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LETTER

Forecasting phenology: from species variability to community patterns

  1. Jeffrey M. Diez1,*,
  2. Inés Ibáñez1,
  3. Abraham J. Miller-Rushing2,
  4. Susan J. Mazer3,
  5. Theresa M. Crimmins4,5,
  6. Michael A. Crimmins6,
  7. C. David Bertelsen7,8,
  8. David W. Inouye9,10

Article first published online: 20 MAR 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01765.x

Issue

Ecology Letters

Ecology Letters

Volume 15, Issue 6, pages 545–553, June 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Diez, J. M., Ibáñez, I., Miller-Rushing, A. J., Mazer, S. J., Crimmins, T. M., Crimmins, M. A., Bertelsen, C. D. and Inouye, D. W. (2012), Forecasting phenology: from species variability to community patterns. Ecology Letters, 15: 545–553. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01765.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

  2. 2

    National Park Service, Schoodic Education and Research Center and Acadia National Park, Winter Harbor, ME 04693, USA

  3. 3

    Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

  4. 4

    Office of Arid Lands Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

  5. 5

    USA National Phenology Network, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

  6. 6

    Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, PO Box 210038 Tucson, AZ 85721-0038, USA

  7. 7

    Herbarium, University of Arizona, PO Box 210036, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0036, USA

  8. 8

    School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

  9. 9

    Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, PO Box 519, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA

  10. 10

    Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4415, USA

*E-mail: jeffdiez@gmail.com

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 7 MAY 2012
  2. Article first published online: 20 MAR 2012
  3. Editor, Elsa Cleland Manuscript received 9 November 2011 First decision made 8 December 2011 Second decision made 9 February 2012 Manuscript accepted 23 February 2012

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Keywords:

  • Climate change;
  • community;
  • Concord;
  • Gothic;
  • phenology;
  • scaling;
  • Tucson;
  • variation

Ecology Letters (2012)

Abstract

Shifts in species’ phenology in response to climate change have wide-ranging consequences for ecological systems. However, significant variability in species’ responses, together with limited data, frustrates efforts to forecast the consequences of ongoing phenological changes. Herein, we use a case study of three North American plant communities to explore the implications of variability across levels of organisation (within and among species, and among communities) for forecasting responses to climate change. We show how despite significant variation among species in sensitivities to climate, comparable patterns emerge at the community level once regional climate drivers are accounted for. However, communities differ with respect to projected patterns of divergence and overlap among their species’ phenological distributions in response to climate change. These analyses and a review of hypotheses suggest how explicit consideration of spatial scale and levels of biological organisation may help to understand and forecast phenological responses to climate change.

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