Abstract
Betulaceae species are anemophilous, and allergens from their pollen are a major cause of respiratory allergies in temperate areas where they are widely distributed. It is expected that, due to the strong influence of temperature on Betulaceae phenology, global warming will impact both the distribution and phenology of these species during the coming decades. This study examines potential decoupling of flowering and leafing phenophases in Betulaceae species (i.e. Alnus glutinosa, Betula pendula and Corylus avellana) over long-term (1951–2015) and as shorter (15-year) periods. Phenological phases for flowering and leaf unfolding of Betulaceae species from the Pan-European Phenology (PEP725) database were examined along with maximum and minimum daily temperature data for the periods September–October-November (SON), December-January–February (DJF) and March–April-May (MAM). Significant increases in temperature since 1951 have been recorded in the relevant chilling and forcing periods. Both flowering and leaf unfolding phenophases are advancing, but flowering is advancing faster than leaf unfolding. This is increasing the time between phenophases, although analysis of 15-year periods shows that the pattern of change was not constant. The results presented here represent the most comprehensive analysis of flowering and leaf unfolding phenophases of Betulaceae species using the PEP725 database to date. It is expected that these changes to Betulaceae phenology will continue and that global warming–related phenological decoupling will increase plant stress in Betulaceae populations in central Europe.
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Data availability
Phenological data are available at http://www.pep725.eu/ and climate data at the ECA&D database (https://www.ecad.eu/).
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Acknowledgements
The authors want to acknowledge all members of the PEP725 project for providing the phenological data used in this study. They also want to acknowledge the European Climate Assessment and Database project team for providing the climatic data. A. Picornell was supported by a postdoctoral grant financed by the University of Malaga to do a research stay at the Department of Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Botany of the Complutense University of Madrid and by a postdoctoral grant financed by the Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades (Junta de Andalucía, POSTDOC_21_00056).
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Picornell, A., Smith, M. & Rojo, J. Climate change related phenological decoupling in species belonging to the Betulaceae family. Int J Biometeorol 67, 195–209 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02398-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02398-9