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Phenological responses of plants to climate change in an urban environment

  • Original Article
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Ecological Research

Abstract

Global climate change is likely to alter the phenological patterns of plants due to the controlling effects of climate on plant ontogeny, especially in an urbanized environment. We studied relationships between various phenophases (i.e., seasonal biological events) and interannual variations of air temperature in three woody plant species (Prunus davidiana, Hibiscus syriacus, and Cercis chinensis) in the Beijing Metropolis, China, based on phenological data for the period 1962–2004 and meteorological data for the period 1951–2004. Analysis of phenology and climate data indicated significant changes in spring and autumn phenophases and temperatures. Changes in phenophases were observed for all the three species, consistent with patterns of rising air temperatures in the Beijing Metropolis. The changing phenology in the three plant species was reflected mainly as advances of the spring phenophases and delays in the autumn phenophases, but with strong variations among species and phenophases in response to different temperature indices. Most phenophases (both spring and autumn phenophases) had significant relationships with temperatures of the preceding months. There existed large inter- and intra-specific variations, however, in the responses of phenology to climate change. It is clear that the urban heat island effect from 1978 onwards is a dominant cause of the observed phenological changes. Differences in phenological responses to climate change may cause uncertain ecological consequences, with implications for ecosystem stability and function in urban environments.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by a “Talent Recruitment” fund of the Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to O. J. Sun. We thank Dr. Jian Ni of the Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences for providing the climate dataset.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Quantitative Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China

    Zhongkui Luo, Osbert J. Sun & Wenting Xu

  2. Institute of Geographical Sciences & Natural Resources Research, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Quansheng Ge & Jingyun Zheng

  3. Graduate School of The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Zhongkui Luo

Authors
  1. Zhongkui Luo
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  2. Osbert J. Sun
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  3. Quansheng Ge
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  4. Wenting Xu
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  5. Jingyun Zheng
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Correspondence to Osbert J. Sun.

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Luo, Z., Sun, O.J., Ge, Q. et al. Phenological responses of plants to climate change in an urban environment. Ecol Res 22, 507–514 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-006-0044-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-006-0044-6

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