The timing of leaf senescence relates to flowering phenology and functional traits in 17 herbaceous species along elevational gradients

Bucher, Solveig Franziska; Römermann, Christine

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.13577

Cited by 40 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Analogously, during the experiment, common ragweed tended to lose the lower leaves, indicating the tendency to allocate resource for reproduction tissues. In accordance with such observations, the timing of leaf senescence has been found to be in relation with the flowering phenology of numerous species along altitudinal gradients [ 47 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

High Phenotypic Plasticity in a Prominent Plant Invader along Altitudinal and Temperature Gradients

Gentili

Ambrosini

Augustinus

et al. 2021

Plants

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Studies on plant growth and trait variation along environmental gradients can provide important information for identifying drivers of plant invasions and for deriving management strategies. We used seeds of the annual plant invader Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. (common ragweed) collected from an agricultural site in Northern Italy (226 m. a.s.l; Mean Annual Air Temperature: 12.9 °C; precipitations: 930 mm) to determine variation in growth trajectories and plant traits when grown along a 1000-m altitudinal gradient in Northern Italy, and under different temperature conditions in the growth chamber (from 14/18 °C to 26/30 °C, night/day), using a non-liner modeling approach. Under field conditions, traits related to plant height (maximum height, stem height, number of internodes) followed a three-parameter logistic curve. In contrast, leaf traits (lateral spread, number of leaves, leaf length and width) followed non-monotonic double-Richards curves that captured the decline patterns evident in the data. Plants grew faster, reaching a higher maximum plant height, and produced more biomass when grown at intermediate elevations. Under laboratory conditions, plants exhibited the same general growth trajectory of field conditions. However, leaf width did not show the recession after the maximum value shown by plants grown in the field, although the growth trajectories of some individuals, particularly those grown at 18 °C, showed a decline at late times. In addition, the plants grown at lower temperatures exhibited the highest value of biomass and preserved reproductive performances (e.g., amount of male inflorescence, pollen weight). From our findings, common ragweed exhibits a high phenotypic plasticity of vegetative and reproductive traits in response to different altitudes and temperature conditions. Under climate warming, this plasticity may facilitate the shift of the species towards higher elevation, but also the in situ resistance and (pre)adaptation of populations currently abundant at low elevations in the invasive European range. Such results may be also relevant for projecting the species management such as the impact by possible biocontrol agents.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

High Phenotypic Plasticity in a Prominent Plant Invader along Altitudinal and Temperature Gradients

Gentili

Ambrosini

Augustinus

et al. 2021

Plants

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“…In contrast to a number of interspecific comparative studies assessing the drivers of leaf senescence in woody species (Fridley, 2012; Panchen et al, 2015; Zohner & Renner, 2017), there are almost no similar comparative studies in herbaceous perennials (but see e.g. Bucher & Römermann, 2021; O'Connell & Savage, 2020) in spite of the fact that herbaceous species of seasonal climates constitute a large proportion of the whole of the world's flora (Fitzjohn et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, both spring and autumn processes are driven by strategies to avoid the risk of losing photosynthetic tissues, but the expected life span of organs in spring is much longer compared to the autumn and consequently the risk of their loss in autumn is higher. Compared to highly coordinated and synchronised growth events in the spring, autumn events are much more protracted and variable with much less synchrony both within and between species (Balazadeh et al, 2008; Bucher & Römermann, 2021; Gallinat et al, 2015). Autumn senescence may thus affect the length of the photosynthetic period more than the tightly coordinated spring leafing out and growth events, which are limited both by a higher risk of losing organs from late frost and by competition for light with neighbours (Fu et al, 2018; Gallinat et al, 2015; Huang et al, 2019; Wu et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Functional and demographic differentiation in herbaceous species takes place along a limited number of axes, with a prime role of the leaf economy spectrum, which differentiates species with cheap and short‐lived leaves from species with long‐lived and carbon‐expensive leaves (Díaz et al, 2015; Grime et al, 1997, Wright et al, 2004). As the parameters of the leaf economy spectrum are good predictors of the senescence patterns of leaves (Bucher & Römermann, 2021), we hypothesised that functional traits predicting leaf senescence scale up to predict the pace of shoot senescence. We thus hypothesised that two traits capturing the leaf economy spectrum and leaf longevity, namely leaf dry matter content and specific leaf area (Grime et al, 1997; Wright et al, 2004), are associated with high senescence pace and positive (accelerating) senescence shapes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shoot senescence in herbaceous perennials of the temperate zone: Identifying drivers of senescence pace and shape

