Floral Albedo as a Response Factor of Climate Change, A case study in <i>Helianthella quinquenervis</i>

Abstract

Because phenology and climate are linked, studying the consequences of shifting phenology can help scientists understand the systems that make up current climates and construct future ones. In the Rocky Mountains, climate change has led to earlier snowmelt, an event that triggers the start of the growing season. When Helianthella quinquenervis flowers early, the harsher abiotic conditions of the early growing season can damage the buds that would have otherwise flowered that year. We hypothesize that locations with a dense population of H. quinquenervis, like the population located in Maxfield Meadow, are now subject to drier conditions and increased water stress in years when H. quinquenervis flowers are frosted by the low night temperatures of the earlier growing season. In this study, Helianthella bud removal simulated the bud frosting effect. We hypothesized that the lack of H. quinquenervis changes the overall color of the meadow from yellow to green, decreasing the amount of light that the meadow can reflect, decreasing soil moisture and increasing plant water stress. We found that Helianthella flower petals reflect significantly more light than leaves, and this effect persists at the plot-level. The data show that the effect of reduced albedo on soil moisture is most likely to occur during sunny conditions. It also shows Helianthella removal did result in a trend supporting the initial hypothesis, with slightly increased water stress in the removals, although this effect was not significant. Helianthella was not blooming as densely as has in the past years, and effects of reduced albedo on soils and plants may be stronger when floral density is higher.

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