title: Shifting phenology and abundance under experimental warming alters trophic relationships and plant reproductive capacity.
abstract: Phenological mismatches due to climate change may have important ecological consequences. In a three-year study, phenological shifts due to experimental warming markedly altered trophic relationships between plants and insect herbivores, causing a dramatic decline of reproductive capacity for one of the plant species. In a Tibetan meadow, the gentian (Gentiana formosa) typically flowers after the peak larva density of a noctuid moth (Melanchra pisi) that primarily feeds on a dominant forb (anemone, Anemone trullifolia var. linearis). However, artificial warming of approximately 1.5 degrees C advanced gentian flower phenology and anemone vegetative phenology by a week, but delayed moth larvae emergence by two weeks. The warming increased larval density 10-fold, but decreased anemone density by 30%. The phenological and density shifts under warmed conditions resulted in the insect larvae feeding substantially on the gentian flowers and ovules; there was approximately 100-fold more damage in warmed than in unwarmed chambers. This radically increased trophic connection reduced gentian plant reproduction and likely contributed to its reduced abundance in the warmed chambers.
authors.affiliation: ECORES Lab, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 9 Section 4 Renminnan Road, Chengdu 610041, China.
authors.forename: Yinzhan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Reich
authors.forename: Guoyong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shucun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D031883:Anemone / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D035264:Flowers / Q000469:parasitology; D030012:Gentiana / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000502:physiology; D057232:Global Warming; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D009036:Moths / Q000502:physiology*; D012098:Reproduction; D018609:Tibet