FORKAST

BAVARIAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION "CLIMATIC IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS AND CLIMATIC ADAPTATION STRATEGIES"

TP10 Ecological impacts on phenology of the Bavarian vegetation due to recent climate change

Phenology is an important ecosystem parameter and therefore regulates a set of ecological functional services like carbon-sequestration, competition, growth and crop harvest, biodiversity and pollination. This project aims to improve the knowledge about phenology of plants under extreme weather events and the complex interactions between organisms (pollination, competition, host-insect). The FORKAST research cooperation treats the Bavarian-relevant ecosystems and selected species out of following ecosystems: floodplains, forests, grasslands and peatlands in the alpine region and the northern-bavarian low mountain ranges. Using long-term phenological data-sets of ecosystem monitoring the project is able to evaluate the reaction capacity of plants (shoot, flowering, maturity, leaf coloring and senescence). In cooperation with other FORKAST subprojects phenological data-sets based on manipulative experimental simulation of extreme events are collected, analysed and modeled. A comparative analysis of the phenology of species of aquatic ecosystems will be done. Comparing the reactions of species with different properties (reaction on late frost and on pest insects, high competitive capacity due to the length of vegetation period) and a subsequently selection of species or provenances should lead to directed management strategies. Meta-analysis based on manipulative experiments in combination with literature analysis should give more evidence on ecosystem processes like phenology under climate change and extreme weather events.

Grant-aided by:
Bavarian State Ministry for Science, Research and Arts