title: Relatively stable response of fruiting stage to warming and cooling relative to other phenological events.
abstract: The timing of the fruit-set stage (i.e., start and end of fruit set) is crucial in a plant's life cycle, but its response to temperature change is still unclear. We investigated the timing of seven phenological events, including fruit-set dates during 3 yr for six alpine plants transplanted to warmer (approximately +3.5°C in soils) and cooler (approximately -3.5°C in soils) locations along an altitudinal gradient in the Tibetan area. We found that fruit-set dates remained relatively stable under both warming and cooling during the 3-yr transplant experiment. Three earlier phenological events (emergence of first leaf, first bud set, and first flowering) and two later phenological events (first leaf coloring and complete leaf coloring) were earlier by 4.8-8.2 d/°C and later by 3.2-7.1 d/°C in response to warming. Conversely, cooling delayed the three earlier events by 3.8-6.9 d/°C and advanced the two later events by 3.2-8.1 d/°C for all plant species. The timing of the first and/or last fruit-set dates, however, did not change significantly compared to earlier and later phenological events. Statistical analyses also showed that the dates of fruit set were not significantly correlated or had lower correlations with changes of soil temperature relative to the earlier and later phenological events. Alpine plants may thus acclimate to changes in temperature for their fruiting function by maintaining relatively stable timings of fruit set compared with other phenological events to maximize the success of seed maturation and dispersal in response to short-term warming or cooling.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|Naqu Integrated Observation and Research Station of Ecology and Environment, Tibet University and Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lasa, 850012, China.
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|Naqu Integrated Observation and Research Station of Ecology and Environment, Tibet University and Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lasa, 850012, China.|CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: F D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Binhai Research Institute in Tianjin, Tianjin, 300457, China.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Guangxi Institute of Botany, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangxi, 541006, China.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Naqu Integrated Observation and Research Station of Ecology and Environment, Tibet University and Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lasa, 850012, China.|Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.
authors.forename: X X
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.
authors.forename: Z H
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|Naqu Integrated Observation and Research Station of Ecology and Environment, Tibet University and Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lasa, 850012, China.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: X E
authors.initials: XE
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: X Y
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.
authors.forename: Y N
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|Naqu Integrated Observation and Research Station of Ecology and Environment, Tibet University and Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lasa, 850012, China.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dorji
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology and Biodiversity, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Piao
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, CEA CNRS UVSQ, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciais
authors.affiliation: CREAF, Cerdanyola del Valles, Barcelona, 08193, Catalonia,, Spain.|CSIC, Global Ecology Unit CREAF-CEAB-CSIC-UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, 08193, Catalonia, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peñuelas
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Agro-Environment Sciences, Tsukuba, 305-8604, Japan.
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.
authors.forename: X Q
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China.
authors.forename: F W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Oregon State University Agriculture and Natural Resource Program at Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, Oregon, 97850, USA.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D057231:Climate Change; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004463:Ecology; D005638:Fruit; D018515:Plant Leaves; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D012098:Reproduction; D012621:Seasons; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Tibetan plateau; alpine plants; early-spring flowering plants; mid-summer flowering plants; phenological sequence; seed-production stage; temperature change