Spring Freeze Effect on Wheat Yield is Modulated by Winter Temperature Fluctuations: Evidence from Meta‐Analysis and Simulating Experiment

Abstract

Increasing climatic variability is projected to affect large-scale atmospheric circulation, triggers and exacerbates more extreme weather events, including winter warming and more frequent extreme low temperatures in spring. Historical data from 1961-2000 indicate these temperature fluctuations may seriously affect grain yield of winter wheat crops. In this study, a field air temperature control system (FATC) was used to simulate the winter warming, spring cold and freezing events in the field experiment in 2010-2011 to explore their impacts on growth and yield of winter wheat. Eight elite wheat varieties released during 1961-2000 were included and four temperature scenarios were applied, including late spring freeze alone, winter warming + late spring freeze, early spring cold + late spring freeze and the normal temperature condition as control. Winter warming combined with late spring freeze significantly decreased tiller survival rate, leaf photosynthetic rate and leaf growth in wheat plants, and reduced the spike number and kernel number per spike, and the final grain yield. In contrast, the wheat plants experienced early spring cold had higher tiller survival rate, leaf photosynthetic capacity and sugar accumulation and improved tolerance to the late spring freeze, resulting in less yield loss, as compared with those without experiencing early spring cold. Both the meta-analyses and the field experimental data demonstrated that the effects of later spring freeze stress on wheat yield were exacerbated by winter warming but were extenuated by early spring cold events. Therefore, it is important to consider the characteristics of temperature fluctuations during winter to spring for precise evaluation of climate change effects on wheat production.

Winter Soil Warming Exacerbates the Impacts of Spring Low Temperature Stress on Wheat

“…Similar results have been reported in other experiments on the interaction of winter warming and low spring temperature stress in wheat, where yield loss is found to be caused mainly by the decrease in spike number (Li et al. ,b). Here, lower kernel number per spike might be related to a weaker source activity as indicated by the lower photosynthetic C assimilation capacity of the WL plants.…”

“…It has recently been documented that the wheat plants experienced warm winter are more susceptible to low temperature stress in the spring (Li et al 2015b). Meta-analysis with historical data from 1961 to 2000 in Eastern China and field experiment indicated that the effects of low spring temperature on wheat yield are exacerbated by winter warming (Li et al 2015a). This has been attributed to the lowered capacities of oxygen scavenging and photosynthetic electron transport in the winter-warmed plants under low spring temperature stress, as compared with the non-winter-warmed control (Li et al 2015b).…”

Drought Priming at Vegetative Growth Stage Enhances Nitrogen‐Use Efficiency Under Post‐Anthesis Drought and Heat Stress in Wheat

“…This negative effect of drought priming on kernel number was also observed in our previous study, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear (Li et al. ,b). Similarly, the nitrogen uptake and nitrogen partitioning to the grain in PN plants were also lower than the NN plants.…”

“…In wheat, the adaptation to low temperature stress was also found to be alleviated, in the drought‐primed plants (Li et al. ,b). However, to date, little attention has been paid to the responses of plant N nutrition and NUE in primed plants to drought and heat stress and their combinations.…”

Modulation of photosynthate supply by CO2 elevation affects the post‐head‐emergence frost‐induced grain yield loss in wheat

“…Our previous and other studies have demonstrated the negative effects of low‐temperature events during the vegetative stage on grain yield in wheat (Barlow, Christy, O'Leary, Riffkin, & Nuttall, ; Ji et al., ; Li, Cai, Liu, Dai et al., ; Li, Pu et al., ). A grain yield loss in a high range of 3%–85% was found under low temperature at jointing and booting stages, which is related to many factors including the level and duration of low temperature, the wheat growth stage when the low‐temperature events occur, and the cold tolerance of wheat cultivars (Craufurd, Vadez, Svk, Pvv, & Zamanallah, ; Ji et al., ; Li, Cai, Liu, Dai et al., ). The PHEF, which occurs during reproductive developmental stages, can result in catastrophic yield loss in wheat; this is because it has a direct effect on the grain filling process (Mushtaq et al., ).…”