Arctic plants are blooming closer together, squeezing wildlife food into a shorter window
Panchen ZA, Doubt J, Saarela JM, Kharouba HM
Phenology
The staggered bloom schedule that feeds Arctic insects, nesting shorebirds, and grazing caribou across a whole summer is collapsing into a single narrow rush, and animals that can't shift their timing fast enough will go hungry.
Scientists looked at more than 17,000 pressed plant specimens collected across northern Canada over the last century and found that plants blooming later in the season are now blooming earlier, while early bloomers have barely moved. The result is that the Arctic's flowering season is getting shorter, with all species crowding into a tighter window. That's a problem for every creature from bees to birds to caribou that relies on a spread-out sequence of flowers for food.
Key Findings
Later-flowering Arctic species have shifted their bloom times more than earlier-flowering species, compressing the overall Canadian Arctic flowering season over the past century
Analysis of 17,000 herbarium specimens from 97 species shows a significant phylogenetic signal in Arctic flowering time, meaning related plants tend to bloom at similar times of year
No phylogenetic signal was detected in how strongly flowering times respond to temperature, meaning closely related species do not share the same sensitivity to warming
chevron_right Technical Summary
Arctic flowering times are compressing: over the past century, later-blooming plant species in the Canadian Arctic have shifted to flower earlier at a faster rate than early-bloomers, shortening the overall flowering season and disrupting the food webs that depend on staggered blooms.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Digitised herbarium specimen data reveal a climate change-related trend to an earlier, shorter Canadian Arctic flowering season, and phylogenetic signal in Arctic flowering times.
The Arctic is experiencing some of the world's most rapid changes in climate. Arctic plant flowering time responses to climate change are understudied. Globally, conflicting evidence exists on whet...
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