title: Climate change perils for dioecious plant species.
abstract: Climate change, particularly increased aridity, poses a significant threat to plants and the biotic communities they support. Dioecious species may be especially vulnerable to climate change given that they often exhibit spatial segregation of the sexes, reinforced by physiological and morphological specialization of each sex to different microhabitats. In dimorphic species, the overexpression of a trait by one gender versus the other may become suppressed in future climates. Data suggest that males will generally be less sensitive to increased aridity than co-occurring females and, consequently, extreme male-biased sex ratios are possible in a significant number of populations. The effects of male-biased sex ratios are likely to cascade to dependent community members, especially those that are specialized on one sex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Research, Conservation and Collections, Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona, 85008, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Hultine
authors.affiliation: School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Grady
authors.affiliation: US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA.
authors.forename: Troy E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research and Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shuster
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York 13210, USA.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Stella
authors.affiliation: Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research and Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Whitham
mesh_terms: D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D012098:Reproduction; D013045:Species Specificity