The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Phenology of grassland plants responds to urbanization

Phenology of grassland plants responds to urbanization
Phenology of grassland plants responds to urbanization
Understanding phenological responses of plants to changing temperatures is important because of multiple associated ecological consequences. Cities with their urban heat island can be used as laboratories to study phenological adaptation to climate change. However, previous phenology studies focused on trees and did not disentangle the role of micro-climate and urban structures.

We studied reproductive phenology of dry grassland species in response to micro-climate and urbanization in Berlin, Germany. Phenological stages were recorded weekly at the individual plant level for five native grassland species across 30 dry grassland sites along an urbanization and temperature gradient. We estimated 50% onset probabilities for flowering and seed maturation of populations, and analysed variation in onset dates using regression models.

Early flowering species significantly advanced flowering phenology with increasing mean air temperature but were little influenced by urbanization. By contrast, late-flowering species showed significant phenological responses to both air temperature and urbanization, possibly because micro-climate was most affected by urbanization in late summer. Surprisingly, not all grassland species showed an advanced phenology with increasing intensity of urbanization.

This contradicts observed patterns for urban trees, indicating that phenological shifts in urban areas cannot be generalized from the observation of one growth form or taxonomic group. Growth form appears as a possible determinant of phenological responses. Results suggest that the phenology of dry grassland species may directly respond to the urban heat island, albeit with variable direction and magnitude. This has implications for ecosystem services, shifted allergy seasons, changes of biogeochemical cycles and potential ecological mismatches.
1083-8155
261-275
Christmann, Tina
b697da74-f754-459d-b7a1-eb1c763337fa
Kowarik, Ingo
ecc40947-8601-440a-b8b6-678c7f0994a4
Bernard-Verdier, Maud
dddbf667-5432-4667-a9e1-ae5708c32cfc
Buchholz, Sascha
0c2ed935-922d-42c4-af9a-48706e1b5c07
Hiller, Anne
76daae5c-5513-41cb-bee4-ed6d20dd5bc8
Seitz, Birgit
32814657-7bc1-403b-ae2a-0daaea134084
von der Lippe, Moritz
d78c3ab2-e438-4f92-ba3c-24f52273591c
Christmann, Tina
b697da74-f754-459d-b7a1-eb1c763337fa
Kowarik, Ingo
ecc40947-8601-440a-b8b6-678c7f0994a4
Bernard-Verdier, Maud
dddbf667-5432-4667-a9e1-ae5708c32cfc
Buchholz, Sascha
0c2ed935-922d-42c4-af9a-48706e1b5c07
Hiller, Anne
76daae5c-5513-41cb-bee4-ed6d20dd5bc8
Seitz, Birgit
32814657-7bc1-403b-ae2a-0daaea134084
von der Lippe, Moritz
d78c3ab2-e438-4f92-ba3c-24f52273591c

Christmann, Tina, Kowarik, Ingo, Bernard-Verdier, Maud, Buchholz, Sascha, Hiller, Anne, Seitz, Birgit and von der Lippe, Moritz (2023) Phenology of grassland plants responds to urbanization. Urban Ecosystems, 26, 261-275. (doi:10.1007/s11252-022-01302-y).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Understanding phenological responses of plants to changing temperatures is important because of multiple associated ecological consequences. Cities with their urban heat island can be used as laboratories to study phenological adaptation to climate change. However, previous phenology studies focused on trees and did not disentangle the role of micro-climate and urban structures.

We studied reproductive phenology of dry grassland species in response to micro-climate and urbanization in Berlin, Germany. Phenological stages were recorded weekly at the individual plant level for five native grassland species across 30 dry grassland sites along an urbanization and temperature gradient. We estimated 50% onset probabilities for flowering and seed maturation of populations, and analysed variation in onset dates using regression models.

Early flowering species significantly advanced flowering phenology with increasing mean air temperature but were little influenced by urbanization. By contrast, late-flowering species showed significant phenological responses to both air temperature and urbanization, possibly because micro-climate was most affected by urbanization in late summer. Surprisingly, not all grassland species showed an advanced phenology with increasing intensity of urbanization.

This contradicts observed patterns for urban trees, indicating that phenological shifts in urban areas cannot be generalized from the observation of one growth form or taxonomic group. Growth form appears as a possible determinant of phenological responses. Results suggest that the phenology of dry grassland species may directly respond to the urban heat island, albeit with variable direction and magnitude. This has implications for ecosystem services, shifted allergy seasons, changes of biogeochemical cycles and potential ecological mismatches.

Text
s11252-022-01302-y - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (2MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 7 October 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 November 2022
Published date: February 2023

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 498690
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/498690
ISSN: 1083-8155
PURE UUID: 8ebba0f6-f424-4042-9f21-74971b115b77
ORCID for Tina Christmann: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2203-4757

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 Feb 2025 17:59
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 02:42

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Tina Christmann ORCID iD
Author: Ingo Kowarik
Author: Maud Bernard-Verdier
Author: Sascha Buchholz
Author: Anne Hiller
Author: Birgit Seitz
Author: Moritz von der Lippe

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×