Autumn, the neglected season in climate change research

• Main Authors: Amanda S Gallinat, Richard B Primack, David L Wagner
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Climate change
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1089.712; http://www.concordmuseum.org/assets/Autumn,%20the%20neglected%20season%20in%20climate%20change%20research.pdf

Autumn remains a relatively neglected season in climate change research in temperate and arctic ecosystems. This neglect occurs despite the importance of autumn events, including leaf senescence, fruit ripening, bird and insect migration, and induction of hibernation and diapause. Changes in autumn phenology alter the reproductive capacity of individuals, exacerbate invasions, allow pathogen amplification and higher disease-transmission rates, reshuffle natural enemy-prey dynamics, shift the ecological dynamics among interacting species, and affect the net productivity of ecosystems. We synthesize some of our existing understanding of autumn phenology and identify five areas ripe for future climate change research. We provide recommendations to address common pitfalls in autumnal research as well as to support the conservation and management of vulnerable ecosystems and taxa. The neglect of autumn Numerous effects of climate change on the spring phenology (see Glossary) of temperate plants and animals are well documented Despite this relative neglect, autumn events are also hugely important ecologically and evolutionarily. They signal the end of the growing and breeding season for most temperate and arctic plant and animal species, and are an understudied component of the ecological impacts of climate change. In the following review we synthesize some of our existing understanding of autumn phenology, identify five areas ripe for future research, and provide recommendations for research in those areas. What we know about autumn In temperate ecosystems, the autumn phenomena that have received the most attention in climate change research are leaf senescence and migratory bird departures. Insect diapause and fruit ripening have also garnered moderate interest. Other autumn phenomena such as amphibian dormancy and bud formation remain less studied and poorly understood. Despite the relative neglect of autumn, ecologists have made important progress in understanding the drivers of autumn phenology and the effects of ...