Toward a synthetic understanding of the role of phenology in ecology and evolution

Abstract

Phenology affects nearly all aspects of ecology and evolution. Virtually all biological phenomenafrom individual physiology to interspecific relationships to global nutrient fluxes-have annual cycles and are influenced by the timing of abiotic events. Recent years have seen a surge of interest in this topic, as an increasing number of studies document phenological responses to climate change. Much recent research has addressed the genetic controls on phenology, modelling techniques and ecosystem-level and evolutionary consequences of phenological change. To date, however, these efforts have tended to proceed independently. Here, we bring together some of these disparate lines of inquiry to clarify vocabulary, facilitate comparisons among habitat types and promote the integration of ideas and methodologies across different disciplines and scales. We discuss the relationship between phenology and life history, the distinction between organismal-and population-level perspectives on phenology and the influence of phenology on evolutionary processes, communities and ecosystems. Future work should focus on linking ecological and physiological aspects of phenology, understanding the demographic effects of phenological change and explicitly accounting for seasonality and phenology in forecasts of ecological and evolutionary responses to climate change.

Camouflage mismatch in seasonal coat color due to decreased snow duration

“…phenotypic plasticity | snow downscaling | rhythm | phenological mismatch | threshold trait S hifts in annual timing of life history events are a common response of plant and animal populations to climate change (1,2). In many cases, these phenological shifts span multiple trophic levels, creating mistiming as animal reproduction (3), hibernation emergence (4,5), or migration (6) become detached from peak timing of food or habitat structure (7).…”

Annual rhythms that underlie phenology: biological time-keeping meets environmental change

“…In this review, we have summarized the diversity and complexity of the mechanisms that underlie phenology. The control and expression of annual cycles vary in the degree of flexibility depending on the species, on the environment where they live and on the temporal cues that affect their physiological systems [4,5]. The difficulties in explaining organismic responses may be largely owing to our limited understanding of the diverse timing mechanisms, and specifically to a neglect of contributions by biological clocks.…”

“…Phenology, the seasonal timing of recurring biological processes, is the result of these complex, and species-specific, timing processes [3,4]. Because of the particularly evident importance of understanding seasonal timing in the context of global warming, phenology is an increasingly active field of study [4,5]. Organisms have different mechanisms underlying annual cycles, but generally combine internal time-keeping with information from external cues to prepare for predictable, annual changes in their environment.…”

Human birth seasonality: latitudinal gradient and interplay with childhood disease dynamics

“…For instance, studying cowpox virus in voles, Begon et al [24] found that susceptible recruitment is seasonal, and higher breeding-season birth rates delayed epidemic peaks. However, despite evidence demonstrating the importance of host demography in recurrent epidemics [25][26][27][28], and the ubiquitous appreciation of seasonal reproduction in broader ecology and evolution [29], we submit that a deep understanding of the dynamical impact of birth seasonality on infectious diseases of humans is currently lacking.…”