Timing of climate variability and grassland productivity
- 13 February 2012
- journal article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 109 (9), 3401-3405
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1118438109
Abstract
Future climates are forecast to include greater precipitation variability and more frequent heat waves, but the degree to which the timing of climate variability impacts ecosystems is uncertain. In a temperate, humid grassland, we examined the seasonal impacts of climate variability on 27 y of grass productivity. Drought and high-intensity precipitation reduced grass productivity only during a 110-d period, whereas high temperatures reduced productivity only during 25 d in July. The effects of drought and heat waves declined over the season and had no detectable impact on grass productivity in August. If these patterns are general across ecosystems, predictions of ecosystem response to climate change will have to account not only for the magnitude of climate variability but also for its timing.Keywords
This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit:
- Predicting phenology by integrating ecology, evolution and climate scienceGlobal Change Biology, 2011
- Widespread crown condition decline, food web disruption, and amplified tree mortality with increased climate change-type droughtProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011
- Temperature dependence of soil nitrogen mineralization rate: Comparison of mathematical models, reference temperatures and origin of the soilsGeoderma, 2010
- Climate change alters interannual variation of grassland aboveground productivity: evidence from a 22-year measurement series in the Inner Mongolian grasslandJournal of Plant Research, 2010
- Climate change and the effects of temperature extremes on Australian flying-foxesProceedings. Biological sciences, 2007
- Extreme heat reduces and shifts United States premium wine production in the 21st centuryProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Convergence and contingency in production–precipitation relationships in North American and South African C4 grasslandsOecologia, 2006
- Responses of Grassland Production to Single and Multiple Global Environmental ChangesPLoS Biology, 2005
- Improving the characteristics of streamflow modeled by regional climate modelsJournal of Hydrology, 2003
- Using the FAO-56 dual crop coefficient method over an irrigated region as part of an evapotranspiration intercomparison studyJournal of Hydrology, 2000