date or temperature. Nevertheless, the differences among some taxa in their phenological responses suggests that diverging temporal shifts are a possibility for the future.
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Data related to this manuscript are available here: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12241991.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the National Capital Commission for permission to conduct research in Gatineau Park. We thank members of the Sargent and Forrest laboratories, especially J. Russell-Mercier, C. Thomsen, A. Groulx, and N. Libreros Marín, for their assistance in the collection of flowering and insect phenology data. Andrew Simons provided helpful comments on the study and manuscript. This research was supported by scholarships from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) and Mitacs Globalink to MS, a Discovery Grant to RDS from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the University of Ottawa.
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J.F. and R.S. conceived the study and established the study plots. M.S. analysed the data, with input from J.F. M.S. and J.F. interpreted the results and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to data collection and to revising the manuscript.
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Sevenello, M., Sargent, R.D. & Forrest, J.R.K. Spring wildflower phenology and pollinator activity respond similarly to climatic variation in an eastern hardwood forest. Oecologia 193, 475–488 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04670-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04670-4