Our limited ability to accurately simulate leaf phenology is a leading source of uncertainty in models of ecosystem carbon cycling. We evaluate if continuously updating canopy state variables with observations is beneficial for predicting phenological events. We employed ensemble adjustment Kalman filter (EAKF) to update predictions of leaf area index (LAI) and leaf extension using tower-based ...

Leaf quantity (i.e., canopy leaf area index, LAI), quality (i.e., per-area photosynthetic capacity), and longevity all influence the photosynthetic seasonality of tropical evergreen forests. However, these components of tropical leaf phenology are poorly represented in most terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs). Here, we explored alternative options for the representation of leaf phenology effect...

The American Naturalist originally promised its readers that through “our monthly calendar of the periodic returns of animals, farmers and gardeners will be warned of the attacks of insects injurious to crops” (Introductory Comments 1867, p. 3). In spite of this promise, however, periodic returns of life cycle events, that is, phenology, did not appear in the journal’s pages until the 1970s (Le...

Climate change has resulted in major changes in plant phenology across the globe that includes leaf-out date and flowering time. The ability of species to respond to climate change, in part, depends on their response to climate as a phenological cue in general. Species that are not phenologically responsive may suffer in the face of continued climate change. Comparative studies of phenology hav...

Hybrid genotypes that arise between plant species frequently have increased susceptibility to arthropod pests and fungal pathogens. This pattern has been attributed to the breakdown of plant defenses ('Hybrid susceptibility' hypothesis) and (or) to extended periods of susceptibility attributed to plant phenologies in zones of species overlap and (or) hybridization ('phenological sink' hypothesi...

Summer temperature on the Cape Churchill Peninsula (Manitoba, Canada) has increased rapidly over the past 75 years, and flowering phenology of the plant community is advanced in years with warmer temperatures (higher cumulative growing degree days). Despite this, there has been no overall shift in flowering phenology over this period. However, climate change has also resulted in increased inter...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Climate change is advancing the leaf-out times of many plant species and mostly extending the growing season in temperate ecosystems. Laboratory experiments using twig cuttings from woody plant species present an affordable, easily replicated approach to investigate the relative importance of factors such as winter chilling, photoperiod, spring warming and frost tolerance on...

Patterns in the dominance of evergreen vs. deciduous plants have long interested ecologists, biogeographers, and global modellers. But previous models to account for these patterns have signifi cant weaknesses. Bottom-up, mechanistic models – based on physiology, competition, and natural selection – have often been non-quantitative or restricted to a small range of habitats, and almost all have...

Patterns in the dominance of evergreen vs. deciduous plants have long interested ecologists, biogeographers, and global modellers. But previous models to account for these patterns have signifi cant weaknesses. Bottom-up, mechanistic models – based on physiology, competition, and natural selection – have often been non-quantitative or restricted to a small range of habitats, and almost all have...