ECORES Lab, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 9 Section 4 Renminnan Road, Chengdu 610041, China.
Ecology. 2011 Jun;92(6):1201-7. doi: 10.1890/10-2060.1.
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.
由于气候变化导致的物候不匹配可能会产生重要的生态后果。在一项为期三年的研究中，由于实验性变暖导致的物候转变显著改变了植物和昆虫食草动物之间的营养关系，导致其中一种植物物种的繁殖能力大幅下降。在西藏的一个草甸中，龙胆（Gentiana formosa）通常在一种夜蛾（Melanchra pisi）幼虫密度峰值之后开花，而这种夜蛾主要以一种优势草本植物（银莲花，Anemone trullifolia var. linearis）为食。然而，大约 1.5 摄氏度的人工变暖使龙胆的花期和银莲花的营养期提前了一周，但使蛾幼虫的出现推迟了两周。变暖使幼虫密度增加了 10 倍，但使银莲花的密度减少了 30%。在变暖条件下，物候和密度的变化导致昆虫幼虫大量食用龙胆花和胚珠；在变暖的腔室中，损伤大约是未变暖腔室的 100 倍。这种激进的营养连接增加了龙胆植物的繁殖，并可能导致其在变暖腔室中数量减少。