et al. 2022

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Perennial herbaceous species form their above‐ground parts every year anew and discard them before the advent of winter. The senescence of above‐ground structures is thus an inevitable part of their life cycle. This is also a key process that determines photosynthetic gain late in the season and the economy of soil‐borne nutrients. Here we address patterns and drivers of the shoot senescence of perennial herbaceous plants. We present a comparative study of 231 temperate species, ranging from spring ephemeroids to species senescing in late autumn, in a common botanical garden collection. We assessed senescence by measuring size decline in the autumn part of the season. There were two main directions of variation in senescence trajectories: the pace–date axis, separating early and fast senescing species from late and slowly senescing species, and the shape‐asynchrony axis, separating species with accelerating and synchronised senescence from constant senescence asynchronous among individual shoots. While accelerating senescence late in the season can be due to passive effects of the environment (e.g. frost), accelerating senescence early in the season is likely to be an indication of an active process driven by the enzymatic activity of the plant. The pace and shape of shoot senescence were associated with both leaf‐ and shoot‐level traits. Species having leaves with high dry matter content senesced linearly and with higher asynchrony. Species with a larger specific leaf area senesced earlier and faster, while tall plants and plants with monocyclic shoots senesced later and in a more synchronous and accelerating manner. Species from different habitats varied in their senescence patterns. Forest species postpone their senescence relative to open‐habitat species, presumably to boost their photosynthetic balance. We did not confirm the hypothesis that plants from nutrient‐poor habitats senesce earlier to retain soil‐borne nutrients before the winter. Synthesis. Shoot senescence in herbaceous plants is a neglected phenomenon in its own right, which bears only superficial similarity to autumn leaf shedding in trees. Individual species differ strongly in the pace, shape and synchrony of their senescence trajectories, with a potential bearing on the carbon and nutrient dynamics of their habitats.

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“…Phenological events are often temporally and developmentally correlated, and the timing of one event can constrain or otherwise affect the timing of subsequent events (e.g., Diggle, 1999; Mentzel et al 2006; Donohue, 2014; Galloway et al, 2018; Zacchello et al, 2020; Bucher and Römermann, 2021). Within seasons, spring and autumn phenology have been found to be positively correlated among individuals in many woody species (e.g., Crawley and Akhteruzzaman, 1988; Keenan and Richardson, 2015), with individuals both advancing their growing season and senescing earlier when exposed to experimental warming in early spring (Fu et al, 2014; Zohner and Renner, 2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

Spring and autumn phenology in an understory herb are uncorrelated and driven by different factors

Fogelström

Zacchello

Guasconi

et al. 2022

American J of Botany

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Premise Climate warming has altered the start and end of growing seasons in temperate regions. Ultimately, these changes occur at the individual level, but little is known about how previous seasonal life‐history events, temperature, and plant‐resource state simultaneously influence the spring and autumn phenology of plant individuals. Methods We studied the relationships between the timing of leaf‐out and shoot senescence over 3 years in a natural population of the long‐lived understory herb Lathyrus vernus and investigated the effects of spring temperature, plant size, reproductive status, and grazing on spring and autumn phenology. Results The timing of leaf‐out and senescence were consistent within individuals among years. Leaf‐out and senescence were not correlated with each other within years. Larger plants leafed out and senesced later, and size had no effect on growing season length. Reproductive plants leafed out earlier and had longer growing seasons than nonreproductive plants. Grazing had no detectable effects on phenology. Colder spring temperatures delayed senescence in two of three study years. Conclusions The timing of seasonal events, such as leaf‐out and senescence in plants can be expressed largely independently within and among seasons and are influenced by different factors. Growing season start and length can often be dependent on plant condition and reproductive status. Knowledge about the drivers of growing season length of individuals is essential to more accurately predict species and community responses to environmental variation.

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The timing of leaf senescence relates to flowering phenology and functional traits in 17 herbaceous species along elevational gradients

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Cited by 40 publications

References 44 publications

High Phenotypic Plasticity in a Prominent Plant Invader along Altitudinal and Temperature Gradients

High Phenotypic Plasticity in a Prominent Plant Invader along Altitudinal and Temperature Gradients

Shoot senescence in herbaceous perennials of the temperate zone: Identifying drivers of senescence pace and shape

Spring and autumn phenology in an understory herb are uncorrelated and driven by different factors

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