温带森林展叶物候学

Leaf out phenology in temperate forests

物候学是研究自然事件的周期性变化的科学, 是一门古老的传统学科。在全球温带地区, 春季开始时间已经显著提前。随着气候变化日益得到关注, 物候学也重新引起了人们的重视。植物在春季的展叶对温度特别敏感,展叶时间决定着许多基本的生态系统过程, 因此, 近年来生态学家们对展叶物候学表现出极大兴趣。本文综述了最新文献, 介绍了展叶物候的不同研究方法、温带木本植物展叶的控制因子, 以及气候变化对展叶物候的影响。除了传统的地面监测方法之外, 一些使用遥感和专用相机的新方法已经被用来在更大尺度上监测春季开始时间。未来的研究工作应聚焦于植物的展叶物候如何应对气候变化, 及其对不同营养级物种间相互作用的影响。

Monitoring phenology, the study of the timing of natural events, is an ancient practice that has experienced renewed relevance for scientific research interest in the wake of awareness of anthropogenic climate change. Spring onset has been occurring significantly earlier in temperate regions worldwide. Leaf out phenology has become particularly well studied is of particular interest because the emergence of leaves in the spring is extremely sensitive to temperature, and the leaf out timing of leaf out in temperate ecosystems marks the onset of the growing season and controls many essential ecosystem processes. This article reviews the current literature concerning the different methods used to study leaf out phenology, the controls on leaf out in temperate woody plants, and the effects of climate change on leaf out phenology. In addition to the traditional method of on-the-ground leaf out monitoring, new methods using remote sensing and dedicated cameras have been developed which allow scientists to track spring onset at a much larger scale than had previously been possible. Further work is needed on how leaf phenology will respond to future climate change, and the implications of this for animals and other species interactions among trophic levels.