Temperature sensitivity of leaf flushing in 12 common woody species in eastern China

Peiyang Yu; Ping Meng; Xiaojuan Tong; Yingjie Zhang; Jun Li; Jingru Zhang; Peirong Liu

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160337

Temperature sensitivity of leaf flushing in 12 common woody species in eastern China

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Feb 25:861:160337. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160337. Epub 2022 Nov 26.

Authors

Peiyang Yu¹, Ping Meng², Xiaojuan Tong³, Yingjie Zhang⁴, Jun Li⁵, Jingru Zhang¹, Peirong Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China.
² Key Laboratory of Tree Breeding and Cultivation of State Forestry Administration, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China.
³ School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: tongxj@bjfu.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: yingjiezhang@bjfu.edu.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.

PMID: 36574556
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160337

Abstract

Leaf phenology is one of the most reliable indicators of global warming in temperate regions because it is highly sensitive to temperatures. Temperature sensitivity (S_T) is defined as the values of changed days of leaf flushing date (LUD) per degree increase in temperatures. Climate warming substantially advanced LUD in the temperate region, but its effect on S_T of LUD is still not clear. We used spring phenological records of 12 woody plants in eastern China in the years of 1983-2014 to explore temporal and spatial changes of LUD and S_T. Furthermore, we compared the difference of S_T and preseason temperatures in two periods (1983-1997 and 2000-2014), and explored the main factors regulating S_T. The results showed that the average LUD significantly advanced (-2.7 days per decade). The mean LUD over the period 1983-2014 was in day of the year (DOY) 87 ± 7 across sites and species for the early leaf flushing species (EFS), and mean DOY 102 ± 5 for the late leaf flushing species (LFS). LUD was earlier in low latitude than that in high latitude. S_T of Armeniaca vulgaris was the most sensitive to temperature across all sites (-3.66 d °C^-1), while Firmiana simplex was the most insensitive (-2.37 d °C^-1). LUD of EFS was more sensitive to temperature warming than that of LFS. At the same site, LUD of EFS would advance more obviously than that of LFS under global warming. For all species, S_T decreased significantly with shorter preseason length and warmer temperatures at the preseason end. Our results had demonstrated a strong relationship between S_T and the preseason length (mean temperature at the preseason end).

Keywords: Latitude; Leaf flushing date; Preseason temperature; Temperature sensitivity.

MeSH terms

China
Climate Change*
Climate*
Plant Leaves / physiology
Seasons
Temperature
Trees / physiology