Climate warming changes synchrony of plants and pollinators

Abstract

Climate warming changes the phenology of many species. When interacting organisms respond differently, climate change may disrupt their interactions and affect the stability of ecosystems. Here, we used GBIF occurrence records to examine phenology trends in plants and their associated insect pollinators in Germany since the 1960s. We found strong phenological advances in plants, but differences in the extent of shifts among pollinator groups. The temporal trends in plant and insect phenologies were generally associated with interannual temperature variation, and thus likely driven by climate change. The phenological advancement of plants did not depend on their level of pollinator dependence. When examining the temporal co-occurrence of plant-pollinator pairs from 1980 onwards, the temporal trends in their synchrony again depended on the pollinator group: while the synchrony of plant-butterfly interactions remained unchanged, interactions with bees and hoverflies tended to become more synchronized, mainly because the phenology of plants responded more strongly to climate change and plants caught up with these pollinators. If the observed trends continue, these interactions are expected to become more asynchronous again in the future. Our study demonstrates that climate change affects the phenologies of interacting groups of organisms, and that it also influences their synchrony.

Climate warming changes synchrony of plants and pollinators

“…The R code used to conduct the analysis is available at . The species slope estimates, which form the basis for this analysis, are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: [52].…”

Loss of fungal symbionts and changes in pollinator availability caused by climate change will affect the distribution and survival chances of myco-heterotrophic orchid species

“…Species distribution models based on GCMs are also used in nature conservation planning and preventing invasive species expansion 16 – 19 . Considering possible negative impact of climate change modification of temperature and precipitation patterns together with extreme weather events can alter geographical ranges of species 20 , their ecological interactions 21 , and the timing of biological events (phenology), which could fundamentally transform ecosystems and food webs 22 .…”