Effects of drought on grassland phenology depend on functional types

What is it about?

Phenology, the timing of plant life-cycle events, such as flowering, is extremely sensitive to changes in climate. We know that plants may adjust the timing of certain phenological events, such as flowering time or migration, based on changes in environmental cutes, e.g. temperature. In fact, most studies studying the effects of climate change on plant phenology have focused on climate warming. However, in many ecosystems, such as grasslands, drought is likely to affect plant species depending on their sensitivity to low water availability. We show that grassland flowering plants shifted their flowering events in opposite directions toward wetter periods of the year, moving away from mid-summer drought. As plants shift their phenology, they may leave a gap in mid-summer drought, which can lead to future plant invasions in the future, affect pollination, herbivory, plant-plant interactions, and season length.

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